Just info i got off another forum but the whole idea of a grizzly being a 700 efi sounds pretty convicing

 

michael2, I don't know how far you are away in IL from St. Louis but there are '05 KQ's here. I was at a dealership 6 days ago and they had a green and a red one at the time. Another one that I called a few left as well.

 

Quads of all brands are not, have not, sold that well this year,gas prices,layoffs,general economy etc......should be abel to deal at your on speed,just take your time.

 

I do live in the St.Louis area but I didn't get to go look like I wanted to today, the first dealer I went to had one '05 but they had it priced above the msrp. Maybe this week I can make it out to Chesterfield or Valley Park and look at some of those dealers.

 

michael2, I am in Arnold and used to live in Belleville so I am probably close to you and where you are shopping. The dealer that had 2 '05 KQ's was the one in Valley Park, although for some reason, I'm just not a fan of that place. I have been to Chesterfield Power Sports a few times and have heard they are expensive but I like the atmosphere and the employees non-salesman type attitude over the store in VP so I am going to give them and Victory Lane a shot.

I want an '06 KQ though and have no problems waiting until the end of the yr...if you are in the same market then maybe we can use a double purchase to our advantage at one of these places!

 

The other questions I had about the KQ have to do with steering and engine braking. One article I read stated they thought the steering was to quick and sometimes would change direction on its own plus they also state engine braking was minimal does that seem to be the case or not? Also if any of you had or have Praire 700's how do feel they compare to the KQ. My whole deal is this the Rubicon has been a really good bike however I would like to have something with more power and a front end the will lock up. However I don't want to give up engine braking and I don't want something that has so much power that you tend to spin tires losing traction in tight places. Alot of my riding is at relatively slow speeds. I usually go to Moab in the fall and I just got back from the Rocky Mountains so I'm not really looking for high speed not that I wouldn't use it if it was there but It's not my main goal.

 

It's time. My ten year old 300 king quad is still the quad that pulls others through the tough spots (a griz, a big bear and a rubicon last year) . Well, I was the only one with a winch.. But I did ride through where they had to be pulled... three different places!
But it's really sucking to keep up with the big ones, and I just about melted it on the last ride.
It's been good to me through the years, but these days the 3.5 inches of travel and the aging technology are just catching up too fast. Time for a new ATV.
I was slobbering all over the new Bombardier 800, and I'd probably be sitting on one right now but for the fact that although they are selling like beer at a hockey game down in the States, I can't get one here in Canada until fall, and that's if I pay now!

I was about to get a Rubicon for a while there, until I did the math and gave my head a shake (I'm a long term CVT antagonist. I prefer the solidity of gears...) Here's a post of mine from another thread...

Him, giving me a jab:
Hey Glenlivet, did you change your mind about the CVT tranny, or did you just like everything else about the KQ so much that you were willing to live without gears?
Me:
Maybe 120 times in my life I've found myself supporting something I was dead set against. Many ways to look at it.
1. Some cosmic joker is having a huge laugh at my expense...
2. I am able to absorb new ideas and alter my thinking instead of holding fast to set and inflexible ideas
3. I have no backbone

But the bottom line is I want a new quad and... I believe that the Honda transmission in the 2005 Rubicon is the ultimate expression of human achievement. BUT...

a) The Rubi doesn't have IRS, King does...
b) The Rubi has 7.5 inches of inflexible ground clearance in the form of a one bottom plow, the rear drive housing. KQ has 10.2in a flat bellypan
c) Rubi's a 500, King's a 700
d) Rubi has a carb, King's got EFI
e) Rubi would need a Detroit Gearless Locker (More $$$) to approach what a KQ has stock for front traction
f) And they weigh the same, both are liquid cooled, they cost the same... oh wait, 2500 LB. installed Warn winch included in the King, not the Honda...

I should give up all that in exchange for a beautiful transmission?
Ahem... (cough), I would rather change my principals when it appears to be the smarter choice. I really like the Rubicon but look at that list of letters and you tell me!
I was willing to go for an Outy 800 (Yes, with a CVT ) but for the fact that BRP won't sell them to Canadians out west until this season is shot!!!, yet they want a deposit on one right now!!! But they are selling them like hotcakes in the U.S.!!! Traitors. I wanna new quad NOW. You know the feeling.

Yes I'll grit my teeth and buy a CVT equipped ATV.
And yes, I considered the Vinson manual, but it has a plow behind it...
Oh for an Outlander 800 with a Rubicon transmission... That's actually for sale and I can buy it!!!

Be thou aware, the earlier King Quads had a bushing on the reverse layshaft which is lubricated through a small hole. There have been reports of this bearing failing and even causing the cases to break. Mostly it seems that people into mudding have used full throttle in reverse in mudholes (often with bigass mud tires) and holding the throttle on full for an extended time, thus creating a loading and heat generating condition that Suzuki's engineers didn't anticipate or provide for (Their naive thinking being that reverse would only be used to back the ATV up under a minimul load for a short time), thus causing the bushing to fail.
Suzuki's fix for these early models was simply an ECM box that didn't allow full throttle operation in reverse for more than 60 seconds! (Indeed, who would want to do something like hold full throttle in reverse for a full minute! Mudders it seems...)

Some owners however insist that their reverse bushing went out even while doing nothing more strenuous than plowing snow, or backing out of a ditch! Now people do tend to downplay their screwups when reporting a failure for warranty purposes... But it could happen I guess...
Nevertheless Suzuki began installing a full needle bearing on the reverse layshaft after serial # 115956 and all the failure problems are history.

Suzuki probably required that the engineer who designed that inadequate bushing carve his entrails out with an incredibly sharp samurai sword in humiliation. "Oh I am so ashamed that I have dishonoured Suzuki with my poor bearing"... "Hhhuuukkkhhhhhhgghh"....

Be careful though. Dealers are still selling the early ones off the floor, and as of this message there are still early serial # KQ's in crates not yet unpacked! Dealers all play 'dumb', or else are truly out of the loop, but they love to tell you that the ones on the floor are all 'Fixed" if you ask about reverse troubles.
I am just now negotiating a new KQ for myself. Due to pick it up this coming tuesday! There are after all, many many fine plusses to this machine after the bearing issue is put to rest.
Here's how my search went....

Me, on phone to dealer: "I'm going to buy a new King Quad and I'll buy it where I get the best price, What's yours?"
Dealer: (The owner, not just some salesman!) "We have it (yellow one, not my fave but...) now for $9299.00 plus taxes"
Me: "What about the reverse bearing issue. Is it the older one with the bushing?"
Dealer: What's that you say? (The eternal response)
Me: (Explains the old bushing, inadequate lubrication in some circumstances...broken cases...)
Dealer, "Oh, all the ones on the floor are fixed..." (!!!)
Me: "Unlikely. A dealer would have to remove the engine/transmission, strip it down and replace the engine cases with newer ones, as the new bearing won't fit the bosses in the old case. Very uneconomical thing for any shop to try. Suzuki's 'fix' was an ecm that limits throttle in reverse."
Dealer: "oh" ('dang' those informed consumers!)
Me: "Will you do me the favour of telling me the serial # of the motor?"
Dealer: (long pause) "552 100972" (below 115956)
Me: Thank you"

Several dealers later, all trying to sell me old KQ's that are 'fixed'...

Me: "...King Quad 700. Price. Serial # last 6 digits"
Me: (The bearing speech)
Salesman: Uh... Green one on the floor. 2.5 Warn winch included for $9999.00...113536
Me: "Too old"
Salesman: "Shouldn't be, it was built in May and got here in June..."
Me: "That's all you have?"
Salesman: (Seeing a sale getting away) "The ones in the warehouse are crated up and I can't read the serial #s... wait, I'll go on the computer and draw up the regs! ... Yeah, we can have a green one 118***"" And a red one 121883 and a red one 122115!"
Me "Start pulling the nails out of that crate of that green one!"

Well the king has been in and out of my truck for the past 2 days now and I have close to 10 hours on it. Apart from an unfortunate small front skidguard incident in a crossdich that I will elaborate on at a later time, it's been a gas!
Just tonight I read about another new king owner who'd bought one from the same dealer as I the same day. He wrote about how easy it is to wheelie. Well I hadn't tried such a thing and I'd thought that Suzuki's engineered-in full-on throttle delay would preclude such antics anyway. I'd given it full throttle from a stop, mind you, and it didn't want to wheelie... maybe he means in low range... I put it in low on my concrete driveway (like an idiot) and gave it the thunb jam. Whoa Nellie! The front end was heading for mars and there I was, hangin' on and hoping I wasn't past the point o' no return and hoping for the compression holding to bring me back down, which it did eventually. (I wasn't ready on the back brake which I ought to have been.)
Yes, it wheelies readily.... But handles the roads like a pro! I was licking along the logging roads drifting like a guy that isn't fifty, and hauling like no tomorrow.
I haven't been in real technical stuff yet but time will tell. And I don't really mind the CVT so far... (traitor that I am!)

 

Michael2,
I have a 2005 King Quad and I have still own a Honda Rubicon. I agree with you that the Rubicon is a solid bike that is trouble free.
Here are my comparisons of the two:
Steering: The King Quad steers much easier, even in 4 wheel drive. I haven't had any of the steering problems others describe.
Ride: Again the King is a far better ride. So much so that you can ride it a lot longer and still not be tired.
Power: The King is more fun because it much more powerful.
Climbing: Surprising here, the Rubicon gets better traction. Even with the differential lock the Rubicon can out climb the King. It may be that the tires (stock) aren't as good as it may be because Suzuki doesn't put the power to the ground as well as Honda. I wish I knew, this is something that has puzzled me.
Descending: Nothing holds back as well as a Rubicon in Low Range and ESP 1. The King does Okay but on steep descents it slowly builds speed, a tap of the brakes slows it down quickly.
Work: I thought the Rubicon would be better for work, but the King pulls things much easier and really is a better Utility machine.
Sidehills: I think the King is the equal of the Rubicon and the Rubicon is very stable. The King has the gas tank in down in the frame and it even though it has some body roll it really is very stable.
Fun: No contest here, the King is much much more fun to ride. I would call it more of a Sport Utility and the Rubicon more Utility.
Dependability: Like you I have had no problems with the Rubicon and that's hard to top. However, I have owned the King for 11 months and have not had a single problem with it either.
They are both great machines. However, I ride the Rubicon less and less and choose the King almost every time. I can highly recommend the King Quad and would buy it again.

 

Actrite, thank you for the helpful information that's what I am looking for, I really have to get out to the dealers and ride one if possible and go from there thanks again.