Trust me MudKicKer, if I had my way the article would already be posted on ATVScene, but when I was at the Dealer Expo I saw so many cool ideas and products I just had to incorporate a few of them. Besides I'm hoping that Mike Penland has the cams done by then. To be totally honest with you, you won’t read or see anything that’s going to turn the world upside down. Everything except the custom bumpers I had made, are existing products – when I ran into a problem or came up with an idea I sat down with a few of my riding buddys and analysis the situation, usually over a few beers, until we either decided that no modification was the best option or decided on a course of action that we felt best accomplished what we wanted from our quads. Some of the guys I ride with only choose to use a few of the modifications on their quads while others didn't use any of them. We haven’t done anything revolutionary on our quads – on more then one occasion we took different routes and ended up with similar results. The only thing that will be unique about this article is that 1) it was done by an everyday rider just like you guys and 2) you’ll have the chance to see all of the modifications on one quad.

 

It sounds like a real good article, can't wait to see it, a lot to be learned..sounds like real good mods..along with the filter, jets,& cdi box,I guess that is the point where it starts getting more expensive..cams, etc..(I know that is where I am on my bikes) .[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

I just brought in my quad for service and got into an interesting debate with the service tech who seemed to be quite knowlegable on the subject. He said speed is all a matter of cost with the 650 there is a great deal of power to be found in the low end area (translation more power through torque) his comment with biger carbs??? he said this particular mod would free up horsepower. We talked about the other things mentioned in the forum and highly recomended a cam also (no surprise there) What do you guys think about the carb????

He also mentioned that Kawi didn't down play this atv for the public it was because of the low end torque twisting frames and warping the final shaft drive in 4x4 mode??

Has anyone heard any of this stuff its all new info to me... Thanks

 

You could be right about mechaincal problems caused by too much low rpm power. I have not heard the reason the low rpm torque was reduced, just that it was done.

However, the high RPM power was also reduced. It does not stress anything as much as the low speed stuff. I do not know why the high speed power would need to be cut for any reason other than saftey.

 

Exactly, I wondered when this topic got started when the piddlely looking drive shafts would come into question. I'v heard they are made out of real exotic stuff, which generally translateds into real hard and stiff, which means reather then give a little in response to power, they break, like snap.

No matter though, is a good subject for someone else to experiment with and keep others informed

 

The front drive axles will bend before they break. I have bent one pretty bad, Kawasaki replaced it under warranty.

 

i'm a little curious to how you managed to bend a axle, but am more interested in how you managed to get it replaced by the factory??? was it a defect.

also as a side note, when i had my tires put on the tech said to be careful of jumps because i might bend my rear axle, a friend of mine actually saw a bent axle, it was so bent that it cracked the rear dif houseing down the middle... not a pleasent sight on a machine with under 500 miles on it. has anyone heard of this problem, that can only be because of the extra weight, i thought kawi would make a rear axle a tad bit stronger then this. I mean i don't plan on doing any major jumps but in the rare event i get some air between the tires i don't want to have to be paranoid about it.

 

You really don't create rear axle bending conditions until you are hitting the suspension stop hard.

The front axles are weakest when the handlebars are turned, because bending forces are created by the outer CV. Combined with torsional stress, it is more likely to make the axle bend (if the cv stays together).

Roar was talking about the front drive shaft not holding up. This idiocy started from uneducated Polaris advertising.

-The 650 front drive shaft has no joints on it, therefore no bending forces.
-It is made of an alloy, which could easily have 5 times the yield strength of a the material in a polaris shaft.
-Since it is so short, it already has lateral stiffness, so it would have been a very dumb waste of metal to make it any bigger (and cause fun robbing useless weight).

Polaris is not afraid to admit (at least by their advertising) that they have small brains. The lack of intelligence of the arguements on their website comparing the 700 to other quads SCREAMS WITH STUPIDITY.

I have heard of a couple of people messing up their front axles. If it happens enough, I bet somebody is going to sell us bigger or harder ones.

 

I wondered if anyone else noticed that moronic Polaris advertising. I liked the one about cable brakes being for bicycles or something like that. I would not buy any ATV made by a company using these kind of tactics. They must think the prospective ATV buyer and/or Polaris owner is too stupid to make judgements for themselves. I think they pulled that advertisment from their website. They still have a "No Contest" comparison table with misinformation. Under the 4wd system, they only call the 700 system "true 4wd", and they claim the Kawasaki 650 only has an engine skidplate and that it is aluminum? Do you think these people are really interested in giving you the best design and value for your money? Anytime advertising or the owners appear overly defensive, it makes me think they have inferior products. Anyone comparing the three manufacturer introductions on ATV television; Kawasaki 650, Yamaha 660, and Polaris 700, can see even the Polaris presentation sucked. That "Director of drivetrain"?, which is one of the founders decendants, really did a crappy job describing the machine. It went something like this; "The design flows through the engine and the frame and the transmission and the frame and the frame and the tires and uh the frame and the engine", it is really good for a laugh. And how about that stupid thing with Petty riding in to the fanfare, conffeti, and fireworks like he just loves only Polaris quads. If his racing was sponsored by Arctic Cat, do you think he would be riding a Polaris and hosting the intro? And what was the pit crew there for? They seem to really go for that bigger is always better stuff. Some people really don't believe that smaller can be stronger when designed that way. I have a scary thought. I would like to see all of the ATV companies design and build a prototype helicopter similar to the revolution mini-500. Then make the top brass fly in them at the intro. Then we could see which companies are serious about design and reliability!

 

thanks for the input nyroc as always very informative, sometimes its hard to belive what is out on the atv magizine market because what is put in them is generally dictated by what manufcturer endoses the text,

recently while on a ride my friends 650 seems to not to want to start, almost as if it is not getting gas, on closer inspection and playing with the vent tube from the tank the atv will fire up, have you or anyone you know experienced this problem (vent tube becoming cloged) and in your opinion do you think that this would impeed on the machines ability to start on comand????

Old man wheeler.... where are the cams, any closer to completion?