We generally keep our 4x4 ATVs for two years, and that means it is getting close to time to replace our 2010 Renegade. I've been thinking about changing to a King Quad 750 with power steering. Our dealer has a 2011 that he would sell for $8200 out the door, and thinks the 2012s will be essentially the same price when they get here. Just comparing that $4000 cheaper price to the $12,000+ that Can Am wants for their big bore ATVs makes me realize what a bargain the King Quad may be. It seems to have everything you need, four wheel independent suspension, front locker, and a 722cc single that should be at least as powerful as the 686cc Yamaha Grizzly single cylinder engine.

Does anyone own a King Quad 750? How well do they work in the tough terrain, the really steep, and really off camber? Is the handling up to par? Are they reasonably reliable?

Thanks.

 

Hi there,

I have a 2011 KQ750axi but no power steering.

I really like the machine overall but I have had some issues with it.

The suspension travel is not enough for the way I ride. I weigh 250lbs plus I added a trunk, winch, and skid plates. I find that it bottoms out too easily when I get it off the ground. I feel that I bottom out more easily than comparably equipped machines from the competition. I have cranked the pre-load to the max but now I really get jostled around over the bumps so it's a trade-off but I'm still not completely satisfied with all my landings even with pre-load maxed out. Hopefully some bigger tires will help.

I have had a couple issues with the rear CV boots. The boots seem to be made pretty well but any nasty debris I ride through gets trapped on my rear A-arm guard (ricochet) and builds up around the boot. I plan to avoid mud holes as much as I can in the future because as much as I like to play in the mud I really hate fixing CV boots.

I had an incident recently in a very deep mud hole where the clamp came off of the snorkel that supplies ventilation to the drive belt housing while submerged in the bottom of the mud hole. The whole belt housing was full of water but the machine never lost the ability to move itself. I had some belt slippage but it continued along pretty well even before I thought to drain a quart of mud out of the drive belt.

I also had a freak accident in which a stick popped up after the front tires hit it and it got stuffed up into the engine and broke my speed sensor ($72). Suzuki actually located the sensor in a pretty well protected spot but I guess I'm just unlucky. I had a friend weld a 3" extension onto my skid plate so hopefully no more problems with the speed sensor.

Mine had a recall for the fuel tank where the fuel pump is attached. They need to inspect and/or replace some of the parts to ensure it will be safe. Maybe you would want to have them take care of that before you bring it home even ???

The machine gave me tons of confidence right from day 1. It does feel really nice to me. I always felt that it would just power through anything I pointed it at and in most cases I was right. I have no problems in off-camber areas. Anything steep that I've tried to creep up has always ended in disappointment. It seems that a better idea is to usually hit steep hills in 4 high or 4 low with as much momentum as possible. I really like having a switch to lock the front diff. I do use the diff lock occasionally on very technical rocky areas. I'd probably use it more if I had the power steering...

At the moment I am really fantasizing about a Polaris 2-seater but I'd have no trouble recommending the 2011 750axi to a friend.

 

Excellent review, thankyou.

 

 

Can- Am is the most overpriced ATVs there are, they do not even come in first place in any ATV shootout I read.

Not sure why there priced so high in ATVs, there Snowmobiles (Ski-doo) cost the same as every other brand.

 

Just wondering, do you think this is just the nature of the beast, with ATVs in general? Or do you think the King Quad has more difficulty at slow speed steep terrain than say a Grizzly 700 or Brute Force 750?

 

I'm probably not really qualified to answer this due to the short list of machines I've owned but I'd say it's the nature of the beast. I'm truly impressed with the stuff my KQ will scramble up.

I believe the only machines better suited to climbing steep areas would be the longer wheelbases such as a side-by-side or a 2-up ATV.

Edit: I suppose the only reason I even mentioned it was because with this being my first 4X4 I was really expecting to be able to crawl over anything while diff locked. It didn't work out the way I expected but it's certainly not a disappointment.

 

the new can-am's are pricy- but with the dealer incentives and factory rebates they are not as bad as you might think- I can roll out the door over here with a new 2010 outlander 800xt for not much more then a new axi.

as far as going from a renegade to a kq- there's quite a power difference, and I can tell you first hand, once you get used to that rotax "pop & go" it's hard to sit on anything else. I just sold my rene 800x and picked up an 09 850xp- I miss the rene, but the 850xp still has plenty of wheelie popping juice and a ton of other sweet features.

if you're comparing say... the 2011 polaris 850 xp with the 2011 axi, the xp has more ground clearance at 12" compared to the axi gc at only 10.6".

2011 Polaris Sportsman XP® 850 EPS ATVs

You really can't beat the can-am or the polaris in terms of features vs. price over the kq axi or a grizz-

for an extra $1000 or so- you get way more gc, bigger tires and a larger twin cylinder motor with the popo & the can-am compared to the axi's stock 25" tires, 10.6" of gc and the single cylinder motor. Not to mention the beefier stock axles and slim seat design with the popo or can-am.

2011 Can-Am Outlander™ 800R EFI ATVs

the new 850xp is actually less expensive then the new grizz, and the xp offers more gc and 164cc more then the grizz...

2011 Polaris Sportsman XP® 850 EPS ATVs

you really should try to get some seat time on any atv you plan on buying and compare each one- especially since you're considering dropping $9k +/- on a quad.

 

How can that be, once a ATV has true AWD,good ground clearance(IRS) and a low range its up to tires after that to have less or more traction than any other ATV.

 

There are a lot of things that affect hillclimbing ability besides traction, or having a locker. Weight balance front to rear is important, center of gravity is important, wheelbase, track width, suspension suppleness, and power characteristics are all important. Some ATVs work better than other ATVs, even if they have the same basic set up.