NEED INFO. I AM LOOKING FOR A UTILITY QUAD FOR FARM WORK, SOME FUN RIDING, HUNTING, AND RIDING IN THE MOUNTAINS. I HAVE LOOKED AT THE PRARIES AT MY LOCAL DEALER, AND LIKE WHAT I SEE SO FAR. WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM SOME OF YOU THAT HAVE THEM. LOOKING AT THE 300 AND 400 4X4'S. GIVE ME GOOD AND BAD INFO PLEASE. THANKS.

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The turning diameter on the Prarie is like 30 feet compared to around 8 ft for the Polaris and Honda 4x4s a big turn off when I was shopping for a 4x4

 

The wide turning circle on the Kawasaki Prairie 400 4x4 is a myth that probably originated with an error-riddled magazine test shortly after the Prairie was introduced (it also said the Prairie came with a paper air filter, it said you had to remove a plastic panel to get to the spark plug, etc., none of which is true). My 1997 Prairie 400 4x4 turns a significantly tighter circle than my Honda 300 0r 450, and slightly tighter than Kerry's Polaris Magnum 425. It does not turn as tightly as the 1998 Suzuki 500 I had, however. Most Polaris quads do turn more tightly than average, but not within an 8' diameter circle (an 8' radius, perhaps).

I even made a video and sent it to the magazine to show them their errors, but they didn't have enough integrity to publish a correction. They've also published such inaccuracies as; the Honda Foreman 400 has a semi-independent rear suspension; the Polaris Magnum 425 has a right-side brake lever; the Honda 450 has disk brakes; the Honda 300 has an aluminum bash plate; the Polaris Magnum 500 has independent rear suspension; the Honda 400EX has a reverse gear; and more.

 

That turning thing is bull crap. Honda turns about as wide a circle as anyone, I know from experience. Polaris claims an optimistic figure also. Remember that Polaris is claiming radius, not diameter(full circle). They also don't say how they measure it either(inside of circle vs. outside of circle). Of the bikes I have ridden, Prarie included, the best turning big frame 4x4 was the 400 Explorer. It felt almost as tight a circle as my 2wd honda 300. The 2wd hondas turn a whole lot tighter than the 4wds do, where as they should. The prarie was better than the honda, but not as good as the yamahas. Yamahas turn pretty tight as well. The sportsmans don't turn as well as the 400 explorers do, and the magnum 500 is in the middle of the two. This from riding all of these quads at the dealer to specifically determine which turns best(I had time to kill). I also drove a 335 sportsman and a Grizzly back to back one day to find that the Grizzly seemed to turn tighter by a slight bit than the polaris. Polaris claims a 65" radius on all of these bikes, and in real life, they all seem to turn differently. They will make that 65" radius, but only on dirt doing a donut. Not a regular turn. The prarie doesn't have a 30 ft. turning diameter either. That figure is dead wrong.

Other features on the praries. The 400 is very comfortable. Gordon swears on it and I rode one to find that he was right. The big downside to them is the lack of engine braking. I would consider the 300 prarie the best in its class if it had this feature.

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Andy Bassham *(1999 Arctic Cat 500 4x4, 1989 Honda 300)*

 

The Praire I rode a couple of years ago when it was first introduced would not turn around between the ditches on a two lane road not a very wide road but two lanes plus the shoulders I was with a group of about 6 riders the owner of the prarie was on mine everyone else made the turn with room to spare the guy who owned it thought I was joking until he tried to turn it around and it wouldn,t make it . He took it back and told the dealer that there was a steering problem and the dealer showed him a spec sheet with the turning diameter on it . It wasn,t 30 feet it was 27ft9inches thats still large compared to others most other makes average from 18ft to20 ft. I realize no two Quads will turn alike and Kawi may have reduced this turn in later models but that 97 had a big one and it still has a big one the guy still has it. I replaced his Cvt belt about a month ago (the first broke belt I,ve ever seen they ussually just start slipping) thats the only problem he,s ever had with it other than routine maintainace.I might have bought the prarie had it not been for that because I had always ridden Kawasaki Dirt bikes and really liked them.

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Kevin Gowdy AKA-Kagey1999 Polaris Magnum 500

 

Kagey,

See my post about the Prairie steering stops, you may be interested.

In my manual, the turning radius is given as 10 feet, 2 inches. I imagine that is an inside radius, but who knows how they got that.

When you changed the belt, can you tell me if there were any special tools or tricks required?? I'll probably throw a new belt in just as a precaution.


Thanks

Raul

 

The Belt is a snap to replace. The Kawasaki design is a good setup if you don,t abuse it you will likely never have a problem with it. No special tools needed to change it takes longer to get the cover off than to change the belt. I will look for the stops on my friends prarie I remember seeing them now after you mention it. He doesn,t seem to mind the big turns he gotten used to it now so he may not want to change it. I hope your Prarie is as good as his has been it is a very tough machine he handles it preety rough and it takes what he throws at it without a problem other than what I mentioned above.

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Kevin Gowdy aka Kagey 1999 Polaris Magnum 500