....in kawasaki because a year ago I would have bet money that Team Green would have a quad out before Suzuki. I mean what are they doing over their! First the race team,(In the 3rd year) then the 500 Ninja project, and the 411cc Mojave race quad, and ofcoarse the KX 250 racer. Hopefully it will be worth the wait.
About the Suzuki, That's exactly what I would want. A little more power then a 400ex (I would think?), Reverse, water cooled. Good looks. I just have never owned a Suzuki, neither have any of my friends.

 

do you realy want to know what my take is.
Well I kept my mouth shut long enough!!!!
How many poeple do you think would pay nearly $6000 bucks for a nearly unchanged 400 motor from twenty years ago, why don't you ask a ex owner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When I was on the phone tonight with my wife I told her to save some money and she has till april.
And as far as I'm concerned so doesn't KAWI!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I heard the ex owners complaining the other day, they made me sick, saying you would have to put a grand in it before it would be any good.
EXCUSE MEEEEEE, then what does all these mods to these ex's cost,I haven't seen one without some kind of mods done to it.
Don't get me wrong here we have two hondas at home ,I like the bikes, good bikes. But come on suzuki comes out with a bike that realy on paper I don't know looks like a heck of a bike.
I wish kawi would come out with one. But lets be honest here what do they have to offer us, Hmmm a 650 praire motor with a auto trans.
Nope they have untill april, SORRY

 

well we will just have to wait and see i guess... if you look at this machine they have really come out with something i think will be straight forward with the entire package... nicely set up..its funny when the ds650 came out quad central had bought one and didnt even fire the motor up ... they stripped it down and painted orange powerd coat etc.... chrome everything...etc... so youll see that first because theyll have to be some one first if you want to see some of quad centrals work check out dirtwheel raptor all chrome.... rapdaddy... steve abbott is the owner and has a great shop out at the las vegas motor speedway..... yes it has reverse and yes they will buy them off the selfs and yes if kawai. doesnt hurry. well then the raptor or the suzuki would be nice later on...... good day Jim.

 

I'm with you Gaff I might be lookin for a Suzuki dealership in the spring. Another thing what if this Suzuki is competively priced with the EX, how could you not look at it? How good are Suzukis built?

 

jeffksf3

I'm not sure about the quads.
The rm's and pe's were awsome.
I drag raced a kawi 750 triple for years when I made the switch to four strokes suzuki was second to none!
I was so impressed I bought a few street sport bikes from suzuki.
I'll tell you what the suzuki street bikes were awsome they had a cam over lapp at 5500 rpm that had a two stroke sense in the power band.
As far as priced, I have always found that suzuki was always a little cheaper in all classes of bikes. Even when the knew gsxr 750's came out I believe any one would have bought them at any price. But you know what they were relativly cheap.
Don't sell out suzuki. If you look all the way back to the mid seventies you'll find suzuki not only set manny standards but most of the time set the pace in the sport world.
I know for a fact that kawi has always been the horse power king and hounda has been the handling king (but never known for making hp) suzuki always came accross with top shelf equipment.
I believe kawi has been cought behind because of other commitments in the motorcycle world and I also believe we will see a awsome quad come out in the next few years but what about today.
If kawi does come out with one I will buy it to show my support, but for now the suzuki looks good.

 

I could care less what brand name I'm riding. Suzuki, kawi, polaris, whatever.

Just as long as:
1)It has the features I want
2)Good dealer backing of service/warranty/repair/parts
3)Reliable and high quality
4)Decent price

I ruled out the raptor because of #2. I ruled out the 400ex because of #1 (no reverse). So this suzuki may be my next new ride.

 

At first I was a little bummed that I bought my Mojave last January but now I'm not too concerned. The Suzuki is the quad I really want to buy but I'm going to wait one year and see how it holds up. Right now they still haven't released a price and then the mags have to test it, shoot it out, modify it and then give longer term reports sometime next summer. By then the hype will have worn off and the tests and reports will be more factual.

To me the Suzuki is everything I want. I wish there was a kick start version like with the DRZ's but the ATV world is going the way of too many conviences. Oh well, nothing I can do about that. On paper, this Suzuki looks like it will roost all over the 400EX. If it is the same price and performs better, then there is no reason for me to consider a Honda. Actually I never have anyway because of the lack of reverse.

 

I liked my 400EX--and (now) love my 416EX.

Liquid cooling and reverse would be nice on a sport quad...but not 100% necessary. The new Zuki looks rad, even if it seems to have the same frame as the 400EX and looks & tires of the Raptor. So much for originality, but then again, if it works, use it.

All I can say is THANK YOU SUZUKI for not giving up on our sport permanently and Wake up Kawi !!!