I was wondering how the front diff. of the traxter works. Is it an open diff Yamaha like, or locking diff, or limited slip. How does it work on the trail? Not "works fine" "works bad". I want to know what happens when one wheel is in the air or interesting stuff like that. Is it different between Traxter normal and XT? Are the brakes good. I had the opportunity to test drive an XT, and the brakes were unuseful (guess it was that particular bike).
So how does the front diff work?
Actually it's because I want to know what are the available 4x4 manual quads with decent technology.

 

Zorro,

The front drive setup appears to have been copied from the Mercedes Benz FourMatic they call it.

It is a hydraulic shear action, meaning when one wheel makes one turn ahead of the other, it locks the differential.

I have played alot with it in sand and mud, The Traxter will really amaze you in the slippery stuff, unlike most all other makes, whom claim some sort of "limited slip" - "positraction" or other gimmicks.

In our travels and experments have not found anyother 4X4 AYV that will turn all wheels when put up against a tree for example. Maybe that is why Bombardier calls it a "all wheel drive" like Mercedes calls it. By the way Mercedes came out with that differential about 10 or 11 yrs ago and as all M-B stuff, it works.

Hope this helps, if not maybe it will confuse everyone.

Good luck