I am looking at purchasing a new quad and have narrowed the choices to a can-am Outlander 800R or a Kawasaki Brute Force 750. I ride in the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta so the terrain can be almost anything (mud, snow, hills, rocks etc). I will be putting on after-market rims on so I can fit 27/10/12 front and 27/12/12 Mud Bug tires. I have road with a few guys that have the 800 can-am so I am more familiar with the pros and cons of this quad. The pros that I see for the can-am are the power, ride and 3 year warranty. The cons are the price ($11400CDN), needs to be snorkeled and the visco-lok front diff. The pros that I can see with the Kawasaki are the locking front diff and the price ($8400CDN). I am not sure on cons of the Kawasaki since I am not familiar with them. I was wondering about the reliability of both quads and any other information on either model.
Thanks

 

Pro's of Outty- TONS of power, great powerplant, excellent design on suspension, longer warranty, great ride

Cons of Outty- Price, warranty is long but sucks ($50 per visit whether they fix it or not and be very careful of all the exclusions), drinks water way to easily, very weak frame, a lot of visco lock problems, a lot of servicing (all kinds of grease nipples etc)

Pros of Brute- best bang for your buck period, great power as well but nowhere near an 800 outty, cheapest bike to build up, amazing low end, huge seat for one seater, very easy to snorkel,

Cons of Brute- shorter warranty, tie rod ends are weak, stock tires and wheels are a joke, poor shocks, much poorer ride than an Outty (the bike rides you more than you ride the bike), low intake for CVT exhaust, hard on belts if not adjusted properly, front axles are weak comparitively


There are some things on the two bikes that are a matter of preference such as 2 brake levers versus one or manually locking the front diff versus it doing it on it's own, or the engine brake bringing you to a stop or just slowing you down to 3mph and so on. My preference (as viewed by my signature) is the set-up on the Brute. When I'm in an off camber situation I like to be able to control which brake is braking, and when I hit a mud hole I want to control when the front locks up not wait until I'm stuck and then the visco lock kicks in. Just my preference though.


I not have well over 100 hours on my 07 and they have been hard miles belive me. I use it a lot for work (logger) and I pull lots of weight through lots of mud and swamp. So far the machine has only seen the dealership once and that was to adjust the belt because my manual said to do it at 100 hours. I happen to know though that the Outtys are a good bike too. I ride with 2 of them on a regular basis and they are great units. Have you considered a 650? They are almost the power of a 800 surprisingly and less money. Here's something else to think about: for the price difference between the two units think about all the upgrades you could do to a Brute. I personally belive the factory Brute is an inferior machine to the Factory Outty, but a $12,000 invested Brute will be far superior to a $12,000 invested Outlander.

JMO.

 

Well said my friend:
Just incase you were wondering. If you line the 2 stock bikes up ( Outty and the Brute) for a race.
The brute jumps off the line faster, but the Outty has more top end

This is just from my experience, nothing set in stone.

 

Yeah that is what I've found too. If the race was 15 feet the Brute would win, but races are never 15 feet.

 

the brute doesnt feel like a independent rear, my rubicon 500 seems much smoother, and as for power my 650 outlander is faster than a brute 750