finished the deal today. i have been reading these forums now for a while and finally made a choice. i feel the kodiak has alot of great features and it fit into my budget. my other choice was the honda rancher at 400. overall the kodiak has more features and better color choices. i opted for the 2 year warranty. i pick it up tomorrow. i want to thank everyone for taking the time to give feedback on their kodiak 450, it certainly has made my decision well worth it. i will post how things go with it, of course no news is good news.

 

Good deal. You'll love every second on that quad!

 

well, as i said, i picked it up today. i got it home and it wouldn't start. started fine at the dealer. it would make a winding/grinding noise near the battery. so i tried to pull start it, what a joke. i mean i felt like a weakling, i could just barely pull the cord, not even enough to turn it over. so i called the dealer and they offered to come get the quad. i said well, let me try to charge the battery first. tried that and it seemed to turn over stronger but not enough. i called the dealer back and said that i felt strongly that it was the battery and if i brought it back could they exchange it for another one. they said o.k. so i get to the dealer and they had the plan of swapping out a battery from a 400 kodiak---but it was too small for the 450. luckily they found one after searching. took it home, put it in, started right up. but, is the engine always going to be this hard to pull start? due to cc or compression?

 

It probably be real hard to pull over. All 4-stroke engines are. The best solution I heard is bring the engine up on compression stroke real slow. As you near it give it a quick pull and it should start.

 

It probably is the battery,, I had mine replaced,,, just an ugly buzzing sound under the seat...
some batteries are bad or not fully charged,,
Pull start......pull handle slowly until you fell the compresion reach top,,,let the cord back in and then give it a good pull,, I started mine that way before just to see if I can do it..it is easier than you think...

 

My 360 prarie pull start is easy to pull

 

kool

 

downndirty,

Sounds good. You will like it alot I know I sure love mine. AlaskaBoy.

 

Guess I was wrong w/ my 1st post! Here's a couple things to watch out for:

1. Battery - I guess you already figured this out.
2. Front trans breather hose. Check the front of the trans where your breather hose comes in and make sure it's on there tight.
3. Negative battery connection - if you go to start your quad and hear a click from under the seat, clean and tighten your neg. cable.

If anyone can think of anything else, chime in. Oh, and don't forget to put dielectric grease on all your electrical connections, esp. spark plug boot.

 

The nut at the bottom of the steering column can become loose if the tires are jarred pretty good on something.


After 3 times of wrenching the "castle nut" over a period of 1000 km's, I finally just took it off and put lock tight on the nut and reefed that nut on the shaft as tight as I could. So far no problems.


Also, the front of the footrests (bottom part on the outside edge) can tear if driven in some rough stuff. I suggest trimming the 90 degree corners to a angle to prevent this. I tore mine and just trimmed them a little and it has not been a problem since.