i am considering purchasing a 2006 kawasaki brute force 650 4x4 with the solid rear axle. the quad is camo, it has about 700 hours i believe. it has a warn winch installed. i test drove it and it seems to run good. he was asking $3900 but he said he would do $3700. is this a good deal? are these quads pretty reliable? im looking for a trail/hunting rig. thank you

 

personally-, I wouldn't buy it. But if you're full steam ahead I'd offer him $3500 max and not a penny over-

2005 / 2006 were problem years with the bf atv's.

Search the kawi forum for 05 & 06 brute force. There should be plenty of threads to read up on

 

To me he seems a little high but not unrealistic. Personally I wouldn't give it but it's about half of what it cost new??? If you're looking for a great deal regardless what it is, I think you'd better wait. If you just want a quad regardless of price, then by all means

 

I don't know why you say that.

The 650 straight rear suspension (SRS) has been around since 2002. In 2005, Kawi just changed the name from Prairie to BF, and nothing else has changed on the quad itself. Why did all of sudden 2005/2006 become problem years on the same quad? I know that 2005/2006 BF750 got a bad rep because people kept driving into mud holes and caused all kind of havoc on electrical system and engine failure.

The BF650 SRS is one of the best ALL AROUND quad IMO, better than IRS.

The price seems too high for a quad with 700 hours (!!!).
I would not pay more than $2500 for it.

 

because I owned 2 of them and both were nothing but one issue after the next- both low milage (300 miles and 600 miles) and not beat on by any means (I'm extremly picky about my atv maintenance)- I remember searching the internet and reading about all the issues after I bought mine. I recall many issues with the bf 650 also.

05 & 06 were very problematic for the bf (the 750's)- carbs were junk (factory recall on the jets), cvt was prone to fail with the toggle trip even on new models- both spent more time in "limp home" mode and dealing with the reset jumpers under the seat was a major PITA- water was always an issue- even if it was shallow. The lack of inner fender deflectors allowed water to splash up everywhere and in the air box snorkel. They gave a horrible trail ride, very harsh. Both would overheat constantly from just "normal" trail riding and having a little dirt or mud hit the radiator. Even the kawi dealer said the cooling system was junk and said most people bought the radiator relocator kit to mount it on the front rack It was the only atv I've ever owned that went back to the dealer 3 times- and don't get me started on the front diff cable that would always freeze in the winter- hands down the stupidiest front locker design ever offered on any atv.
I had the carbs on both atv's off on a regular basis.

No other of the dozens of atv's I've ever owned had such issues.

just my opinion and experience.

 

okay thanks for the input. ill pass on it. i also found a 2006 suzuki king quad 700 4x4. it has aftermarket rims and tires, winch, and its got 225 hours. he said he would do $3700. i know this is the kawi section but what do you think? i may check it out on thursday.

 

Way better deal and a better bike IMO and has an irs. Ask him if it has ever had any battery charging issues or ECM issues.

I'd buy the zuki.

 

Don't focus too much on name of brand when buying quad. At this time and age, all manufacturers make reasonably reliable machines. I'm sure there are some lemon individual machines out there but all major quad companies like Kawi, Suzuki, Yamaha, Polaris make reputable machines for decades. If they haven't, they would have bankrupted a long ago. You can't survive thiese days by making junks.

When you buy used quads, focus more on the actual condition of the machine rather than name. Just because one person says one brand or model is bad does not necessarily mean, all quads out there with samd brand/model are bad. Used quads' reliability HEAVILY depends how the previous owner has ridden and taken care of.

BTW, whatever brand/model you buty, try to get a EFI quad instead of carb if you can afford. Carbed quads "can" become finicky when whether gets cold and it would require carb cleaning once in a while (pain in the rear end on some quads).

Here is my 2005 BF750 below. Even after 6 years of weekly riding, it still looks and runs like new.

 

I would argue the opposite of what hayashi is stating- that just because you have one particular atv that had had no issues, does not mean that model is a good buy.

Below are 3 factory recalls effecting the 2005 prarie / brute force 750 (and another recall or tsb about the carbs & ecm)

Like I stated above- in addition to the problems that initiated the recalls on the 05 brutes- there are a dozen more issues with this particular model in these particular years.
In fact- most of the big bore manufacturers had issues and released recalls & tons of TSB's for 05 & 06 atv's - all of'em.

Between 2003 & 2006 a lot was changing with the big-bore atv industry- as they really began to push the big-bore 4-stroke HP wars between each manufacturer-

Some people hate to admit it- but some model years just are not as dependable as other years- Same concept when buying an automobile or an iphone; you don't want to buy the first model the first year it comes out- there will be lots of issues to work out- and that's the case with the 05 & 06 BF.

Yes- every atv has its flaws- but some years are less dependable then others.

You'd be doing yourself a favor by avoiding any 05 model years on any manufacturer 's atv.

Kawasaki Motors Corp. U.S.A. Recall of All-Terrain Vehicles

Kawasaki Motors Corp. U.S.A. Recall of ATVs

Kawasaki Motors Corp. USA Recall of ATVs

 

I counter-argue that.

My point was NOT saying one model or one brand is good becayuse I had only particular brand or atv. That was just an example of showing how well kept and well used machine can last a long time so that a buyer is NOT too foucsed on one brand or model. In fact I was saying ALL brands make reasonably reliable machines.

One brand issuing many recalls DOES NOT necessarily mean they make bad products either. They may be acting just over-cautiously. On other hand, a company can make bad products and they may not even admit nor issue recall bulletins.

The point is don't foucs or avid just one particular brand. I will say it again in case you still don't get it. Reliability of used bikes GREATLY depends on how the previous owner used and maintained. That's more important and that's my point.


Abvove is competely IRRELENVET to the OP's original inquiry about 2006 BF650.

Above bulletns are for BF 750 or up to 2005 model only.

How about showing some bulletins for 2006 BF 650?

And also, how about showing some bulletins for Polaris, Yamaha, Suzuki and Honda?

They all have their share of problems.