I am a first time buyer and am looking at the prairie 400 4X4's. One of my local dealers is offering both 1999 models and 2000 models. The 1999 models are a few hundred dollars cheaper - enough to make me considers it - but my real question is what improvements (if any other than decals) were made to the prairie 400's for the year 2000 models? Is it anything worth the few extra hundred bucks?

 

Hello stymie glad to see another person getting into the atv world I to had considered the prairie 400 something that turned me off was the price of kawasaki parts the rear shock to buy a new one was $600 saw it somewhere here in the forum and I really don't care for the single shock design in the rear looks like it would be kinda tilty in places there was an incline on the path don't care much for the rear drum brake either have read a lot about it giving trouble if you ride in the mud alot other than that I love a kow have owned the dirt bikes had an ole 250 that was great in the dirt and a ninja 750 that was a screamer never had to buy any Kow parts but I do know in the discussion about the parts it was no mistake check it out then decide I went with the AC 500 auto because of the dual shock design in the rear cheap on parts and has disc all the way around good luck with your decision any way I can help don't hesitate to email me...

Artic Cat 500...Love the Kat more than the Kow

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atving,

I also read about that $600 shock, and was pretty surprised too.

Now I'm not blindly defending Kawi, but I've had a few different machines (and snowmobiles) and none of them on average (except Polaris) had any cheaper parts than any other.

If you were to pick a selection of say, 400 cc utility machines, and priced out some typical parts, ie. seats, oem wheels, gas tank etc, I'll be surprised if any of the Japanese quads are much different in pricing, and that goes for the AC drivetrain parts too.


Raul

 

Ok guys, so I see what you mean about the price of part - however I think that is the standard and the price us guys have to play to play. But anyway, getting back to my original question, what changes were made between the year 1999 and year 2000 model Prairies?

 

stymie,

hehehe, sorry, I meant to tag on an answer on my last post but forgot!

The big change was in 99 when they increased compression, added carb-heat, and changed the front end styling. They also upgraded the rear brake sealing.

I haven't seen a 2000 Prairie live, but according to the literature there are no mechanical differences other than cosmetic.

The 2000 has aluminum wheels and skidplate, which you may or may not prefer. It also has the tail light hooked to the brakes.

I bought my 97 with 1800 miles on it and it now has 3800 miles. only maintenance has been front A-arm bushings (remove and grease these occasionally), the rear brake upgrade, which was free, front brake pads, and valve adjustments. I also had a rear axle seal fail, but it turned out to be that surveyors thread wrapped inside, Kaw. warranty fixed it anyways.


Raul

 

Ah, ok - now I'm getting somewhere - so basically, the changes were cosmetic - which is what my local dealer told me, but I wanted to get a second opinion. You never can tell when they are being up front with you or when they want to get rid of their old inventory. Thanks for the comeback - appreciate it.