All of the guys who say the steering is hard have not rode a 05 650. I have an 04 and my brother in law has an 05- they steer totally different. The old "Cats have heavy steering" no longer holds true. The 05's turn as easily as any out there.( and I' ve been on most of them)

 

Cattman - have you and your brother in law been able to figure out what the differences are between the two bikes. Why does the 05 handle way better than the 04. Me (05) and my buddy (04) are in the same predicament?

 

All I have to say is my 2001 Arctic Cat 400 has had no problems, I like the semi Independent rear suspention.

 

I bought my AC 650 last year and love it 100%. Where I ride clearence and traction is much more important than winning a straight line race. There are faster atvs but I seem to be constantaly pulling them out of nasty areas. If you want a very fast atv get a quad but if you want an all around awsome mud , water, fallen tree climbing, atv then an AC 650 is my personal choice. My buddy just bought the 2005 AC 650 after seeing what mine was doing out in the swamps. Bottom line is I think almost all the ATV's out there are good but personal preferance is what will leed you to your decision.

650 ac 2004
28" ITP mud lites
rims
lift kit
Winch with pully block ( to pull all the other atv's out)
Back seat for family

 

Welcome SwampEater! Nice picts you got there!

 

Hey SwampEater what size tires are on your buddy 05 650? That thing looks huge just sitting in the water. And does the V2 have some good low end torque?

 

He has 28" dirt devil mud tires on his. I have only owned an AC atv so I cant compare the low end with other atv but it will pull a wheely when you nail it from a stop. We ride through a lot of 24" + bottomless black pudding and the AC not only easily get through it but we pull others through it. The motor seems to be plenty. They do sell a chip that will give 20% more bottom end power to our atv's at www.highlifters.com

 

I've heard numerous people say the stock tires on the 04's are one factor to why they steer heavy. If you get a set of aftermarket tires, you'll notice a big difference in the steering effort. I believe the only difference between the tires on the 04's and 05's are the size. The 05's are running 25" tires, the 04's are running 26" tires. Could this be part of the problem? I don't know. I haven't had a chance to ride an 05, but from what I'm reading, maybe I should've waited one more year.

 

I have one odd bit of info between the 04 650 and the 05 650. My 04 650 has the air and belt intake up at the highest point in the air box section but on the 05 they pipe it down lower towards the front bumper. I cant understand why they would make the intake lower and towards the front? Mabey they clam more horse power for ram but it will also ram water. My buddy is changing this to one more like the 04 set up. Other than that my buddys 05 has better plastic and a nicer look. The racks are higher also.

 

Talking about a tire steering heavy, my 99 AC500 had those damn Titan 495 tires all around. They were 26x10.5-12's and having them on the front was a nightmare. My Uncle's 454 with the 10" Titan 489's was like a dream compared to the 495's. I put on 27" Tri/Bi Claws and actually improved my steering. I'm guessing this is why AC only offered the 495 tire stock on the 99 models and switched back to 489's the next year. They looked cool in the brochure back then though, and they were the first to ever offer a 26" tire as stock equipment.