I have a 05 400i that I love, have had no problems as all with it. Am looking at a used 04 650 with 3000 miles on it. I have not seen it other than online and the owner says it runs a great, has had no problems, and that it has never been mudded or in high water. It has beed used with a rear ag sprayer to do weed control along the ranch fencelines. He is selling it due to his divorce.
From the pictures, it appears to be in great shape. He assures me that everything works as new.
I will be riding sand and hard pack mostly, very little mud and water.
Should I be overly concerned with the mileage? Is the 04 650 reliable?
Any input, good or bad would be appreciated.

 

The 04' 650 had some clutching issues that affected mainly people that ride in the mud. Overall it's a good machine.

 

Weez has an 04, he seems happy with it. If it had a sprayer, im assuming it was used mainly for farm use, which would be a plus for me, thinking it was used by a mature adult that didnt abuse it. What price is he asking for it?

 

$3500

I talked to my local dealer, who has since retired and gone out of business, and he said the 04 had several problems. You had to run it in Low all the time or there was a problem with the belt? And he said the dual carb system could be a nightmare as well?

 

You have to run all V2s in low. It does almost 50 mph in low, and still has plenty of low speed pulling power. Wierd, right? The carb thing is fine, just pour a can of seafoam in it every other tank or so. I have had mine for 2 years now, not a single trip to the dealer, not a single belt replacement. If you ride it, you will know why you will never need high gear. 3500 isnt a bad price, its probably right where it should be. There are plenty of happy V2 owners that may chime in also.

 

You NEVER run it in High gear? That just seems odd to me? What happens if I do. I will be riding both my 400 and the V2, so I'm bound to make the mistake more than once.

 

You will never need high unless you are on a LONG straight run cruising at 40mph or more for long periods of time. If you are out mudding, and do it in high, or cruise 10mph rocky technical trails in high, you will wear your belt down faster. I have about 1600 miles on my stock belt, and it still measures to new specs. If they made another V2, I would consider buying it again, I love the V2

 

Ok, well that says a lot, thanks. My dealer said that in high, the belt could come off or something? Something about a factory bulletin issued on how to correct it if it does? He lost me in the translation. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]
I do run pretty fast on these ranch roads which are loose sand to hardpack sand. I can run in the high 30's down some of them when I have to. We are on fairly level ground, some small hills, dry sand creeks, brush. I have a rig I welded on the rear of my 400 that fits in the MRP rack system. It will hold 5 dogs, which we use to hunt with on the ranch. So loaded, dogs and all, I probably have quite a bit of weight on the rear. I do have aftermarket springs on the rear to help and I usually run in high gear without any problems so far. Maybe I should be running in low gear as well? I'm heading out Saturday morning, my try it. But when I do use low gear, it seems really low. So I go back into high as soon as I can. Am I wrong?

 

The 400 has a completely different tranny than the V2. You probably only need low on the 400 for very slow technical climbing, and heavy pulling (like 4x4 low in a truck). You are fine in high on the 400.

 

I talked to the owner today, he said he bought the 650 about 3 months ago from a 60 yearl old farmer/rancher. The original owner only used it to pull an ag sprayer and hauled cattle feed on the racks. He traded it in on a Kawaski Mule as he wanted the dump bed for the cattle feed, he's gettin' too old to lift the feed bags he says. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] The new owner loves it, but due to his pending divorce, his attourny said, "sell everything!" He builds and restores 'crotch rockets' so he knows a thing or two about motorcycles. He says everything works great, he has had no problems with it. He has only ridden it on his 34 acre place and has never gone above 30 mph with it.
My only concern now is the high mileage, 3200. How big of an issue should this be? What is 'high mileage' on a 4 wheeler?