Well, tomorrow I’m taking my Brute 650 out for the first time. I’ll mostly be riding wooded trails with some open quarry areas, and along some train tracks.

Is there a speed range I need to keep in mind when driving in Low and high gears? I can see when riding through the trails I probably won’t need to go more than 20mph. What is the speed range for low gear? Most people are always saying “keep it in low and you’ll be fine” but if I have a ½ mile stretch I’m going to need to be in high gear if I want to open her up a bit, no? Thanks for the help.

 

The thing to watch for, is when the motor is reving, and the tires arent turning, it means the belt is slipping. So if you find yourself against a log, and stopped, and you try to go over in high, youll hear the motor rev, but the tires dont turn...that means the belt is burning, so back off and try low.
I think youll get the hang of it after a few rides. But if the terrain looks difficult (like muddy, rocky or steep) you should go in low. If youre towing , you should be in low. If you going really slow, and stopping and starting alot...it should be in low. But if the terrain is easy, and youre not slipping the belt,and not stopping much, it can be in high.
Im not sure youd be able to hit 20 in low, but if you did, itd be pretty close to the rev limiter or redline. What does the owners manual say about using low and high?

 

Hondabuster, thanks for the info. The owners manual pretty much says the same thing you did - for uphill climbing and towing, keep it in low, otherwise you run the risk of burning out the belt.

 

I have an '02 Prairie 650 and can get up to 43 mph in low before the limiter kicks in. Therefore, I run in low most of the time except when on a fire road or gravel road. Even then rather ride slower and see the sights.

 

iv got 300 k on mine and never had it out of low seems to have lots of speed for what i do it dont take long to go 1/2 a mile in low

 

IMO, no there is no speed range you need to keep in mind when breaking your quad in. What to keep in mind is the rpms. I've broken both mine in by varying the rpms from idle to wide open during the first 10 hours. Got 43 mph in low, 63 mph in high on my first day of riding them. The basic idea is not to let the engine run in one small range of rpms, but varying rpms from all the way up back to idle.

I got this break-in method from 2 different dealers. I have had no problems with either one of mine, after a lot of miles on both of them, and they are both fast.

I agree with when to use low with the above posts. I use high only when the trail allows it, say 20 mph or more. I can do the posted speed limit in 2nd gear in my truck, but components are really flying around in the engine and tranny for no reason, why not use high.

For a beginner, or anybody else, speed is not your friend. (my 2 cents)

 

I keep it in low most of the time unless there is an open area where I can really open it up.

 

Thanks guys. I took her out today for the maiden voyage. 32 **** eating grin miles without any problems.

I kept it in low in the trails when I was under about 20mph. When I got to some open field areas and near the train tracks I put her in high and let 'er rip.

This thing is fun. Actually, the only problem I had was the seat kept popping off the stupid latch. I must have had to reconnect it about 10 times. Anyone else having this problem??

 

the seat can be a buggar, there are two catchs. The obvious front one into the plastic the not so obvious one about 1/3 back from the front dead center, make sure that is catching and it should lock down tight, haven't had mine bump of yet. be careful that it is locked down on the trailer/truck as well, since a seat flying down the road would be a bad thing.

have fun, i love mine, smokes all my friends honda's!

 

As b6 says, the middle tab is not sliding under the slot made for it. You can tell if it's caught by pulling up on the rear of the seat....there should appear a wrinkle in the seat and it should not come up or off.

You can look under the middle when sliding it forward and see if the middle is catching.....if not, pull the tab down so that it will go under the top of the slot and into it. You can then push down on the back, after checking your wrinkle the first couple of times you do it, and hear definite clicks for the sprung keepers in the back going around the bar. You have to be careful hauling it until you get the hang of the seat clips, or you might lose the seat to the wind.