My 650 is just a couple of days old and I've found a handful of comments/issues thus far:

1. Steering is tight...sounds like this is normal. Thinking of getting the ITP 589s or Gators to help a bit.
2. Shifting doesn't work well at all...sounds like this is a linkage adjustment problem?
3. Brakes: Foot brake seems nearly useless and handbrake doesn't seem to grab as well as I thought it would? One time when I braked yesterday, there was a loud clank. I've heard something about brakes sticking on atvs, so maybe that's what happened.
4. Starting: First startup in the morning seems to take quite a while. It cycles, but when it fires it immediately dies. This happens about 5-6 times before it actually starts. Perhaps I'm doing something wrong? It's only been down around 50 in the morning, so I wouldn't think I'd have such a tough time starting it? Starts fine for the rest of the day.

Any thoughts are appreciated. I'm a newbie, especially to a BIG beast utility, so forgive my incompetence[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] On the plus side though, I've gotta say that this thing has a TON of power, will crawl over or through anything, and is as comfortable as a lounge chair! Can't wait to see how it will work plowing my 300yd long driveway with the Moose county plow.

 

As to the brakes, did you brunish them as is required in the manual. That goes for the foot brake too. If you didn't, they aren't gonna be very good. They also have a break in period during which they slowly get better. The last set I changed out, took about 200 miles before they got to the dynomite stop stage. Linkage problems have been reported on the shifters, get your dealer to fix it. The starting deal is that every engine is different and has their own quirks. If you are choking it properly and don't leave the gas shutoff valve on when shut off overnight it's a matter of try different procedures until you find what work for yours. Sorta like dealing with women, they are all differently strange.

 

when there new they dont like to start cold i found that full choke and as soon as it fires back the choke off to half way thats what worked for mine as far as the brakes go you will have to break them in such as ride at 25 mph or so and do a few sudden stops not enough to lock the wheels after doing so a few times let the brakes cool off the rear brake however just plain useless the way they mounted it to the frame if you step on the rear brake watch the rear master you will see it flex ive seen a few actually break the mount try not to use the footbreak the eng break works very well anyways so i dont bother using the rear foot break just the hand break enjoy the new ride

 

Thanks for the tips.

Quick question on the choke: When I apply the choke, there doesn't seem to be any difference from not using the choke. I know on anything else I've ever owned, tuning the choke affected the engine noise (ie: runs rougher) and I don't get that at all. Is this normal?

 

NO! When cold it should at first make it rich enough to run then start loading up(smoking and running rough) so you know to back off on the choke. When the engine is warm it should start running rough then die if not taken off. You should also see black smoke out the exhaust. It is beginning to sound like you dealer didn't do any prep work on your machine. I'd get it back to him with your complaints(may a list and give him a copy) and get them fixed. He's has a list of things to check before it goes out the door and it sounds like they didn't bother.

 

no mine does the same thing it runs smooth with the choke on for roughly 3-4 min after that it will start to run rough but one thing i noticed when it was new it felt as though the choke didnt make a difference with mine once you get some miles on the eng you will see the change its just not that noticable when there breaking in

 

Got the cat back from the dr...turns out the choke wasn't connected. That explains why it didn't seem to do anything. Linkage seems much better now as well. I think the rest is just letting the engine/brakes break in over time.

 

I have noticed on my 2005 650 that twice now when it is cold that it will not start, and seems like the choke is not working at all. Then finally, after playing with the choke enough it seems to click, and the choke lever goes down a little farther, and the the engine starts great. I think the linkage is binding... Has anyone else had this problem, and if so, how do i fix it?