Broke my in 50/50, for the first 50kms no faster than 45 while constantly altering speed, as low as 5kph to 45kph, then for the next 50kms I ramped her up to 75kph then down to 50kph up to 75 down to 5,etc... you get the idea. Once I hit 100kms and 10 hours (A process which by the way was quite tedious) I let her rip and have not looked back since. I also did my first oil change at 200km, did another at 600 and now just did one at 1000. From this point on I will only do an oil change at the start of Winter and the Start of Summer or any time the oil looks really black after hard dirty riding. I have almost 1400kms on the quad and not a problem. I did switch out my air filter a few weeks ago for a UNI but have not yet ridden it, too busy riding riding something NEW [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] if you know what I mean.

Bottom line mine is working great and not a puff of blue smoke and tons of power. I think we NEED to get all the honest FACTS on everyones experience with this issue further to what I asked for above. If you all want me to correlate this data I will also need and honest assesment of how you broke it in and your maintenace procedures since ownership. I would be willing (can't believe I'm going to say this) provide my personal email address for private contact so as to avoid any possible Suzuki Eyes from seeing your data and red flagging you. Paranoid, perhaps, but they did contact me re the last petition, usual PR blow smoke up my *** stuff, but it goes to show that they do read these forums.

Let me know.

 

The King Quad is no different than the other brands. Everyone does this, including Honda, Kawasaki, and YAMAHA, to name a few. (Rincon, Brute, new 700 Raptor) The cylinder life is aprox 10 times that of one that was just bored. Why do you think they are all switching over to this method? It even adds hp since the walls have less friction.

As for the smoking issue here, it would be nice to get to the bottom of this. Far too many people are having the problem for it to be an isolated issue. My guess would be the air filter seal. Let's just hope they jump on this before it gets completely out of control like the reverse issue.

 

If I'm wrong I apologize and stand corrected......but it was my understanding that the KQ does not have a cast iron sleeve, but the Yamaha does. I was looking to buy the KQ originally but got turned off by the issue of all their transmissions blowing up, so opted for the Grizz instead. The only complaint I have is that it takes a little while to warm up, but in retrospect thats a good thing so that I don't go driving off and hammering it when its cold anyway. It has been a flawless machine for me although I probably don't flog it as hard as many of these guys in the forums that live in a mountainous environment do. However....an additonal factor in my purchase was my understanding that it had a cast iron sleeve. I've never had faith in the aluminum bore ever since GM came out with it in the first place in the motor that was in (maybe....) the Vega as I recall? The biggest problem was that it could never be rebored because you cannot duplicate the treating process after reboring it. I guess thats not a big problem when you're only talking about replacing one jug...but its been a problem for the marine guys when it comes to overboring their blocks to keep their boat running a few years more. Sorry...but I have not faith in an aluminum bore. Its probably fine in a bike that has no heavy torque applications but plenty of RPM's....but when you start putting torque against the side of those cylinder walls from mucho resistance its a different story. Just an uneducated opinion from a guy who has built more than a few engines and reads lots of magazines....hopefully its not a design issue. The KQ sounds like a great overall machine from what many have said.....

 

Actually, the Grizzly is one of the very few to still be cast iron. I look for that to change though as the new 700 Raptor now has a plated aluminum jug. That will most likely progress to the Grizzly as well.

I wouldn't let that be the deciding factor on whether to get a machine or not. They are all switching to this method. This is nothing like the old auto aluminum cylinders. There are places that can respray the liner but it would probably be easiest to just replace it. If you aren't ingesting dirt, the bore should last 10 times what your iron bore would last so you should save a ton of money with rebuilds. These smoking machines are not the norm. How many Vinsons, Brutes, or Rincons do you hear of have this problem? I would still guess it is filter related but only time will tell.

 

I also say the cylinder coating has nothing to do with it. Plated aluminum cylinders have been used for DECADES now. They are lighter, transfer heat better, wear longer, are harder than a steel sleeve. Yes more work if you need to oversize, but a definite improvement.

 

Well then maybe Suzuki was a victim of farming out production to a low bidder in China........