I purchased a new 2002 Kawasaki Prairie and after using only a few miles I
discovered the popping or ratcheting sound from the transmission during
deceleration. It sounded like several teeth on gears where being jumped. I
knew a little bit about that problem from a friend who experienced the same
thing on his Prairie. I adjusted the shift rod linkage and have had no
problems since then until this fall. I recently heard the transmission
ratchet or pop under load. It was the sound of a gear jumping only one
tooth though, not like the sound I heard when decelerating. Under load this
has happened to me twice now. I was pulling a 5' X 8' trailer up a small
grade with 3 kids in it and the other time I was pulling a small ATV trailer
with a 170# deer in it and 200# rider up a logging road. Do you think that
the shift rod linkage requires adjustment again or am I putting too much
load on the ATV? I have never heard the sound under deceleration again and
I have had a good load in a trailer pushing while decelerating. The ATV has
600 miles on it and I have used (Nyroc's) website to check and adjust my belt
deflection (great website by the way, your knowledge of the machine exceeds
any dealers knowledge in my SE Minnesota area). Looking forward to what everyone has to say.

 

Check the front motor mount.You need to drop the center skid plate and then it easy to get to.Tighten it and go for a rip. You might have to re-adjust the likage after tightening the mount.
Good luck.M/M

 

I've had the same problem with my P650. I will check the mounting bolts. Thanks!

 

I checked my mounting bolts and they are tight. Any other ideas? Thanks!

 

Wingshooter,read up on shift likage on this web page it's good stuff...NYROC'S Desk top this web page,its very helpful. Kissofdeath has a good web page as well.Hopefully this will help you out,sounds like you need to adjust the length of the shifter. good luck.

 

Wingshooter, you need to adjust the height of your shift rod lever. If you noticed, there is adjustment for the shift rod linkage as well as the height of the actual shift rod. I had the same problem you are describing and adjusted my shift linkage. It helped, but didn't cure the problem, so I had another look. On the shift rod, you can see there is an adjustment on the bottom end, right by where your shift linkage connects to the shift rod. You have to take the shift linkage off the shift lever to make the adjustment as there is no turn buckle type adjustment on the shift lever. I undid the lock nut and turned my shift lever out 2 full turns which makes the shift lever longer than original. Put everything back together and Bob's your uncle. It's a pain to do cause there isn't much room to work in there (unless you take your plastic off). Good luck.