bear i dident call you stupid and i dont like you calling me stupid.
MAN you guys dont like anything negative said about the cat well to bad.
i owned on for 15 months and i put 2800 miles on it and the only times i had problems with it flipping or rolling was on hills.
big or small it dident like them and its the same with my other two friends.
bear how many miles do you have on your cat.
and how many miles have you put on a quad in the last three years.
in the last 3 years i have put over 11000 kilometers on three differant quads thats over 7500 miles for those of you who are not to smart.
and i rolled my cat more then i did with the other 2 put togher.
and i ride the same trails with both the honda and the kawi and never had any problems with them.
just because you dont like what other people have to say dosent make anyone stupid.
anyways if you dont like what i have to say too bad bite me.

 

Proper way to ride up a hill is to stand up and put your body weight over the handlebars centering more of the weight to the front keeping the front end on the ground to not tip backwards.

I hope this helps some people. It can be a dangerous thing to flip backwards.

 

i know how to ride up hills.
thats all we have around here in BC canada.
i do live in the mountatns you know.
and i havent had any problems with my honda or my kawi just the cat.
anyways cats like to pop the front end up and thats a fact.
theres not 1 650 cat out there that wont pull the front tires with ease.
i see my buddy jody ride all the time and every time he gives it a shot of gas its pulling the wheels.
and if you watch the rear end it squats and the front end comes up.
and his rear shocks are set on the stiffest setting.
now go up a big hill under power and the front end is like a jumping bean bouncing up and down all the way up. and he leans as far forword as he can get.
you guys can say all you want about the cat and hills and how good and stong your plastic is.
you have to keep telling your self that so you wont think you got a peice of crap.
well i know what there like because i owned one for 15 months so i know the truth about them.
all you guys out there who sware by your cat tell me how many miles you have put on your flawless cats i would like to know.
ill bet theres not one person out there whos gone more then 1500 miles with out rolling or had any trouble free riding.
if there is then you dont do anything challenging or risky you just ride the farmers feilds and dirt roads with bear.

 

hey bear i saw your pics on your page and the one that says your hill climbing (LOL)
whats your front end doing in the air.
i thought you said that dosent happen.
well whos the story teller now.
cats front ends pop up on any kind of hills even little ones like the one bear is trying to climb.
ps love those stock tires you have there bear ill bet you go all kinds of places with those.

 

The left wheel up is caused by torque and is twisting the frame. This does not causes the whole front end to rise, just the one wheel. The machine will do the same thing while doing hard cornering at speed under hard acceleration. BTW, that hill was so slick that even straight 4X4 wouldn't let you climb it, just no traction. It took the locker to get up it. So there wasn't enough traction to move without locker 4X4, much less lift both front wheels.

 

In addition to the above info. I know a ton more about light front ends than the average rider, as my first Cat was a 2001 250 (now the wife's ride) and with the way the engine sets back in those machines, with then engine, trans and differential in one package makes for a very light front end, and mine was a 2X4 so no front axle to add any weight to the front just made it worse. The wife wanted to go along on the rides so I set up the 250 for 2 up riding. Which made the rearward weight bias even worse. But through using my brains instead of the throttle (been with her for a long time and don't intend to hurt or kill her) and dismounting the passenger whenever there might be a problem, that 250 never ever came close to going over backwards. The only time the 400 went over backwards was due to driver lack of judgement. I looked at the hill (been up it before, but it was eroded out worse than before) and after first telling myself no, I tried it anyway (cost me a broken rib and a couple of hundred bucks). I have always said that a lack of good judgement causes the vast majority of quad accidents. As Dirty Harry said, "A man has to know his limitations." I was 47 before I fully understood that (I got "don't get well from it hurt") and better than 10 years later I still get stupid on occasion.

 

i should have known you were an authority on light front ends.
if your little 400 will twist like that then think what its like with the bigger ones.
your rear end is squatting that's why your front wheel is off the ground back end gos down front end gos up.
now add that to a real hill not the mole hill you were climbing and that's a good mixture for a roll over.

 

The rear end squating has nothing to do with the 100 lbs rack bag and my 250 lbs, I'm sure. That day no one was climbing real hills. To much fresh snow over mud and a 4000 ft plus altitude didn't help either. How come with damn near 60 years of experience behind me, shouldnt I know about a lot of things. You on the other hand appear to be a fault finder and nay sayer of everything. What are you bonafide when it comes to accomplishments to make you the wisest of all? Ever been a Champion in any motor sports? Set any records? Won anything? BTW, My "little" 400 is wider, taller, heavier and has more ground clearence than your Kawasaki, so little it isn't.

 

excuses excuses
i was referring to the engine when i said little.
and as for winning anything i won an m7 arctic cat sled last year.
and i bracket race my trans am and its got a 468 CBB with a super t10 transmission and i run consistent 7.800 with it.
and in the last three years i have won 2 firsts and 2 seconds and a 3rd so i think thats pretty good.
and no its not NHRA but they go by there rules.
and there's always at least upwards of a hundred cars in three different brackets. sp, pro and outlaw.
i run pro class.
and i build my own motors and do all my own work on my car.
i don't know if that makes me a bonafide backyard race car driver but i guess that's what i am and a bonafide backyard mechanic also.

 

I quit racing cars (drag racing, running stock, factory stock (do what you want, but have to use factory parts) and Super Stock with more throphies than had room for with both NHRA and AHRA and roundy-round with late models) in the late '70's to pursue boat racing. Two time APBA National High Point Champ, two 2nd in national high points and 3 National speed records plus 12 regional and 8 Divisional Championships. Plus I wrenched as a pro (read paid) on some offshore race boats (I have always been the head wrench on everything I ran). If a guy can't do your own wrenching, they are just a steering wheel extension. Nothing wrong with shadetree mechanics, he!! at one time Grumpy Jenkins was a shadetree. Winning a sled is just luck, even though there have been times I won because of luck (you know "I'd rather be lucky than good").