I have a BF650 SRA. I have had it a few months now, and have 640 miles on her. I have ridden about 25% muddy conditions, 75% railroad grade and hard pack forest trails. My hour meter reads 35 hours. This is my first quad and represents the first experience with them. I had a few noobie questions, mixed in with comments I was hoping you guys could help with:

Comment #1: Muddy Riding: I still have the stock Dunlop tires and I kept up just as well as the people I was riding with (Polaris 700, KingQuad 700, Rincon, Grizzly). I didn't go in anything too terribly deep. Maybe the deepest mud holes were right up flush with the floorboards.

Question: Dumb question, but what should I be doing greasing wise to the chassis? When I get home, I wash the machine meticulously (sp?) and get every piece of mud and debris away from moving parts and electrical connections. I spray WD-40 or lithium grease around electrical parts, but I do not see any Zerk type fittings on the chassis or near the hubs that I should be greasing.

Comment #2: Switching to 4WD while moving. I know that many say you can switch among the two under 10 mph, but I still come to a near stop because I can feel it switch and it makes a slight thunk. My feeling is better safe than sorry.


Finally, I was wondering if 200 bucks plus shipping for a set of four ITP Mudlites off ebay is a good deal. I plan on using the stock rims I have and keeping the same tire size.

Thanks everyone, this is a great forum!

 

hey there, good choice, bf650 is a nice reliable machine. as for the stock tires, the riding you described is about what they were designed for, the gripe that people have is they they dont last long(wear quickly), under hard cornering they tend to roll under reducing traction & increasing body roll or lean, also they are prone to flats or punctures from sticks and sharp rocks. aftermarket tires increase traction and improve handling but i think you only feel it if you push the machine harder which some people do. stock tires are fine for trail riding. the kawasaki's really dont have any grease fittings anywhere. i tend to wash pretty good as you do and when i'm done i tend to spray everything under the fenders down with wd40. like the shocks, shock mounting points, a-arm pivot points, wing nut adjusters for rear break, pretty much anything that could get rust or feeze up. also wd40 lets the mud come off easier later on. as for the 4wd drive i tend to do the same thing as you, keep doing what your doing. and finally, thats a pretty good deal for tires, if you like them, get them. those will increase traction in mud & snow, also will be better puncture resistant. basically everything i mentioned before. hope this helps a little.

 

I also have a BF650. You will like the Mud Lites. They are a good trail tire and hold up well. They are also very light so you will lose little or no power. Don't be afraid to go larger than stock. 26x10-12 Mud Lites look really good and give the bike a little better stance. You will not notice and loss of power and they will still handle good. I run 26x10 on front and 26x12 on back and they work really well on trails and I can slide it around and stuff easy. They also can hold their own in the mud. Check out my pics if you want.

 

Thanks for the tips guys. I figured the WD-40 thing would be much better than doing nothing. In a way, I wish this thing had zerk fittings because it would feel like I was doing some preventative type maintenance.

As for the tires, the Mudlites on Ebay are the AT's. They have another listing for the XL's at 50 bucks more. I am not too sure as to the differences between the two, so I will have to research it. I definitely want the mudlights and keep the stock rims because I do not want to increase unsprung weight over the stock setup.

Has anyone here figured out where in the heck to find a windshield for these? I have looked everywhere. The only thing I can think of would be to get a motorcycle type windshield, but I am not sure which model. A windshield is crucial for my type of riding.

thanks guys

 

Windshields are available, you need to check the ATV outlets like denniskirk,rockymountainatv and a bunch of others, someone does carry them.
As far as the clunk noise while shifting don't be concern about it, that is exactly the way it is suppose to work. I am on my 3rd Kawasaki VTwin and not one of them has had a 4x4 problem. I always shift back into 4x2 while going between 2-8mph and it always shifts into 4x2 with the clunk. 4x4 engages will quick on my BF, most of the time at a dead stop but if I am already moving then the slower speed will enage the 4x4 with that clunk.
The Mudlites sound like the tire you need, the XT is a bit taller on the lugs and I would say will worth the extra $50 Bucks.
I had the Mudlites on my Brute but really didn't need all of that type of tire tread (No Mud here at all), so I am now using the Radial Badlands on the rear & the Radial ATRs on the front of my 750.
Enjoy and be sure to let us know of the results after the Mudlites have been on for awhile.

 

Here are my comments:

1). Mudding
Not submarining your quad too deep is a very wise decision. Your quad's lifespan would be quadrapled.

2). Greasing
The most expensive failure would be the swingarm pivot bearing which is not a sealed type. Don't let water/mud get inside the swingarm cavity which leads to inside of the bearing. Pay a special attention to the fuse box and Control Unit for electrical connections when spraying WD-40 or lithium grease. I use Bel-Ray waterproof grease and it seems to last longer than others.

3). 2/4WD Changing
Slower the quad speed, longer the life of the engagement dog gears in the gear box. You are doing the right thing for your quad.

4). Big Tires
They may give you better traction but also put higher stress on drivetrain and cvt components than the smaller OEM tires would. Don't go too drastic in size...

5). OEM Rims
They are painted aluminum and they are very light. Keep them as long as you can. Another very wise decision...

 

Hayahsi, thanks for the input. I paid 6200 bucks for mine, and to me that is a lot of money for what is really a toy, and I would like to keep it pristine. Most of the mud I go through in it is by sheer necessity. I must transverse it or I have to go home. I have been just creeping through it very slowly and not splashing a ton of mud into things. Most of the riding I do is high speed (40+) on abandoned railroad grade or rolling sandy trails.

I think as crazy as I am going to get is to go with the 26-10/12-12 tires as Brute 23 has on his. (nice pics by the way). I think that the stock rims being aluminum is a major bonus as I think some of the other manufacturers use stamped steel (King Quad, etc.)

The only other thing I can think of is that I want is some of the aluminum undercarriage guards. They are quite pricey, so I think I will pick it up in various pieces as budget allows.

Finally, the windshields I keep finding are for the Prairie 650. I will look at the sites that bfb suggests.

Thanks again guys for the suggestions!