can anyone tell me if the 2004 650 vtwin is a good atv or does it have very many problems that i have to look for in the future. thank you for your help.

 

I have an 06 and love it! There is alot of things you can do to these V2 arctic cats, look at my pics to see it "fully dressed up". I think Weez has an 04, and has rolled it, swamped it, and whatever else, and it still goes! I think weez will only say the 04 has a few issues with the belt, but if you drive in LOW, and i cant stress that enough, you will be fine. I NEVER drive mine in high, unless i have a long gravel road, or long straight trail, for a good 15 minutes and can cruise at 50 mph all the way.

 

thank you v2rider for your reply i have always liked the arctic cat but never could afford a new one but i finally have one its like a dream come true i'm sure i wil have more questions later thanks again.

 

lol it is true i have rolled and swamped mine a couple times. i have over 2000 miles on it, hard miles with 27 inch tires on and i have only had one issue and that is with the belt. v2 is right make sure anytime you are going under 48 mph you always use low range. i would also strongly suggest that you put in a pink primary and black secondary spring in the clutching and remove the thicker of the two shims for your secondary clutch. i got the epi ones and they work great i think the websight is erlandson.com or something like that. the primary spring is very easy to put in but the secondary spring is kind of a pain in the butt, but i was able to fabricate my own clutch compressor with a metal pipe, lag bolt some big washers and 2 nuts. kawi sent over the engine tranny's witht he belt deflection on the loose side, for whatever reason your guess is better then mine, so this should put you in the ball park for a closer deflection. good luck and enjoy your new atv they are fun. oh and to really boost up the horsepower i would check out the dynatek cdi it advances the timing and turns it into a wheelie machine.

 

dynatech box also raises rpm from 8500 to 9500 rpm which means a little more top end between the jet kit clutch kit and dyna tech box 450.00 cdn big differance also run the high lifter belts cheaper more belt grab also i run 28 muddzillas handled it very well

 

I bought a new 06' ac 400 auto fis feb. 7th 2006 i just did my second service on it, on the first oil change there was a few metal shaving's on the magnetic oil drain plug; this worried me untill i heard it's usal for brake in . This second change there were one tiny peice on drain plug, this was a relief , and also i ride my ac in high range 99 percent of the time ! My dealer told me the only time i would need to use low range is for towing, real steep hill's, or thick mud hole's ; the trail's i ride are rough steep rocky trail's with rough mt creek's with lot's of huge rock bolder's ! I only have 192 mile's on my ac and i know that the engine isn't broken in yet, but i've not had the belt wet and the first ride was up a creek with water just under the headlight's ; i've never had any clutch slippage at all ! The next ride was on a very steep hill ( a power line easement i made it to within a couple yard's where there was a log i had to go over. When i hit the log and gave it gas it made a rattling sound that felt like it was coming top end ! Now this was the steepest hill i've ever encountered , this was the first time i had to use low range , someone on the formum about the rattling ; and told it could've been valve rattle, belt slip or compression vale rattle ! After the first oil change the power got better, i still use low for going over log's and those really steep hill's ; but rest of the time i use high range with no problem's at all. My ac has the suzuki engine /belt driven clutch, i know the v2 twin has a different engine/ tranny and my dealer told me you had a little more maintence than the suzuki setup. But they are great machine's; and as tough as they come..............what more can i say.......i love my cat !!!!!..............williebee

 

Check the frame for cracks directly under the (fake) gas tank area, Its really where the air filter is, remove that cover and look for cracks or breaks along those two top spars.

 

i guess alot of those cracked frames were all confined to a couple states i think tennessee was one of them.

 

Well you can count New Hampshire on that list for the 2004

 

A good thing came out of that also. , After much needed work on frames, the Arctic Cat is now well known for one of the most, if not the most durable, well built atv available. It was shown in the quad terrain challenge, and was published in an article about how AC looked to be the only quad that held up without a broken frame or major part, whereas the other s had frames snap, and other major parts not hold up to the abuse on rocks, logs, and jumps