Yamaha owners manual says to stop before shifting in or out of low range and also before shifting in or out of 4WD. Is this really necessary because it is a little inconvenient. I have always stopped. After 430 miles the gear shifting is still very stiff.

 

On the 660 Grizzly (and all other auto-trans quads that I'm aware of) it is necessary to stop before shifting to avoid damaging the transmission (that's what they warn you about anyway). The 4WD button on the other hand I know you can hit while moving. When I've engaged it while moving I was always going pretty slow at the time, and while going in a straight line and not under acceleration. Diff lock is another story though, you are supposed to stop before engaging that (on the 660 Grizzly anyway)...

 

I stop to shift into low range, but not to shift out of low range, or to engage 4x4. Never had a problem doing it that way, but I do make sure engine RPM is pretty well matched to the gear change so there is no sudden shock when it engages the next ratio. In other words, have the throttle so there is no engine braking or acceleration when shifting into high range or 4x4.

 

So it is agreed that going into and out of 4WD on the fly is safe if done slowly and at steady speed. And it is agreed that you must stop before shifting into low range or when engaging diff lock. Appears that only question is when shifting from low range into high range where opinions vary. Thanks for your ideas.

 

What he said....but I never tried shifting from low to high without comming to a stop or vise versa...

 

When I said I shift from low to high while moving, I should have clarified that I only do that if I'm going about 5 mph or less. I would never attempt that while going 20 mph in low range. Besides, if the trail is good enough that I can go over 5 mph I'm not going to be in low range anyway. You don't need to baby a Yamaha transmission and drive around in low range all the time to keep the belt from slipping, so I don't use low range too much. Just use your head folks, common sense can tell you if you are doing something that is hard on the ATV.

 

i've never used low range and never had a problem, i do believe in the manual for the 700FI it says something about shifting L to H and into 4wd, and a certain speed to do it below, but i may be wrong?

 

The manual says to stop before shifting between low and high and before shifting between 2WD and 4WD. And it also says to stop and push foot brake before going into reverse or park.