Thanks oldman. One of these 2 quads will be my next one (unless there's some revamping of the Grizz). Something else to consider is the dealer. My closest Suz dealer sux, so I'd likely lean towards the Kawi....

 

Pretty comprehensive journalism, OMW! .....And what Magazine are you working for?(JK!) The KQ will be my next quad. Hopefully they won't "dumb" it down on performance. Pressure from my daughter to be the heir apparent of my Vinson has stepped this up a notch. I still feel that I'm going to wait a year, and see what goes wrong(if anything) on the KQ and BF.

 

The KQ comes out in September right? Sounds like this will be my next quad for sure. My wife will have to take over my Vinson as well. Since I probably wouldn't be able to ride in September because of all the snow (ALASKA) I should have some time to see a few reviews before hitting the trails again. Can't wait! Can't wait!

 

Outrage-I'm putting you on my buddy list! You and I think a lot alike! Check out my pic's-#7. Lemme know what ya think. Being from ~close~ to the N. Pole, you might have seen one of these cruising around!

 

I think I read somewhere that the KingQuad has a swaybar. Is this going to drastically improve the body roll and ill-handling that most IRS quads are prone to?

 

RedGoblin,

Since I did not personally have the oportunity to test ride the machines and my buddies didn't go into those details, I can't answer that question for you; however, keep in mind that they both felt that the KQ could possibly be the best IRS on the market so that tells me that however Suzuki designed it they did their homework. Also keep in mind that Suzuki did not rush to market with this machine and took their time to make sure it was right. I hear rumors of a new 700 King Quad two years ago at the Indy show so one must assume that these rumors were true and Suzuki has been hard at work building a quad to take on the competition head on. I've never owned a Suzuki and this is the thrid year we have raced Kaw P650/700's so I'm very interested in how they will matched up. Before we decided to invest in the Kawasaki's we tested a Yamaha Grizzly but didn't feel it handled as well as the Kaws; however, last year at the 12 Hours of ATV America a Yam Griz was kicking everyone's a$$ until he broke the drive shaft and they replaced it in less then 12 minutes but that was enough time to put him back to fourth place in the class.

 

It will be very interesting on how the King does in mud and water with the EFI, how it handles the slides as to the nice speed riding of the Vinson,coming out of slides with control,sure the power is nice in the mud and going up steep hills with the extra power the Vinson does not have. but how much power do you really need,just a thought ?

 

Well Blue I am sure it will do fine.I just wish someone knew what kind it will be...either a throttle body or a multi port (or a single port in this case).I always wondered about what is enough also when I got my 650.But I have to tell you having the power especially down low like the Kaw has is real reassuring.I can tell I am getting older because now a nice ride has became an issue.We rode 90 miles in one day 2 weeks ago and several of the trails were rocky and rough.A buddy that has a grizz there switched with me and I can tell you there is no comparison in how the IRS swallows the bumps.I must not be alone in wanting a good ride because IRS seems to be getting REAL popular,Now the Kodiak is even going to be IRS . Also,guys like me want the drivability or EFI.Along with riding for fun I deer hunt and just being able to fire it up on cold mornings and go will be nice.What else will be nice is if someone else has to ride it that is not real familiar with operating a choke on these things.
Some guys are crying about not being able to (hop up) the efi.Like you trying to squeeze another few horses is not worth it to me.Being able to start out at 4000 feet and ride to 10000 WITHOUT worrying about jetting is MUCH more important....just my opinion.....I could be wrong[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]
02 650 Camo

 

4xZuk,

Funny! It's hard to tell but I do remember seeing something like that #7 last winter. I'll tell you what though...if all goes well I have one of those under by tree except it will have the words "King Quad" on the side of the tank.

 

Outrage-you must've rode by my house! Those damned elves were tearin' it up, until I got out there and rode w/ 'em. Pretty compitent! Alaska/N.Pole trains 'em well! LOL, my freind!