I am looking at buying a new King Quad. I ride mostly forest service roads, trails, snow, etc.. How has it been so far? What are some of the pros and cons of owning a KQ so far? Has the belt been slipping? Did the fix the issues with reverse? Is there a good chip out there for the low-end lag? Any and all information would be great. Thanks.

 

I've got 1150 miles on my 05. It's really been a great ATV for me. It gets excellent gas mileage, cold starts are a breeze, and I haven't had any notable problems. The belt doesn't slip untill you are up to the handle bars oin water/mud which I would do on mine anyway.

Pros ---- RELIABLE!!!! A++ gas mileage, cold starts are unbeliveably easy, the 695cc single engine provides excellent torque and nice/smooth powerband. 72mph top speed.
Cons---- It has 4wd speed limiter..must press override button to get full power in High diff-lock mode. Steering is a little twitchy at times. Not as fast as the V-twins(but still fast for a 4x4) The 25" stock tires aren't very good in the snow.

About the low end lag....Velocity Devices Inc. claims they are releasing a new ECM for the KQ in the next 3 months that should eliminate the lag by advancing timing.

 

Great machine! All the downfalls are fixable! Check my sig.

 

mike i'm also looking into getting a kq for myself also. It was a bind between the new outty and the kq but the outty is soo expensive and don't feel like getting it since there aren't really any dealers right around the corner like the suzuki's are. Im gonna get rid of my ds 650 on ebay soon and hopefully get one but overall I haven't heard anything bad about then except get an aftermarket airfilter because the stocks suck and still let dirt to get through and then you will be shooting out blue smoke thats what ive heard anyhow.