I have had too replace my choke cable, Kawasaki paid for it and even extended my warranty for the length of time it was out (about a week) the dealer had to order the part in and it was back ordered.
As for wheelies, my Prairie will easily pull dead stop wheelies. It will pull a wheelie pretty easily up to about 10-12mph after that it will not unless you use a bump or something to bounce it up. But, who ever said it was a traction issue is correct. When I say it will easily wheelie that is only if you are on hard-pack, dry asphalt, rough concrete, or dry grass. If your on anything smooth or even remotely slick it will just spin, which isn't always bad either.
So, speaking for my Prairie anyway, it will easily pull wheelies but it will not run 2000 mph as some people say, mine will consistantly hit top speeds between 63-65 mph.

 

I don't know whats up the all of your wheelers but mine will pull wheelies with out me pulling up or leaning back everytime on dirt, grass, pavement. I do have a belt sqeak on take off but other then thatmine is a powerhouse

 

How is it going? I may pick up a new 650Prairie this weekend. I would like to know what symptoms to look for if the one I get needs a new choke cable. Thanks!

 

Actually I think the 650 has too much power for what it is. Don't get me wrong I have a 10 second race car, I love speed. There's nothing around the 650 like a roll cage. I feel it's a stable, safe quad though. I just find that now that I've raced all my friends I NEVER use the power. It has more than enough power to do everything without flooring it.

If I had it to do over again, for MY needs, I would probably get the Prairie 360, and have kept the 400ex too for when I want to do sport riding.

 

You mean you drive with less than WOT too Jefffoxer? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Okay-
So I took my 650 to the dealer today. I said I had questions about the takeoff power and wondered if it may have to do with the choke cable. They said they would drive it themselves to compare to others thev've sold, check the choke cable, perform a exhaust anylsis and a compression test.

The results-
The exhaust analysis showed normal fuel byproducts, i.e. no high fuel measurment. Compression was within specified range. Said there was no problem with the cable. The owner said it felt similar to the others they had sold (about 12)power wise. He said he could get it to wheelie on pavement a little in high by standing back on it and pulling. He said the winch in front weighed it down and caused the difficulty.

My opinion-
I'm starting to get frustrated that the performance i expected and from your responses the machine should deliver. Jeff- I know it has plenty power but I paid nearly 7 grand for the thing so if the thing can pull wheelies till the sun comes home, even if i rarely use that much power then damnt I want the power at my disposal.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Help!

 

Expectations can be tricky. I expected to see a top speed of 65+ for my grizzly after reading a bunch of posts on here. No sir, it will make 60 on a GPS and that is all. Everything is set right, machine is broken in and done properly. 60mph is the max for level ground and plenty of room. Speedometer says 65 at that speed but atv speedometers are designed for illusion I believe so folks will think they have one bad *** quad on their hands. Hope your quad works out good for you though. Prairie is a kick *** ride.

 

Hay Andy, I agree with you on the speed thing. I have several friends who ride Polaris's and they all swear they run 70+ mph I just laugh, I've owned three Polaris's and my 400 Scrambler would run about 56mph and I know that to be a fact, just as I know my Prairie will run around 63-64 mph tops. I will say one thing in defense of the Polaris people claiming the high speeds, I've rode their quads also and according to the speedo they are going 70+. Of all the quads I've owned the speedo on the Polaris has to be the most screwed up, if you get one that is within 10% at higher speeds your lucky. They seem to be reasonably accurate up too around 30mph but after that they just don't work well, maybe it's a tire expansion issue or something, I just don't know.

 

Hey dirty dawg, I hope your quad is fine. Some people, like Jeffoxsr, live at a lower elevation than you and that could make a big difference. My pickup truck felt like someone had installed a supercharger in it when I moved from Utah to New York. Also Jeffoxsr has far superior tires than you do, and they are smaller diameter (sorry Jeff, did not want to open an old wound about that). These things could add up to mean his may just wheelie lots easier than yours.

Yeah, my friend has a speedometer on his polaris, but he thinks it is way off.

I noticed mine is a bit harder to wheelie in high since I put my winch on it, depends on how I sit. Also, I put that giant storage box that kawasaki sells on the back, and it carries a few tools, portable compressor, a towcable, jumper cables, tire fix stuff, clothing, food. When this is full, it seems less likely to wheelie. Also, when climbing a hill, the tendency to wheelie has gone up, Doh! Have not rolled it though. Yeah, I hit that box on trees once in a while, but no problem. I bet it causes me lots of wind drag. If they had showed me how big it was I might have gotten a different one. See: http://home.rochester.rr.com/yalsprus/dcp_0189.jpg

I can fit two helmets in there, shorter rifles, I bet chainsaws would fit, dogs, cats, small chil... I would never do that.

I am putting 28" tires on, and it will further cut my takeoff power, but maybe not the top speed.

There are guys with 650's that have done the performace exhaust, the twin air(?) filter and a jetting adjustment and also have 28" tires (and winch) that can smoke stock prairies. I don't feel the need to mess. If someone beats my 650 because of big (heavy) tires and all the crap I have in my box, I may point it out, but I won't care really. If I ever do care, maybe I will get that stuff.

 

Hey Dirty Dawg, nyroc may have a good point about the elevation. What is your altitude, I am at sea level? As for the your dealers explanation about the extra weight issue, with both my wife and I on my 650(collective 400+ pounds), I can still pull an honest 25 - 30 foot wheelie on dry grass or pavement, so I can,t be a 10 pound piece of metal causing you problems.
Did they check your belt deflection?
Hope you get things worked out cause you will have perma-grin when you do.