Ive never seen a prairie except for at the dealer and with all the great talk on this site about them i figured they must be a great ATV.

Well im sure there not a bad ATV but from what I saw last weekend i wouldnt consider buying on.

First off the mud pit was a real hard one to cross, not many bikes made it thru, There was at least one bike from every manufactor that made it and the hondas needed to get pushed but probably becasue of the open front diff.

THe Kawi hit the mud and water and did ok until it got stuck. He rocked it back and forth and then when he was in foward he was giving it gas to move forward and it started spinning but still moving. All of a sudden when he let of it stalled. He restarted it and it did the same thing again. Everyone thought it had water in it but when he got to the other side it was dry.

About 4 min after that a identical machine (650 prarie) tried doing the same thing and also got stuck then stalled except this time when it stalled it backed up when it lost power and submurged the muffler, It didnt restart after that.

Even the polaris made it thru with out stalling. This prarie was so stuck and in the middle of nowhere. I went out in the pit with my quest 650 and attached my buddies which cable which was on shore. I almost got stuck as well but managed to get out.

The only reason I almost got stuck was by hitting all the holes dug by the Prarie 650s.

So they stall, Get stuck, and after we all got out we had to tow this guy back to the lodge. I pulled him and didnt even know him but i felt sorry for him becasue he was totally covered with mud and wet. But the real kicker is that at first it was the other p650 pulling him (The one that got thru) Except he couldnt pull him. Somthing must have failed or started slipping. Both owners are taking there bikes in for service.

After looking at the prarie and how it went i would say the quest has more power and better design. The prarie just didnt do well at all.

Before you jump all over me I want you to know that im dead serious about this and Im just wondering how there could be so many owners on this site backing up a bike that performed so poorly IMO. Obvously not everyone has witnessed what I saw but if you did im sure you wouldnt be running to the dealer monday to buy one.

 

Marty, sounds like these Prairie owners were new to their quads, or hadn't gotten everything adjusted as they should, one of the two. The stalling could have came from weak choke springs (most likely) or possibly the riders hitting the holes at WOT and then completely letting off the throttle and flooding the machine.

 

Stalling with mud or water at the tailpipe can also be due to rich idle mixture, and/or idle speed. A quad stalling due to exhaust pressure is a silly thing to base any kind of comprarison on because it is adjustable. Those guys either don't know how to set the idle mixture or the shop did it wrong, or maybe it came that way, or the choke sticking like Mud said. What you have described is not typical, we would have heard about it or have talked about it.

A quad with stock tires that the 650 has can get stuck going downhill on pavement. If those 650s had the stock tires, they are the worst tires known to mankind. Especially in the mud. So, most of us here on this forum probably think your comments are kinda dumb, since we all have better tires. And the ones of us who have ridden around with our mud tires really know how well the 650 is in the mud. The 650 can very easily run the best of them. It will beat any quad in the mud, with the exception of places that are a ground clearance rut straddling contest.

With my preperly tuned 650, I never stalled once at Salamanca (huge mud pit). Neither did the many 650s that I saw. The quests did not stall, some of the 660's did (and 400ex, and suzuki LT250R's).

The mud was actually too serious for anyone with stock tires, IRS or not. Lots of quests getting stuck, lots of polaris getting stuck, lots of 660's getting stuck, lots of 650s getting stuck (except for mine and a few others).

So when I tell you that my 650 made EVERY quad (that I rode near enough to see) look stupid in the mud, you should be thinking why? Tires and rider. Mostly tires in my case, I'm probably not that good.

 

Wow, based on that incredibly well designed scientific study in the local mud pit. I would say that everyone should get rid of their Prairies.

I am sorry you were'nt impressed, and I am glad you have a quad that makes you feel good about yourself. That is what it is all about. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Thanks for the heads up, I will continue to go around mud holes and stay out of mud pits now that it is established that a Prairie can't go through the local mud pit.

(I hope everyone can detect the light-hearted sarcasm here)

 

.

 

HI GUY'S;
Man am I ever mad at myself for ordering new tires for my Kawi650. It turns out as PROVED above by "MAR" that a Quest650 is more powerfull than the Kawi!!! I guess the rest of the entire quad world is now mistaken...The QUEST is the most powerfull 4x4 made...not the Kawi. The Mags are wrong,My dealer who sells both is wrong,everyone on this Forum is wrong, and I guess the DYNO's are wrong, ATV television is wrong. I am taking all the above to court, and will file a class action lawsuit against the perpetrators who told me the Kawi was the most powerfull. I will split any money I recieve as a settlement with YOU "MAR", as YOU are the one responsible for me finally seeing the light. I can't thank you enough. I am now of the opinion that all the mud I have personally made it through, was all a figment of my imagination. The pics on my sig. are all fakes...the bike never done anything thats actually pictured. OH I FEEL SO ASHAMED!!! Maybe I will start a support group...anyone interested please contact me...I need help NOW!!!

PS; FOR SALE:2002 KAWASAKI KVF650 (MINT) open to offers...as this is not the machine I thought it was. HA HA HA HA HA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!!!!


ROB

 

I have a feeling that most of us here would make that quest look even more silly than it already does. I would bet that most of the 650's here would walk all over the majority of those other machines in that mud hole.......unless it was 8' deep organic clay and everyone had 28" outlaws or vamps.

Something tells me these 650's that stalled were A) Fairly new, B) Completely stock and C) Inexperienced Riders. Sounds to me like stock tires though, there is no help for those besides recycling....

 

Rob,
I just looked at your pics, it is a good thing you only have a Prairie, if you had a powerful quad, that thing would have flipped instead of a little wheelie [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Well,,,,,,,,last time I had MY 650 for a spin, I conquered a hole up in our neck of the woods the rest of the guys i was with said was impassable.They said that they have NEVER seen anyone drive in and out the other side.I was told about sp500's not gettin'through,,Hondas,Yamahas even other Kawi's(400's)The guy's couldn't believe it.But I DID MAKE IT!!

Other times I have had water running right over the little cover over the intake snorkles without wetting a belt or stalling an engine.

In all fairness there aren't any Bombs around here to try it.

But I'm DEFINATELY not interested at looking at any 'o them Dirt Doo's.

Oh yeah, the Quest might be ok, most people DO get stuck in my P650's tracks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

hell, i`m selling mine tomorrow, what a pile `O crap! i can`t believe.
a prairie could get stuck? never.... hell, i think i`ll go buy one of those quest650`s. they NEVER get stuck.. just ask mar. i should just shutup . its mars story and he can tell it anyway he wants