Have the 650 and its been in the shop for 2 weeks. The service department says its waiting to hear back from Kawasaki as to solutions to my problems...I am not comfortable with their initial assessment and glad they are calling Kawi...here are the problems.

1) Quad has a whine in high gear...same whine happens periodically in low but less evident. This is not the whine from the engine braking...even though their is some similiarity in the noise. When you start out on the bike it lets go with an annoying whine and maintains it until much higher speeds. Mechanic said it was the clutch and they had to put weights on it do to the elevation. I would think though that this would have always happened then and not been a recent problem...I have 500 miles on the quad. On another note with this problem...it started shortly after the belt started making that initial noise upon take off...the two noises are different however. Mechanic checked the belt and they said it was in good condition and within factory settings (deflection).

2) Quad has four vents that lead up by the handlebars and my quad is spitting gas on the plastic (the little grooved area under the handlebars) above the airbox whenever i jump it or climb steep hills...anyone else have this problem or know what these vent hoses are and if they could cause the problem? I dont have the bike to follow them...its still at the dealership but that is another thing they will ask kawi.

any help or insight you can provide on these problems would be greatly appreciated...even with these problems i picked the right quad...love riding this thing and truly believe its the best of both worlds...climbing, going over rough terrain, and just flat out hauling this bike is a quality preformer

 

I agree that it is the best machine on the market but those tranny noises are VERY irritating,it is the one flaw in the machine..i can't believe kawi would design such a fantastic quad and then have a tranny that makes more noise than the engine..does'nt make sense...kinda bewildering..when im low speed riding in high you have to strain to hear the motor...if it wasnt for the exhaust note i wouldnt be able to tell if there was a motor issue at all....although I dont think that there is a prob with the trans..it still sounds like normal auto sounds.

 

I don't recommend riding for long times this way (I had to once, or hike 8 miles), but if you take out the fuse for the electonic brake control (EBC). It is incredibly quiet and is much much more responsive to throttle. You may want to try that to help isolate your sound. The thing that forced me to put the fuse back in was that when the fuse is out, you have no 4wd either.

As for the fuel. I rolled mine once and the next day, there was alot of fuel actually coming out around the handle bar shroud. I haven't seen it since, so had not thought anymore about it until you mentioned it. Perhaps that is where the tank vent goes. I will look at my service manual when I get home.

 

i wonder if you can bypass the EBC and still get 4wheel..I hate that engine brake..kawi can keep that thing ..what a pain in the arss

 

The whine that i have is in addition to the EBC whine...which is normal and to be honest doesnt bother me all that much. This whine is when you take off and slightly deeper then the EBC whine...I am just a tad worried that the dealer has had it for 2 weeks and still doesnt know the cause!!!

jlpier...if you could look in your manual and tell me I would appreciate...dont know why the dealer couldnt...but the gas only spews onto the plastic when i climb or jump

 

Yup, Yup, same for me, ditto the whineing noise. With 2700 miles, I'm quite familiar with the belt squawk, but lately there seems to another little squeal that sounds just like a failing bearing. Don't think it is in the drive clutch unless the EBS bearing is failing, but the shop said at last service and a new friggin belt, that the bearing looked good. The noise begins just off idle, after it has been sitting overnight. Yesterday after initial take-off the noise didn't occur at all in a fifty mile ride. Also gobbled up a Dunflop yesterday, but just came back and grabbed another out of the junk tire pile and now am good to go for another couple of months when I'll get new shoes just for the snow of it.

Have the extended warentee, but just don't trust this dealer yet, seems like they are a little reluctant to support me against the factory.

Any ideas.

Thanks

 

Dokyo,

Where did you take your machine for service?
When you get it fixed we should hook up and burn a few trails...

 

Dash

We will have too...would like to compare some notes on the bikes...everyone around here rides yamaha...very interested in the Diamond G snorkel and twin air filter...

I have Big Boys Toys looking at it...far better customer service then Newgate...but they have had it for a couple of weeks and havent found a solution to either of my problems...going to take a ride to Plaza Cycle in Salt Lake...guy told me they had the best service department in SL area...will go down and check it out

 

Vesco's in Brigham City seems to be a pretty good dealership. They've treated me well.

 

I personally love the "whine" that the 650 makes, it reminds me of a turbo charger spooling up and seems to make people want to get out of the way.