Referring to my earlier post in
"Buying an ATV"
Went back buy the kawa dealer yesterday and he had just uncrated a green 650. Rode it, loved it, bought it. Put about 30 miles on it yesterday and so far the only question or gripe is concerning the transmission. This thing is noisy! Doesn't rattle, it just whines constantly. I realize some of the whine is the KEBC but this has an additional whine on top of the engine brake noise. Is this normal?

Still looking for a quad for the Boss. Because of some feedback from one of the replies to my other post I went and rode an Eiger. Not bad! We've just about decided that hers will be the auto Eiger. One reason we're leaning that way is both the Prairie 360 and the 300 vibrated the floor boards so bad that I didn't feel that an all day ride would be tolerable. I thought the Kawa singles were counter balanced? Dealer thought they shouldn't be that bad so he was gonna look at engine mounting bolts. To me it felt like mounting bolts were'nt gonna be the answer. Possibaly something in the tranny, belt flop?

Now I gotta find tires to replace the Duflops on the 650. Yeesh, these things are cheesy!
Suggestions? Our riding will be 90% hardpack, sand, and rocks, snow in the winter.

 

well seems it gonna be for a lot of trail ridding , id look into the type of tires that the mike penland guy rides on . i dont think you would like a big lug mud tire it also would shake you to death.
my .02
ninjazx

 

Wolley,

1. the gears in the 650 are straight cut, like the reverse in many manual transmission cars, and that's why they make the noise. The helical cut gears in a manual transmisssion car don't make noise, neither do the hypoid gears. Cutting them straight just makes noise, it is not bad. It wastes less energy, may cost less to make, may heat up the oil a bit less and may weigh a teeny bit less in the overall scheme of a tranny case design. After reviewing the tranny design from pictures in the repair manual, I feel that the reasons the gears are straight cut may be size and weight factors. Although I am an engineer, I did not talk to the ones that designed the 650, so I am just guessing.

2. I have heard that 360 owners love them, keep a ear to the ground. I guess I like the 400 better for power, but sometimes that diff lock comes in handy.

3. One of these "Famous" 650 names around here uses the Maxxis Sur Trak, for the conditions you are descibing (I think they said it was Mike Penland, but I misquote more than my fair share around here). The Sur Track is the best hardpack grabbing but still not sucking really bad in the mud lightweight tire. On the down side, if you only want it in 26" size, there is only one size and some guys put an ITP spider trak on the front. But, you have a better choice of widths in 25". There are a whole lot of choices for tires than lean toward mud performance. I noticed that the widest tires seem to do really well in the snow.

I want 26" and am leaning toward Maxxis Sur Traks in the rear and a spider trak in the front. I wish there were better choices.

Dirtdevils and Bearclaws are heavier than sur traks, but are good choices for dry stuff. The mudbugs and mudrunners is a really good choice for medium mud performance and still going well on hardpack. Most other 26" and bigger treads are too aggressive. I still need to think about whether I want to keep the tires that light and risk popping them, or get some tougher ones.

I wish Maxxis would get off their lazy fanny and make some more sizes for the Sur Track and the Bighorn.

 

Great answers Nyroc! Thank you.

Next question: Jetting? I live at 6400 feet and all of my riding will be at 6400+ with occasional trips to the real mountains 11000+. I am gathering that the Prairie is jetted for 2000 feet. Although I am doing my best to keep the throttle below 1/2 for the breakin I have noticed a stumble when the button is stabbed a little too fast. Kind of reminds me of a quadrajet that is loading up. Where do I find info on re-jetting this thing? I'm sure opening up the air system will help some but it won't do near as much good for me as it will for the folks at lower altitude. The air has got to be there to breathe!

Second question; Is my dealer the only source for a service manual and how much are they?

 

hay as far as the breathing, ive hear that k&n didnt make a filter for that bike yet. but i know for a fact that they do now. i dont know the part number but i know they make it cuz my buddy has one in his bake and i saw the box. ill try to get the number for ya.
ninjazx

 

6400? Wow. I guess I can say mine is faster than yours, at least at the elevation I have been riding at. My truck felt like it grew a 2psi supercharger when I moved from Utah to New York.

I do not know what to tell you about the jetting difference between 6400 and 11000. All I can say is when I lived in utah, I adjusted the jetting to a point where the quad (suzuki LT500) ran decent in both altitudes, so I did not have to keep changing jets.

If I were you I would do all the airbox mods, airfilter, and exhaust mods right up front and then get a dynojet kit. The kit has a bunch of instructions, that seem to be helpful. I don't have one yet, I just read about what other guys have been doing with them.

I don't know if you know this stuff, but you always want to avoid being lean, because it can damage the engine. You hear coughing (or sneezing) in the airbox when it is lean. Rich sometimes makes a backfire. Rich also sounds different, almost like bad gas, whereas lean sometimes cuts out like flipping the ignition off.

The mid to full throttle points are the most important to not be lean. You won't burn the engine up being lean at idle or off idle. Sometimes people run the quad at full throttle for 30 sec and then flip the kill switch, coast to a stop, then look at the plugs on the spot.

Good luck with the jetting.