I took my 650 for it's first hard ride today. I had a problem with the locking front diff. It seemed to lock engaged as i was trying to get thru a large and deep mud hole. I wouldn't say that I was abusing the quad just driving hard. It started making a clicking noise in the front end that continued for quite a while. I also lost the front brakes. I can make them work after pumping them up several times. I also have the rattle noise everyone else has. I am also having a tough time moving the shifter ecspecially if I'm stuck. The tranny whines loudly like everyone elses here. I was hoping it would go away. But it has not. I'm hoping these are only new quad problems and not the beginning of durability problems.If anyone is having similar problems. Please let me know. I need assurance that this Honda lover did not buy the wrong quad.

 

I have over 40 hours on my Kaw 650 and I haven't experienced any of the problems you've described. I'm sure Kawasaki has a few quirks to work out but overall my is running GREAT. If I was in your shoes I would go back to my dealer and have him go over everything. I switched from Yamaha to the Kaw and one of my buddy's switched from a Honda to the Kaw. Make your dealer get it running right and if he doesn't ask him for his factory reps phone number.

 

Kawasaki = reliability. In my experience they are MORE durable than Honda. Both manufacturers have excellent track records as far as that goes. I have had several different models from Honda to Polaris and from Suzuki to Kawasaki. The Kawis are just built better. I do, however, try to stay away from first year models and allow the manufacturer ample time to work all the bugs out. Polaris taught me to practice this. I'm fairly certain that your problems aren't reliabilty related and after you get the little quirks adjusted and everything broken in, you will have trouble free operation.