Sullivad, you won't be disappointed when you get the KQ. I absolutely love mine and I almost bought a Grizz earlier this year, until I Heard about the KQ. What really sold me was the fuel injection and the host of other features. It may not be the fastest, but it has plenty of power and handles great for an IRS machine. I have always had SRA and I don't think I'll ever go back after owning the KQ. The hardest part for me was waiting for my dealer to get my KQ in. I hope your wait is short.

 

Sorry, this was a double post [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Hello,
After years of being a dirt bike rider I'm finally breaking down to do the “ATV” thing [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]. My family members and friends are afraid of dirt bikes, and I'm tired of riding a couple of miles ahead of them then stopping and waiting for them to catch up. It's even more frustrating to follow behind so that we can stop every 50 feet to look at this or that. ATVs and dirt bikes just don't work well together, so I'm going to sell my trusty KDX220R for a new quad. I'm not in a big hurry, but want to start figuring what I want so that I can plan for it.
I have been cruising the reviews and forums and have been talking to various salesman at the dealerships. Along the way I came across this thread which touches on the three machines that I'm considering.

Suzuki King Quad 700
Yamaha Grizzly 660
Kawasaki BF 750i

At the moment I'm stuck between the BF and the Grizzly, and the King is in last. I'm looking at doing more adventure, and technical trail riding than high speed straights and drag racing. Quality and durability are important to me. I don't want to be on an adventure in the middle of nowhere and get stranded. My wife has a Polaris (2004.5) 500HO that we both really like, but after riding it for a season there are some things that I would like to have in my quad.

* More Power: I'm not worried about winning races or out running everything out there. I just want it to have enough power to feel sporty and get the job done.
* Lighter weight.
* Better Engine Braking: In some circumstances on the Polaris you have to feather the throttle to make up for the excessive engine breaking of the rear end. It's just odd to give something throttle when you are trying to go down a hill slowly.
* Clutch: I don't want to be jumping between High and Low gear all of the time.

2tv, as an owner of both which would you recommend?


Thanks!
--Nick

 

For high speed trails and tech...the KQ is WAY better then either the griz or the Brute.

The Brute has several issues as well...bolts rattle and fall off them like fleas, someone is going to get killed with the tie rod ends that keep falling off them at speed (many reports of this now!..imagine going 40mph and having your front wheel turn sideways!). Front diffs are grenading..causing a possible recall on the brute because of over shimming, poor air intake, and the reverse light will go out, and no one has figured out how to make it work again! But they are powerful!

The KQ seems to hold up nice...except reverse, but the new reverse fixes that issue, just get one of the new vin numbers...or an old one with a 5 year warrenty, not that the warrenty would stop you from being stranded...but the new bearing and shaft they put in seems to solve all the issues.

Engine braking is the best on the KQ of the ones mentioned, also between the brute and the KQ you'll find the 4x4 system one to think about. You must be moving in gear to engage the 4x4 in the brute, if you go into a mud hole in 2 wheel drive and get stuck...it's a bugger to get it into 4x4, you have to engage the 4x4 system before you get stuck. The griz and KQ are fine with engageing from a dead stop...

The griz is a good choice too, and with the price drop on them you might go with one of them, it is not as nice as the KQ...but for 1200 bucks less it is close enough for most people. You won't get efi...which is really only a benifit to people in really cold areas and areas with lots of elevation changes.

You get a sealed rear brake on the brute and KQ, great for reliable braking on the trails and in the winter!

I still think the KQ is way better for fast trail handleing then the Griz...but back when this post started in oct. they were looking also at the twin peaks? That too would be a great choice...as well as a prarie700 (same quad). Great for trails and awesome in drags, and lots of mods available...But not IRS...which really only is important in deep mud or deep snow.

The brute is fast, but top heavy, steering dances a bit, but you might get used to it. It should get better as the years go by and they start fixing up the gremlins...but it will never be a better trail quad then a KQ or P700 or twin peaks. But it rules the dragstrip...

The griz is a proven performer...just not as "up to date"...ie...no EFI, no sealed rear brake. It still boasts a reliable tranny and good engine, it will be sporty enough for you too! The KQ is designed for trails a little better, with a little wider stance, lower center of gravity. The griz has more GC in the front end at the lowest point...but under the rest of the quad they are all about the same.

The KQ offers the best trail lighting of these three with a powerful steerable headlight.

Hope this gives you some food for thought....

 

The King Quad sounds like a great bike, but I have a few of concerns with it:

1) No Re-Coil backup. I have had people leave the key on and woke up to a dead battery the next morning.
2) The reverse issue. My dealer told me to get around this issue Suzuki has limited the reverse override to 60 seconds. I would think that this would be an issue if you are trying to unstuck.
3) The vibration sounds as though it is worse than the Grizzly. I haven't had a chance to test myself though.

I'm not sure how critical this are, but I haven't had a chance to spend any time with this machine so I have to by by what I have read or have been told.

Thanks for your feedback!
--Nick

 

The king Quad does have recoil backup...you were told wrong, it's a bugger to pull but it is there! ..it's the polaris that does not have this feature (I think?).........

The reverse issue is now over they had a temp fix for it (timmed out rev.) but now they have new internal parts. They redesinged the shaft..now it has oiler holes in it..and they put in a rolloer bearing into of just a bushing...the new set up should prove to be much stronger...the new shaft and bearing will not let loose. There are 0 reports of the shaft failing with the redesigned parts. You are right ...it is currently timmed out...but we'll see if that feature makes it into new models for 06... I bet it gets opened back up a bit! The kawi reverse is high range only...so your not going to do much better there...the griz is your best bet on tranny's.
Not that they are without issues...axles seem to have a problem on the griz, as well as some overheating problems. Every quad has it's ups and downs.

The vibration on the KQ goes away with break in...it also really runs hot when you first get one..they are a little tight! It will never be as smooth as the twins though!

Still for hard core fast trail ridding the king is hard to beat... the other two quads won't do as well in those settings.

 

Npavlica, welcome to atvconnection!

I’ve owned an ’02 Grizzly since July of 2001 and I bought the 1st Camo Brute that our local dealer was able to acquire so I’ve had it for a little while too. A friend of mine just bought a King Quad about three weeks ago and he stores it at my place because he doesn’t have a place to keep it under cover or a place to ride it without hauling it somewhere first, so I’ve also had a little seat time on a King Quad as well.

From what it sounds like you want to do, I’d shuffle your preference order a bit. I’d move the Brute to position 3. For casual riding and technical trail conditions the other two quads are better suited for the task. The Brute can do this kind of work, but it can be touchy when traversing a boulder field for instance, it is more sensitive to throttle input than the others. I also found the ride to be stiffer than the others (I’ve since put Elka shocks on it), and it has the hardest seat of the bunch. The Brute shines on more open trail conditions and for high-speed trail riding. It handle erosion ditch jumping really well too. I don’t care for the 4WD system as much in comparison to the other two machines (except for the front diff lock, the Kawasaki design is better for “on the fly” situations). Like MonZooki said, you have to roll forward some before the 4WD system engages and if you are already stuck that can be a problem so you have to plan ahead as to when to engage 4WD. The belt drive system in my opinion will require more maintenance than the other two machines. Finally the engine sounds a lot busier when just putting around (it is a twin though). It just begs to be driven hard.

I removed the anti-sway bar on my Grizzly within about 6 months of acquisition and it hasn’t been back on since so it handles differently than a stock model. At the same time I did this I put on ITP C-Series wheels (gives it a wider stance) with 6 ply tires (stiffens the ride a little). The positive handling affects gained by the addition of the aftermarket wheels / tires sort of offset the negative high speed handling effects of removing the anti-sway bar. However, what I gained was better rear suspension articulation, which makes a difference on rough terrain. This also provides for a slightly smoother ride at a cost of a little more body roll. Even though the body “rolls”, the tires still stay planted well and with good body English application in the right places one can hustle the Grizzly through a twisty trail a lot faster than you might think. Axle CV joint breakage was a problem mainly with the ’03 models only. There were some overheating issues on pre ’04 models if the machines were ridden slow for long periods of time. I only experienced this when pulling a mower for hours or dragging a lot of logs out of the woods. I never had this issue while trail riding. The 4WD system is nice. Just push a button while stopped or moving (as long as the front wheels are turning at the same speed). The front diff lock is effective but you need to be pretty much stopped in order to engage it. Sometimes there is a delay before it locks, unless you wiggle the handlebars back and forth while stopped then you can get it to lock up right away.

I haven’t spent much time on the Suzuki yet and I haven’t had it in a really technical situation yet either, but this is what I’ve observed so far. The machine starts easily (actually they all do but the Suzuki requires less warm up time than all of the others). It is the quietest machine of the bunch (nice when just putting around). It has a really light “feel” to it, steers very easy which is a plus for slow, technical riding. The belt drive and 4WD operation is very similar to a Grizzly which are strong points. The machine has less body roll than my Grizzly (with no anti-sway bar) however I feel more in control at speed on the Grizzly because of the very light, squirrelly front end feel of the Suzuki. The front bumper on the Suzuki is mostly plastic so one of the first things I’d do if I owned that machine would be to put a metal bumper on it. There are times (on my farm ) where I have to push down small trees and I wouldn’t want to attempt that on the Suzuki with the stock bumper.

So for what you are looking for and between the three quads that you’ve mentioned, I’d say it’s a toss-up between the King Quad and the Grizzly, and the Brute would be the last choice. I would suggest getting some seat time on the Grizzly and the King Quad in order to sort out which one suits you the best. One final point, I see that you live in Wyoming so you potentially could be dealing with major elevation differences and the EFI of the Suzuki might be an important advantage in that case...

 

It sounds as though the Grizzly and King Quad seem to be the best choice for me. I just need to get some seat time with these machines to help determine which one I like the best. Your comments and suggestions have been very helpful and are appreciated.


Thanks!
-Nick

 

Hey, we have a bunch of guys talking about going riding in the Bighorns early in June. on the East side...I'll pass the info to you if your looking to join up with a group some time. There should be about 30 of us coming to Wyoming, we are campin gout on some private land for three days and riding trails. I've never been down in the Bighorns before so it should be pretty cool!

This will be a pretty mild group, we have about 8 to 10 kids in the group and even two guys over 70! So it will be slower paced then even what I'm used to, be it should be scenic.