I have noticed that the King Quad issue seems to be dying in this and other forums. If indeed Suzuki is watching this is what they want to see. If you research almost every quad in the competitive market with the King Quad has had or currently has a recall. The difference is these companies did the recall and fixed the problem. The difference with our situation is MONEY. If you think about it this fix costs more than your average recall per bike. I do think Suzuki will fix any quad which brakes, but they may or may not eventually recall and fix the 8,000 to 10,000 quads affected. I think the photo's which snapshot provided us with and now have disappeared show he probably got in trouble for letting the cat out of the bag. This may have or may be the fix coming down to us once Suzuki is susre it works. This is strictly my opinion and think we should at least keep it on the first page of the new topics.Text

 

..if they don't recall every poor engineering defect they produced,..and only correct the ones that fail..dont you think everyone would try to break theirs, so they could have the perment fix?? I know I would...









Suzuki's new slogan on KQ's: The worst has yet to come !!!

 

I think it's dying down only because there have been no new developments in the last week or so. The status remains that most KQ owners have not had a problem with reverse - other than having to get the detuned ECM. There was a brief flurry of KQ's that did get the new ECM and then lost reverse, but none reported in the last week or so. I don't know if KQ sales are off from this or not. As many of us as there are on these forums, it seems like we report only a few hundred of the 8,000 to 10,000 KQ's that have been sold thus far, so I kinda doubt that our words on these pages carries as much clout as we would like to believe. I do know that one of my local dealers has had the same two KQ's on his showroom floor for about a month now, maybe a little more.

Most KQ's only have a few hundred miles on them, or less. Unless those that failed truly had an unusual defect not common to all KQ's (highly unlikely in my opinion), we will continue to see more and more failures across the board. It does seem that most KQ's that have failed so far did so with very few miles on them. It's just common sense to realize that once a bushing starts to seize and the bushing surface is abraded, somewhere down the line it will fully seize and fail. It may take one long run in reverse, or it may take many times of minor damage, but it is going to happen sooner or later.

So we have KQ owners, stuck with waiting to see what will happen, when it will happen and if Suzuki will back them up when it does. Right now it "seems" that Suzuki will make things right (sort of) IF and when their KQ fails. On the plus side - Suzuki is a reputable company and a real fix does take time to design, test and install - perhaps we just have to wait a little longer.

Then we have those of us who are just waiting. Speaking for myself, I do not own a KQ. I did plan on buying one, probably before June. (I even had the blessings of the wife, who said, "Go ahead and get it") [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]. I've owned eight quads, five of them Suzuki, but now I have no intentions of dropping almost eight grand on a "flagship" model until I'm convinced that it is reliable. It's not enough for me to know that Suzuki will fix it if it breaks down - I have no desire to have my upcoming ATV vacation ruined or miss months of good riding time or hike 15 miles out of the woods due to a known defective design. <u>Make the fix, Suzuki and you'll sell a KQ to me and all who feel the same.</u>

As to the photos of the KQ flaw and the reported fix - Well, I have this little file right here on my desk in front of me with hard copies of several of the best pics. I don't think anyone is going to delete that.

Jaybee

 

I've got it saved too. I'm bummed that I did'nt get my new unit before the end of ice fishing season here....so now theres now hurry. I can wait until end of summer, and if they hav'nt fixed it by then I'll go Yamaha when they start clearing the 05 models out in august. As has been said....many people don't use their machines that much and some hardly ever use reverse at all. This problem is going to plague suzuki for years to come if they do not recall everything thats already sold. In fact....its going to even hurt guys like me further down the road in terms of resale value even if I do get a unit later with a permanent fix. Lets face it...most people who own these are not sitting on the internet pulling up this information. But...by word of mouth through the next few years as these units fail one after another all that the owners who do not research these issues will be putting the word out. And that word will simply be "don't buy a suzuki...their transmissions fail". The public will not put up with an expensive repair like this hanging over their heads.

 

The KQ issue may be dying on this forum, but to me this is a huge problem and I think Jaybeacon had it right. There just isn't any new information on what is going to happen. I'm assuming you guys saw my comment last week about my KQ. It had the recalled ECM installed before I took it out for the first time. I lost reverse with only 2 hours on it while reversing and spinning out of a snow drift. Those of you who think that it isn't a widespread problem lookout! It is obvious to me that it is just a matter of time before everyone gets there KQ stuck in mud or snow and has this same problem while trying to get unstuck. I would recommend purposely getting stuck and blowing reverse before the end of your 6 mo. warranty. I guarantee that it's easier to do than you might think. Suzuki is replacing my entire engine assembly with a brand new one. However, It has been in the shop now for three weeks and they say it will be atleast a couple more. I will probably miss out on a trip to Moab I have planned in March if the shop doesn't receive the new engine soon.

If I had it to do all over again I would buy a grizz. I have ridden both side by side and the suzuki is far superior in every way, but if I had bought a grizz I would be out riding right now instead of sitting in front of my computer.

 

heres a copy of a post from another site.......sound like letter writing is the way to go.....


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey Boys and Girls:
I just got off the phone with American Suzuki in Brea, CA., 714-996-7040. I jumped on board with all you other owners, and had written them 2 weeks ago, expressing my concerns about the defective reverse idler gear in the ATV’s. I’m writing today to let you know GET OFF YOUR SEATS AND WRITE A LETTER, MAKE A CALL !!!

I spoke with customer service tech “Gabe”, and once we were on the phone, he asked me to hang on while he read my letter and got up to speed with me. Did you catch what I said...they actually scanned my letter into their system and it was on file when I called ! Gabe got back on the phone when he was done, and told me he would be right back after speaking with customer service manager, Mr. Brad Wright.

Gabe got back on the phone, and before he had a chance to brush me off, I said “if you’re going to tell me there’s no problem with the ATV and the ECM swap is your solution, I want to speak to someone else.” Gabe politely told me no, he wasn’t going to offer any excuse, but he wanted to let me know my letter had gone up the chain to Mr. Wright, and it was being reviewed “along with the others” and a corporate decision was being contemplated. Gabe assured me I would get a written response from Mr. Wright in the very near future. How refreshing !

I’m writing this to those of you who read these forums, to let you know your calls and letters are working. Seems we have the ball in motion, BUT DON’T QUIT NOW PEOPLE ! I’ve included the name and address below, for you to route your calls and letters. PLEASE help us help each other and spend the .37 cents it takes to voice your concerns. Don’t let your decision to buy this quad be a bad one. I’m hopeful Suzuki will permanently fix the problem, or at the very least, offer us a free 4 year extended warranty. However, they won’t be so inclined unless they have to take an hour a day to read the piles of complaint letters that are hopefully clogging up their desks.

If you need a copy of my complaint letter, to help draft your own, let me know.

Ronnie Lyons
Meridian, ID
cog4150@yahoo.com

Attn: Brad Wright
American Suzuki MC/ATV Cust. Service
P.O. Box 1100
Brea, CA 92822
714-996-7040


IP: 216.222.111.12

Arron
ATV Addict
Posts: 267
From: North Bay,Ontario, Canada
Registered: Apr 2003
posted February 22, 2005 06:04 PM

 

they did the same thing for me givin me a brand new engine and tranny thought it was overkill but works for me i dropped it off last sat and they called yesterday and said it was done so i'm going to go get it after work tomorrow then i'm going to try and break it this weekend see if it's better supposedly they tell me they did somethin to it so it won't happen again we'll soon find out

 

I just wrote my letter.

leadsled

 

I'm writting my second one!

 

Sending second letter tomorrow. Keep the pressure on.