I want to start a survey that will help all of us determine the reliability of our beloved machines. I have seen various post with problems such as "Belt squealing", "Choke problems", and Throttle sticking". I would like everyone that owns a Prairie 650 to write in and list any problems that you may have encountered, and the fixes for those problems if they are known. Also, I would like to know how may people on this forum own Prairie 650's, and know how many people that have not experienced any problems with there machines yet. Often all we here about is, if something is wrong with a machine, and pretty soon, we think that all of them have or will have these problems. It would be nice also to see how many people out there have not had any problems at all. This way, as owners, we will have a good idea of potential problems that we may experience with our own personal machine, as well as get an idea of how many machines are actually having problems compared to how many that are operating problem free. Everybody, please contribute to this survey, so that we all may benefit from it with the knowledge gained. It will make trips in for service that much easier as we will know what the problem is, and be able to tell the mechanic what others have done to fix “this particular problem”.

I have had mine for only 1 week, and it has 6 hours on it and 55 miles. So far no real problems. I just adjusted the rear brake, as it was feeling week, but a quick look in the manual, and I saw that the manual recommended checking the brakes at 10 hours, or 60 miles. There for, this seam's to be right on schedule and a normal break in item. I will continue to up date this post with the reliability of my Prairie 650, and I hope all of you will do the same. Like I said, if we all contribute, we will all benefit, and we will only have to subscribe to one thread to do so.

Thanks everyone!

 

I have three hours on mine and no problems yet. Oh, yeah one problem, trying to stay under half throttle.

 

11 hours, 90 miles. Loose wire from radiator that controls fan, loose nut/bolt on fender. Changed fluids today, fluids looked new. All else is good.

 

Thanks guy's, it looks like this survey is off to a good start. Let's keep them coming. I know I will be watching this thread closely!

Thanks!

 

I have the canadian version of the Prairie/KVF650 which currently has about 700 kms on it and is 8 months old so I had one of the first ones off the line.
So far I have had the choke cable replaced with upgraded(stiffer) springs.

I have never had my belt squeal but I checked out my belt deflection at about 250 kms(thanks to this site) and found that the driven pulley required removal of one of the two shims to bring it back within spec. No problems since then with the belt being out of deflection, as I have checked it again several times. I think once the belt "breaks in" it stops stretching.

One other thing that is happening is a light knocking noise coming from the converter area in very cold temperatures which goes away after being driven for about ten minutes. I have determined that it is the wear guides in the spider of the drive pully making a tapping noise against the Movable Sheave until the assembley warms up. This is normal wear and my dealer, whom I trust fully, says they are good for probably another couple thousand kms and will only cost about $20.00 parts and an hour labor to replace.My service manual lists 9 different thickness of these wear guides ranging from 7.2mm thick to 8.0mm thick with 7.5mm being stock.

I have had two other quads and must say this thing is a work of art and would buy another in a second!!!!!!

 

420 miles, no problems 170 of those are with 28" muzillas. No fixes done, other than the winch. I broke plastic 4 times or so. I used goop to fix plastic cracks, laminated with many layers of dryer sheets (used) to keep it from running and reinforce it. I hate fixing plastic with an aluminum sheet and rivets.

No signs of choke problems, no signs of belt probs, carb probs.

I hope the good riding continues.

 

Three hours, 40kms, no problems. This is a great site for us 650 guys Area51. After I had put the downpayment on my 650, I found this site and started reading about all the probs with the 650. I almost DIED when all I heard was negative feedback. The 650 is no worse than any other quad out there when it comes to reliability, as long as the owner MAINTAINS IT!!
Speaking about maintainance, if any of you guys out there could give me some info as to where I could get a service manual, it would be greatly appreciated. The dealer where I got mine was not very forthcoming with any info in this regard. Thanks.

 

Thanks mastrblastr, if people continue to post we will build up a library of information on the 650 for all of us to use. I will be gone for the next 4 days, but I hope people continue to post. We can all use this information!

Keep them coming guy’s [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

41 hrs and 145 miles

Problems -- no problems,except belt seems tighter now then when it was new

Noises -- light knocking noise from belt area when cold

Tires -- stock tires,rear half worn,front looks new

Maint. -- changed all fluids at 10 hrs,lube all moving parts every
ride. adjusted wing nuts on rear brake cables 1 1/2 rounds in.
lubed top steering head clamp,it steers almost twice as easy.

Fun % -- 150% on the fun scale.



Mastrblastr,here's a link to get a manual-----> click on vehicle information

 

340 miles, 62 hours...no problems or regrets

I am going to lube the top steering head clamp to make steering easier...TrailHog, Thanks for the tip.