Same old questions. I've been shopping for a few weeks and have narrowed the choices down to two manufacturers. I am looking to buy two quads, one for me and one for the Boss. She doesn't like anything with a manual shift, not even Honda's electric shift, so for her we have pretty much come to an agreement on the Kawa Prairie 300.
I want 4WD and a little more power. My choices are down to the Prairie 360 or the Artic Cat 400i. I like the looks of the Cat, the fuel capacity, the IRS, and the ground clearance. I am kinda of concerned about the height which in my mind equates to a higher CG. How tippy are they? Dealer test rides don't really tell you much, although it felt very stable. Steering effort is higher for the Cat than anything else I rode. I also noticed that I ran out of arm length before I could get it turned to the stops, had to scooch up almost on the tank to get full lock. How reliable are the Cats? I noticed that Cat has done some major changes for 2002. First model year blues? 500 bucks in gear is really appealing!
Prairie 360: I really liked the way it rode, much softer suspension than the Cat. Did not feel as stable as the cat though when cornering. I noticed that when my wife was riding it I could see daylight under the rear wheel when she cornered sharp. I know, non- articulating swing arm suspension!
I like the locking front differential. (We do live in snow country, just not this year!) I'm not crazy about the automatic. It felt like it was really robbing power and would never stop slipping! (short test ride area) 3.5 gallon fuel tank, how long will that last, miles or time? For some reason Kawa decided not to put a speedometer on the 360! How much for an add-on? Belts? I see a thread for the 650 where some folks are having problems with the belts and the 360 uses the same KAPS unit?
Both quads are within a hundred bucks of each other. 5600 for the Cat and 5500 for the Kawa.
Thanks! I've been following these threads for a few weeks now and you folks really seem to know your business.

 

The P360 was one of my "short list" choices, along with the Eiger and Rancher. Decided on the Eiger, no regrets at all. Steering is light and tight, probably the easiest steering I've ever had on a quad. The Eiger would make a great quad for your wife, or for you. Comes in auto or 5-speed, 2wd or 4wd. As to power, it's at least 10mph faster than the 360. Price can't be beat.

The Prairie 300 is a non-performer, especially when compared to the 360. Price is so close as to not be an issue. 360 has many more features while the 300 has always suffered from being a 400 size and weight with a 300 motor in it. I was told by a Kawi dealer a while back that the 300 was to be discontinued. That hasn't happened yet as far as I know but makes sense with the 360 out there. BTW, the speedo on the 360 is about $115.

Swing by a Suzuki dealer and check out the Eiger before you make a final decision. Check out the older Suzuki posts going back about a month or two, there's some good Eiger ride reports in there.

Jaybee

 

I had a 400i and uless you want to ride to the extremes, it is a great bike. the problem with it was the lack of tire churning bottom end grunt exagerated by aftermarket tires. That is why I traded it in for the 500i. I really like the ride and handling of the 400i, it rides better than anything I have been on. Because of the higher seating position, AC widened the stance to nearly 48" so it does not feel tippy. It does however take up a lot of room and sometimes you have to find your way around obsticles because of the wider stance. Otherwise it was a great bike, the 500i handles and rides the same but more power.

 

I hadn't really considered a Suzuki before. The only Suzi dealer in town is also the HD dealer and they have a really crappy attitude and pricing philosophy. Every thing is marked way up over MSRP. I guess they've been selling Harleys to long. Besides that they only had two Suzukis on the floor and both of them had that weird cat-eyed, pagoda looking, obviously Japanese designed front end. Yuck!!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img] Does the Eiger have this same bizarre looking front end? I couldn't tell from their website.
There is a Suzuki dealer in Durango that I probably should check out next week.

 

Not to muddy the waters, but I would suggest taking a look at the Polaris Trailboss 325 for your wife. Things that factored in on our decision to buy it were:
1) It's an automatic (w/reverse), and very easy for her to operate and feel comfortable on.
2) It's a 4-stroke so it's quite and more maintenance free than a 2-stroke.
3) It has full floorboards, she really liked the secure feeling of not having a foot slip off and get broken (probably would never have happened anyway because she doesn't ride aggressively).
4) The ride is smooth even over rougher terrain (stock Polaris quads are typically bigger and heavier then comparable quads) but one trade off is a smoother ride.
5) Quality of the product. Some will say Polaris machines are plagued with problems but in doing my research prior to my purchases, I can honestly say most information was rumor based, not factual. The fact of the matter is that when it comes to defining quality of the various quads, maintenance (or lack there of) needs to be taken into consideration as well how they're ridden and how well they're put together at the factory. Most problems stem from improper or no maintenance. Honda is rumored to have the best product in terms of assembly line work and the most maintenance free but even they can have problems. The Electronic Shift mechanisms for example. An issue with them is that they may not shift in colder weather until they warm up.
6) Cost. The Trailboss retails for $3,699 but you should be a able to get it out the door for that price.

Hope you find this information useful.

 

Made a decision on one for me, check out the sig(rode it, loved it bought it!), now we just need to get the Boss situated.
After riding the smaller Prairies a couple of more times, especially after riding brand xyz, I noticed that these singles have a really severe vibration issue. Floor boards would put your feet to sleep quick. None of the other brands do this, why Kawasaki?
I took Jaybee's advice and checked out the Suzi. Nice! I really like it and apparently I wasn't talking to the right person at the dealer. Their best price was nearly 700 bucks less than what they had marked on the machines. We've ridden the manual Eiger but the wife still wants the auto so next week they are gonna uncrate an auto and we can try it.
Thanks for the input!