I think I have it all figured out but would prefer to thow my idea out there to get some feedback from some of you.

It's almost time for me and the wife to finally take the plunge and get some ATV's. I've had a hard time figuring out what the best quads would be. I live in Las Vegas and can drive out my garage, down about 750 feet of pavement and then have enough desert trails at my fingertips that I can get all the way to Cali without seeing pavement. So obviosuly desert trail riding will be 60 - 70% of my riding; however I also love mountain trails, sand dunes and just about anywhere I will be able to take my quad on vacation.

I have choosen to get 2 KFX700's and I'd like your opinions as to what you thing and what mods, add ons, spare parts etc. I should buy off the bat.

I know the 700's are big and auto's but I choose them because my wife doesn't like to shift, they seem like an all around good quad that I should be able to take into almost any enviroment, others like my younger brother 16, brother in law and friends will also be riding sometimes and I think that having autos may make that easier.

Thanks for the info.

 

Personally, I would never own a 700! Just to huge and heavy for my taste. Handling is cumbersome at best, and handling on technical terrain is poor. The current standard for a sport bike is 350 pounds, and the KFX is pushing 500 pounds, and the machine is a little top heavy. And, the thing freewheels at low speed, that is, it has NO ENGINE BRAKING after you let off the throtle! On a technical downhill, it is all brakes, unless you gas the throtle to engage the clutch (gassing it down a hill to make it go slower, now that's just a dumb requirement!). Can't imagine what the designers were thinking???

Any of the great trail bikes, will make SUPERB desert bikes with a few simple mods. Take your cue from what the deset racers ride! My advice would be, learn to shift and get something like a Z400! It is really a pity, that people who aren't willing to shift, will severely limt their choices and pass up superb machines and get something that isn't a great choice.

That said, I am sure you can go to the Kawi forum and find people who love them. I have 3 buddies who have the 700's and seem to love theirs, and they ride So. Calif. desert and dunes! (I have ridden them, so my impressions are based on riding the bike, not just hearsay, alright!) But, they are all HUGE guys. Over 6' and a couple of them are real heavyweights. They had their choices limited by their size. One of them has aftermarket suspension, and the others are talking about it, so that should tell you someting, like the stock suspension isn't that great???

Oh, and they get TERRIBLE MILEAGE too! Don't count on riding to Calif. without a lot of extra gas!

 

I agree with getting a auto. Shifting is not for everyone and not at all for many. If you are blessed with the ability to figure it out with any finess at all - thank God for your being in the top 25% range.

I sell minibikes (trail 70 type with manual shifting) you would be amazed at diverse range of skill that people bring to bare on these simple machines.
The good news is that anyone can operate a auto.

Personally, my wife and I went with the Arctic Cat TRV two rider quads. They are wonderful machines and having two of them means we have seats for 4 persons.
My wife will ride with me on some pretty technical and challenging terrain but she would refuse to go there on her own machine. This makes MY riding expereince more tuned to my abilities. Yes they are big heavy ATV's that look like tough and rugged trail monsters..... whats your point? They are not for boys who prefer their 400 squirt bikes. oops - I mean sport bikes....lol

 

Hey Billy79. Can you tell us more about how you and your wife like to drive? Are you both go-fast drivers in the dirt? Pop wheelys and such?
BryceGTX

 

There will be a number of people riding these quads and that is why I am choosing the automatics, so any members of our family and or friends can ride with us. I don't care wether I shift or not and am fully capable of both....my wife has always ridden automatics but is smart enough to learn [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

For that same reason the riding style of how these will be ridden will also be very dynamic. When myself and my brother ride them we will probably be pretty agressive riders (wheelies, jumping...whatever). I'll probably tone it down a little, though not to much when I ride with my wife. She has no problem whippping around a Polaris 650 touring snowmobile on her own and has nor problem pushing those abouve 70mph.

I'm sure I'll have to tone it down a lot if my mom or certain other members of the family want to ride.

What I'm looking for is something that can handle semi- aggressive to agressive riding about 80% of the time in the desert but can just as easily be run by a novice or very agressive rider in the mountains, the sand, on trails and anything else.

Thanks for all the input....I really appreciate it so far.

 

These machines are HUGE and HEAVY, and not suitable for grandma or the kids, or any novice rider! You want something that can be easily run by a novice, and that just isn't this machine. This bike is a mistake for everybody except big over 6', over 200 pound guys. You put kids on this machine, and somebody is going to get killed!

Why not a "real sport bike" with a manual transmission for yourself, and some other bike like a Honda 250EX with an autoclutch for the wife, novices, and kids. Even grandma could handle one of those. A sport bike weighs maybe 375 pounds, and a 250 weighs maybe 350 pounds. Can't imagine why anybody would choose to handicap themselves with a huge 500 pound machine??? You will be sorry the first time you get that huge clunker in some nasty technical terrain.

 

kfx700 dry weight is 602 lbs

not a good machine for an ameteur

 

The best quad for "The Most Exterme Terrian" as chosen by ATV Television was not a big bore 700 but a 450. They chose it because of it's Power to weight ratio made it unstoppable. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img]

 

Hey Billy79. We also have two 700 SE Grand Turing SkiDoos. I drive one, wife drives the other. She also has no problem going 60 or 70 mph, but she mostly rides at 50 mph and below. We bought two Polaris Trailblazers for quads. LOL, after having the Trailblazer, she wants a new sled; a Rev 500ss or a 550/380 fan. She likes the manuerability of the much lighter Trailblazer and she wants the same in her sled. I wonder if your wife might prefer the single hand braking, more cushy ride and the smaller engine of the Trailblazer. For your other untrained riders, the Trailblazer would probably be much safer than the KFX. But it still has the automatic, big tires, same physical size and it will go any where the KFX will go. As an added bonus it has single hand braking and is half the price of the KFX. But all in all, I think the KFX is a neat quad. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]
I hope this helps you
BryceGTX

 

Thanks for all the info everyone....a lot to think about!!!

I think what makes it an even more difficult decision is there are no dealerhships here in Las Vegas that I can find that will let you do an sort of test drive, not even 100 feet in the parking lot. Is this common?

I hate the idea of buying 2 quads (any quads) without the ability to give it a quick go, especially for my wife.

Hey, BryceGTX it's the opposite for my wife. Last time we rented snowmobiles we she got a Polaris RMK 550 instead of one of the touring quads and she said that she preferred the heavier touring quad. She said she felt more stable on it and would rather work a little harder at throwing around something bigger that she felt more stable on.

Also have you ever taken the Trailblazer to any DUNES? I'm just wondering how it feels in the sand.

Hey reconranger, when I first looked at the KFX's I thought the same thing then I read a lot of posts by women and first time riders that said they started slow, got comfortable on the KFX 700 and were happy that they got it........it would be so much easier if there was a dealership that would let us get on one.

Does anyone know of any dealerships in the SouthWest that will let you take a test drive (even across the parking lot).

-Billy