Hello everyone,

One of my friends friend is going to take the liberty to let me take his 2002 Kawasaki Prairie 650 V-Twin for a test ride. Being someone who has NEVER ridden an automatic quad before and someone who is used to riding sport ATV's, what shoul I expect? I'm very interested in buying one, but before I do that, I have to sell my machine first.

Any thoughts and suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

Thank You,

IronBear

 

Expect to have a smile on your face from ear to ear and then some. Automatic = simplicity. Put it in gear, whack the throttle and hold on. I recommend getting on a gravel/sand surface doing any speed (because it doesn't matter) stand up and fish tail the back end by moving your *** from side to side while applying throttle. On my machine the rear end breaks lose up to 40 mph on gravel/sand...but the machine still holds the road and is totally comfortable without feeling like going out of control at all. And the machine is Comfortable as hell....

The Prairie 650 is a big machine with PLENTY of power to make you change your mind about riding a sport machine again (unless you love going 80+ and jumping 15-20 in the air). This machine will do anything you want it to and go anywhere you want it to. It'll jump with ease and land so softly that you will consistently want to do it again and again and again. I whacked the throttle once going over a small hump on a 4x4 trail and stood the front end straight up for about 50 feet before the rear tire found it's way into a large rut and I hit a large rock inside of this large rut. I think if I was on any other machine I would've been a goner and gotten thrown off and possibly run over, but with the weight of the machine and nimbleness the rear end just jumped around twice (about 3' off the ground) and I managed to keep her together w/out any problems at all.

She'll wheelie in low very easily, in high gear it takes a little bit more because there is too much acceleration if you don't get it up off the ground quick enough. It has incredible acceleration through 50 mph and enormous amounts of power anywhere for steeps, technical trail riding, mud holes or whatever you can throw at it.

Clearance is just OK, I go over a lot of stuff and don't hit and other times I bang the skid plates but I guess that's ATVing. It's not a ferrari...it's a trail monster. The one draw back I find is with the stock tires. Absolutely great for everyday trail riding and smoothness. But if you encounter thick mud, give yourself about 15-30 mins and prepare to get dirty. I buried my machine almost up to the exhaust this past September in mud that I though I could get through all day long. I had to get pulled out by my buddy's 1987 Yamaha Big Bear 350...talk about hangin your head down low. When we got out I said to him "Thank you..." and with a smirk "NOT A WORD!". Other times on the trail w/ stock tires I have been ok. Went through some stuff this past hunting season that I told myself I wouldn't do but after riding past it once I had to conquer it on the second pass. It was a small mud hole (about 15 feet around) that hadn't been gone through in a while. It had clear standing water in it that was at least 18" deep. I busted through it w/out even a flinch of the prairie slipping or getting sucked in, so I guess it all depends on the mud conditions.

If you want power w/ some weight behind it, and the handling of a sport bike...you will absoluetly love this machine. I pulled out rocks in our dirt road in Maine for a half day this past november. The biggest rocks were 3' around and about 1-1.5 feet thick and heavy as hell. I hooked a chain up to 'em and dragged these rocks with my prairie about 100 yards down the road where I could get them out of the way. I didn't feel a thing. I also pulled out a 178 pound, 7 point Maine deer from the middle of the woods with it. I don't think there is anything that this machine can't do...except swim...we'll have to find out...

Parker
02 Prairie 650

 

Good description Parker! I have been riding a Banshee for several years now, so I had to have a 4x4 machine that would provide a thrill ride. After owning the 650 for two weeks now and have had it in the snow twice, I can safely say I have absolutly no regrets in buying it. It is truly a kick in the pants just like the Banshee and Raptor, but on a 4x4 level. Kawasaki should have given it a name that better suits what this thing is capable of.

 

Ironbear,

I ride a Raptor also, and have been thinking about moving to a 4 wheel drive instead. I think that I will miss the sport handling way too much (I rode dirt bikes for 30 years). I would like to be impressed by a 4wd, but the ones I have ridden just felt like a big slow tank. Please post your feelings about the Prairie 650 after you ride it, as I would to know your feelings since you seem to be thinking the same way I am.

P.S.- I had a Polaris 400 Scrambler first, and it was no comparison to the Raptor, so I have always felt that any less sporty 4wd than the Scrambler didn't have a chance satisfying me.

Thanks,
Lorrin[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

 

I used to have a quadzilla, and all the 4x4s I rode felt like tanks too.

I got the prairie because it felt less like a tank and felt like I could play on it more that the heavy ones and the ones with irs. I am very glad I made this choice.

It just takes a while for us sport quad riders to get used to the 4x4s. I feel like I am having as much fun on this 650 if not more than when I had the quadzilla. I feel I have more things I can do. If I moved back to Utah, I would go back to a sport quad.

 

I was a hard core sport ride also. I have owned several utility quads looking for the perfect combination and the Prairie is it. The only other 4x atv I've owned that I had a ball on was a Polaris Scrambler 400. Just think of the Prairie 650 as a sporty machine that: When you go through a mud hole the mud goes back on the ground and not on you (I hated that with my sport bikes!!); You can safely pull out your stuck buddy on his total sport bike that tried to follow you; SNOW is now fun, and I don't mean just down the road where it had already been plowed; Speaking of snow if you just arn't getting enough thrill get a Jet sled from Cabelas and strap it behind the 650, take a ride on it throuh the snow at about 50mph you'll be thrilled trust me and don't forget your helment!;
That's just a few thought of mine, I have many more but I gotta go.
Good Luck, God Bless, & Happy holidays everyone!

 

One of my friends went to look at a Polaris 500 4x4. Afterwards he came over to test ride my Kawi 650 while the Polaris was fresh in his head. He hopped on and ripped around...he said there was absolutly no comparison. He said, "Oh my gosh, The Polaris is a boat anchor compared to this Kawi."