I am looking at a 1999 Kawasaki Prairie 400 that is for sale. It is a full time 4WD with an automatic transmission. I have not seen it run yet but I did get a chance to look at it from close up. Can anyone tell me their impression of this machine? Strengths? Weaknesses? Is there anything I need to look for when I test drive it? The woman who owns it is asking $1400 for it. Is that a reasonable price for this machine? Thank You

 

If the frame and a arm bushings and shock mounts look good it's a decent indicator the machine wasn't beaten to death. Overall did it look fairly clean? Lots of use corrosion? before kawi discontinued them those bikes had a good rep for their time. Good power, pretty good sra ride, and a pretty good rep for reliability. Basically you have to be the judge of what the condition looks like. Lots of leaky seals, loose bearings? If not I'd counter offer 1000-1200 and ride!

 

I've offered $1250 and she has accepted. I will take it for a test drive before actually purchasing it tomorrow. I didn't mention in the previous post but it also comes with a winch and windshield so it should be worth the price if the rest of it is in good shape.

 

I've got a 2000 Prairie 400. A former neighbor of mine used to be one of the suspension engineers at the Kaw plant down the road from me and said the 400 was one of the best machines they ever made and was confused as to why they quit making it.

Anyhow, my machine has around 5000 miles and the only thing that comes to mind is the primary clutch faces and internals wore out around 3,000 and I replaced it with a comet and I replaced the belt at the same time though the belt looked good.

The cluch cover is a pain to get off. I drilled a hole in the 10 o'clock position ofthe body plastic to just use a wratchet extension to get to that bolt which holds the cover. For me, the worst part of getting the cover back on is getting the brake lever return spring back on.

I've had the gearshifter assly off and regreased it and removed that stupid pin that prevents it from going into low or reverse without pushing the button on the shifter but I don't know if your machine has the same design.

Only thing I'm fighting now is water intrusion into the rear gear hub. I don't know how it is getting in there. I regreased the big ribbed rubber gasket on the brake side and I siliconed the speedo wires where they enter the top and I've checked the vent hose for leaks.