The Good Lord was watching over me today.......

My brother-in-law and I decided to go over to Hollister Hills this morning
and see how my new King Quad handled..... I also wanted to get
my mileage up to 100 miles, so I could do the first service on it.

I found out that the KQ is definitely not as playful as my Honda Sportrax
and the steering is much harder to manage, especially when the trail
got dicey.

I was headed downhill and hit a decent size rut which surprisingly
yanked the handlebars out of my grip...... and from there it really
went downhill! The KQ veered to the right which launched it up
the slope and I knew it was gonna roll. I bailed to the left and tried
to scramble but after the quad did a full roll, it then landed on top of
me and the left front tire and front end of the machine pinned me to
to ground so I couldn’t move it off me. Damn 600 pounds of metal
plus getting the wind knocked out of me was a real wake up call as
to how fragile we can be.

Since I couldn’t budge the quad nor my upper torso, I found that I was
able to reposition my legs and got some leverage to push myself forward
and finally extricate myself. The chest protector sure saved me from
really getting hurt and I have a new respect for this beast of a quad.

I’ve now decided to keep the 400 Sportrax as my fun machine for
the sand and ragin’ ..... the KQ will be for respectful trail riding from
now on.

 

Not only was He watching over you, but He made sure you put on that chest protector even though you were just doing a little trail riding. Good lesson for everyone.

Glad to hear you're okay...

 

Glad to hear you are OK:-) Do you think the tires had anything to do with your accident? We have had a couple of close calls with the quad going where it wasn't being driven to go by the operator and of those times, we feel the tires are suspect. We have quite a few miles on other quads and have never experienced the loss of control that our KQ's seem to be experiencing.

 

You have to be very careful with the steering on the KQ,it has the lightest steering of any 4x4 ATV on the market and the slightest obstacle will 'grab' the steering right out of your hands if your not ready for it.

Glad your OK.

Bill

 

I will have to say tires play an important role on the KQ's handling. A good radial tire will improve it greatly and will make the grab less important. We have the Holeshots ATR's on ours, and they rock so far!

 

I am considering the new ITP Mud Lite XTR's on the stock wheels. Anyone had any experience with this combo? Thanks:-)

 

I dont agree that the tires are going to make that much difference with this issue. I had my first full lock experience after going to the bighorns which are a radial. I believe the problem with the king is the very low positive caster. Until you fix this it will steer like you experienced. Every one that has done the "caster fix" is very happy with the results. Its a little over my head, and there is supposed to be a company coming out with upper a arms that have the caster corrected and that is what I am waiting for. There are also those who are using a steering stabilizer with some success. Any way thought you might be interested.

Glad you didnt get hurt.

 

My bones are a little sore today and my wife noticed that I've got an bruise imprint of
of my chest protector on my shoulder [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img]

My bet is that it is not the tires, but I'd be real interested in finding out more
information about the "caster fix"

 

I should of specified that we have offeset itp aluminum rims that make the bike wider by about a inch or so... I think type of tire makes a big different. I've seen and ridden stock vs holeshot atrs and the ride is totally different. The front will hunt or grab less when on bumpy trails. I agree the caster is negative which will make the steering extremely light, but a wider stance counter acts the effect on the stirring. My opinion anyways...

 

Glad to hear your alright. Things sure can change for the worse in the blink of an eye can't they.