When negotiating trails(not high speed), going thru mud, over rocks, around the parking lot etc, what gear do you leave it in? I'm guessing that over 30mph or so you'd use high gear, but is it harmful to use high gear under that? If you drag raced someone perhaps, would you go from 0mph to max speed in high the whole time with the throttle pegged? Just curious what gear is best to use on a normal basis.

 

Do a search for the topic, it was around a couple weeks ago. Basically, speeds under 15mph use low, over 15 use high. This does not mean every time you slow down or speed up you need to change gears. Base it on where you are going to be riding a majority of the time, and shift if you come upon something that deserves a different gear.

 

Kawi representative told me ... and this is true statement ... that you should keep it in low whenever riding under 40 ... i kid you not ... now with that said dont take it to heart...that was there excuse on my belt issue...what i have found is that when i am in technical area and will be keeping it under 25 mph i stay in low ... once it opens up and i can spit down that trial 35-40 mph i go high ... seems to work fine ... i just hate coming to a stop when i come out of a technical area to slap it in high then rip out....its like slowing down the inevitable.

 

I agree with bosox,

I ride most time in low since I ride with a guys who have big bears and honda 450's, so I hafta stay under 50 anyway. I stay in low on the trails, and switch to high when we are heading back home on the dirt road and I know that there won't be any obstacles that will tempt me. If you have the black spring and have the belt in specs, that will help also.

 

I also agree 100% with Bosox07. My top speed in low is 41mph on the speedometer. When Im running uphill or level ground around 25-30mph and give it WOT the midrange power is outragous!! It jumps 5-7mph immediately. This is not what Kawasaki tells you. They tell you about the belt life and that true. Im telling you about raw power and torque.

 

I'm sure the power and torque is better, but also the rpms are higher and mpg is less. Just wondering if its a strain on the quad to say cruise at a constant 35 mph on a dirt road in high. For example, there's supposedly a riding area(turner road) in big cypress preserve, FL that has a 20 mile dirt road before the riding trails start..

 

lightman, I doubt very seriously that you could tax this engine since it is detuned. Kawasaki themselves stated that they detuned it twice to make the power "more appropriate".

As far as gas mileage, I will take the raw power that KOD is talking about to a couple of MPG anyday for sure!!

 

Taking off at higher throttle in high, climbing in high, and riding slow in high are what causes the accelerated belt wear.

It doesn't really matter what gear you are in if you are riding faster than 15mph or so. I think kawi said that to cause people to use LOW as much as possible. That answer reduced belt wear as much as possible. I bet they had a great big meeting on padded chairs with flipcharts, powerpoint presentations and more to discuss the wording of what they said.

They can't tell you not to take off hard - 650 sales would plummet.
They can't tell you not to ride slow - big sales mistake
They can't tell you not to climb - big sales mistake
They can't tell you not to put big tires on it - big sales mistake.
Their only alterrnative is to say "keep it in low".

I don't fully agree with the 41mph. I would have said 30.

although we have discovered how to get acceptable life from a 650 belt, kawasaki has made a HUGE error with the belt. Almost all potential customers that get on the forums are concerned about the belt not holding up. They are getting it from dealers, internet, word of mouth etc.. In fact, with the way word of mouth changes facts, people are actually asking about general reliability too. The 650 is not generally unreliable, only the belt is unreliable (for new owners that don't get it fixed up right away).

Big big blunder on the belt. Obviously a large percentage of new 650 owners are having short belt life and/or problems. This is a much higher percentage of belt problems than the competition. That spells MISTAKE. It spells other phrases too, if you prefer.

If I wasn't mechaniclly inclined enough to do my own belt, I wouldn't buy the 650. Now that I know the belt is very easy to get to last long if done right, I love my 650.

Kawasaki really screwed up. I shouldn't say that, in case they read this, since I would kinda like to get sponsered by them. However, I will continue to tell potential buyersr and new owners how to properly care for the belt, maybe that's enough to get kawasaki to like me.

 

I agree NYROC...the belt is the archilles heal of this machine...and the big problem with kawasaki is there blantent denial and refusal to recognize it...i would think with the 700 coming out they would be doing something to squash the concerns. What really got my goat when I experienced my premature belt problems was how kawi tried to throw it in my lap as being my fault the belt is bad. Are you an aggressive rider...there you have it...the kawi rep asked me how i rode and I told him i ride it like it was the big ballsy utility machine i paid 6k for...he didnt respond...just told me that he couldnt forward my complaint to anyone as kawi viewed the belt as being a wear problem and if it happens prematurely it must be caused by inappropriate riding or abuse...that really tagged me.

 

nyroc your P650 might only do 30 mph in low but mine does 41. BTW this is with stock tires not the 589s as I rarely run them anymore. My reply also states that running between 25 and 30mph is where I run in low, not running WOT all the time in low.

I just wanted to clarify that.

Happy New Year.