Right now I have an 05 Kodiak 450 and my Dad is really wanting an ATV to ride with me and my friends. I'm thinking about throwing him up the deal of getting a Big Bear and I'd just trade even with him. But would the big Bear really be that big of a down grade?

We usually spend most of our time in the creek. Which I haven't had any belt slipage, but it does suck going through fairly deep water and having to stop to throw it in low to creep up stream and then stop as soon as we hit land and throw it in high to catch up with my buddies on their manual hondas. That's about the only complaint besides being a little heaveir and wanting to dig down(might be the Gators too).

The Kodiak atually looks like it outperforms the BB in just about every possible category...except weight..which it's only roughly 50 or so pounds heavier. Which really makes it look like he may just have to wait and get a Kodiak 450 also.

Opinions?

 

What about the bruin 350 4x4? Not sure how it is priced compared to the Big Bear, but you dont have any High or Low gears to change when driving in and out of rivers. I have the bruin and it is a very nice quad for the money. Maybe your dad would like the bruin and you could keep your kodiak. Just a thought. Good luck.

 

The bruin is almost the same price as the big bear I talked with my dealer and he said it was $5099 and the big bear was $5199.00. I think it is worth the extra $100.00 for the big bear their is nothing wrong with the bruin but I don't think it has all the bugs worked out with it yet.

 

My cousin has the Kodiak 450 and I have the Big Bear. I see nothing major standing out between the two to make one better then the other. I personlly like to shift, he likes an auto.

 

i have a grizzly and my buddy has a big bear, we were climbing some very steep and long pipe lines , the problem he had was when he started to bog down and had to down shift he lost his speed which was much needed to climb these hills, he ended up in 1st gear just crawling to the top, with an auto you have an advantage in these situations, which the kodiak has.

 

Since it sounds like you ride in a creek a lot I would stick with the Kodiak....a riding buddy of mine has a Big Bear and he has to replace his brakes at least every three months from all the sand and mud staying in the drum brakes.