RedGoblin...Great thread. I used to own a KQ '05. Great bike. Sold it to get the Outlanderr 800....no looking back, but that is another story. Anyway...you are on target on this one. The KQ has been unfairly judged as being underpowered...not the truth! Mine was an animal. I couldnt understand the people who said it was missing low end grunt....really? Not mine. I sold mine because of re-occuring electrical issues. i would recomend this bike in a heart beat to anyone who wants an all round great big bore. For the price....best in class.

 

Difficult for me to understand comments about the KQ being underpowered. I use mine at full throttle so seldom, generally pulling a big log or cresting a steep incline with a load, that I can't understand where people could utilize that much power in a utility machine on a constant basis. On trails or exploring my average speed is probably 10-15mph, with up to 20-25 on long straights. Any faster and all I'm doing is driving and not seeing any scenery. 50-60mph on quad tires, any of them, in dirt or shale is IMHO begging for trouble. And drag racing quads? Give me a break; get some cubic inches and do it right in a car or truck.

 

who cares?

are you really going to notice a half a quads length 99% of the time?

how much power do you need?

70mph on a 600-plus pound off-road machine is not enough?

It's kinda silly when a machine that weighs 650 pounds, has racks, 4-wheel drive and giant knobby tires, has to smoke a YFZ450 in order to be fast enough......

If you have to go that fast buy something that can match great handling with the power......just go buy a 450R and get it over with........

 

Because "power" doesn't always mean "speed," especially with a 4x4.

 

I was thinking on getting a kq and have heard nothing bad about them and also was thinking about the bf but heard that the handling was terrible not knocking it but thats what I heard. The only problem I have heard from the kq was that the airfilter needed to be changed from a stocker as it will cause it to smoke in the future as dirt and other particles get into the engine. But as great as these quads are I decided to stick with Bomb/Can-Am and go with the new Renegade 800 which I just went to reserve mine today.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

lol You'll get no argument from me on the single brake lever. I hate it. First item of business is figuring out a way to split it which shouldn't be too difficult of an engineering task. It's annoying no doubt about it. What did surprise me was the front differential. I got to ride it through some deep mud in my pond and creek and found that the engagement was seamless. It really worked well. I was frankly shocked. I was all set to really hate the thing but found that it not only works but works well. None of the horror stories that I had heard regarding it. The front diff engaged seamlessly and immediately. Like I said I was shocked. The single brake lever though has to go. Can-Am is on crack if they think that is superior to conventional brake levers.

 

VERY true RG!!! The reason us King Quad owners wanting this "low end lag" fixed isn't for only a 300ft drag, but for going in the mud big time as well. IN the mud you need all the low end power you can get to keep you from getting stuck, and the KQ with this timing retard is sluggesh before 9 mph in the mud you don't get into the high RPM's.. and why wouldn't we want the power WE PAID for in the first place. Oh yeah I want to be able to pull wheelies with ease as well!!!!