Great comparison pix on the 300KQ, JUSTRANDY. I agree that that one is one of the smallest out there, but perhaps a tiny bit bigger than the Yamaha Timberwolf 250 4x4, and my main ATV, the Honda TRX300FW Fourtrax 300 4x4. I also really like the ultra-low first gear of the KQ.

I do prefer the 2WDs on the trail myself. Manual clutch, and low weight, like a Warrior 350.

TO the OP: I had a Polaris 200 2WD, mostly for the wife, and that was light, easy to steer, and had a great front suspension. Cheap, too.

 

Yep, they're 46" wide.

 

For comparison purposes, the Honda in my "garage" is 40" wide at the front, and 42" at the rear, and has a wheelbase of only 49". It may be the smallest 4x4 out there, but I do not have the numbers for the Timberwolf or KQ300.

Fulltime 4x4 does make it harder to steer, however.

 

I wasn't aware of the Timberwolf, but it does seem to be a hair smaller than the suzuki 1999 Suzuki Quadrunner 4WD ATVs

The thing about the suzuki is all the gears. 15 forward and 3 reverse. Then 2wd, 4wd, 4wd locked. All that makes it heavy and probably a little bigger than it otherwise would have been.

Polaris had a 4x4 2-stroke that was small. It had auto-engage hubs that locked the front wheels when the back started slipping. Since it was 2 stroke and CVT tranny, it has to be really light.

The warrior is a cool atv. 6 speeds and reverse from any gear. Lots of aftermarket parts too. But I wouldn't call it light. It weighs about as much as a 700cc raptor. It's all those gears again, I reckon, but still lighter than a 4x4

My neighbor had a 300 honda 4x4. It had a metal gas tank and full-time 4x4 with a superlow 1st gear. It was a capable atv, but we couldn't lock the front diff nor turn off the 4wd, so that kinda sucked. No idea why Honda does that We couldn't find an aftermarket thingy to disengage the front diff either

My 300 KQ is 43 at the edge of the front and rear tires. 46 inch wheelbase and 29 inches high at the seat.

My 250EX is 39 at the front. 42 at the back and 30 inches at the seat. I made it a little wider than stock.

 

Yeah, fulltime 4x4 sucks, and I don't think there was a disconnectable 4x4/4x2 until the 90s? Perhaps Suzuki had the first? Those Suzuki 2-range trannies also saw their way into Arctic Cat's first ATVs, in the mid 90s.

Honda hung onto their crappy steel tanks for a long time, too. I had to weld a new bung into mine.

As for the Warrior, I lowered the final drive ratio by putting in a smaller drive sprocket. That, plus custom racks really helped this quad a lot. Great for trails or utility use.

 

I saw a video on youtube of a guy who took the rear suspension from the cat and put it on the king, but I can't find it. The king has single a-arms while the cat has dual. I think the gas tank on the cat is higher to allow gravity feed. And something is different about the front diff, but other than that, they were about the same.

You welded a gas tank? How did you make sure the gas was all out?

The warrior was nice. I'm always looking for 6th gear on everything else

 

I did not know the 250EX was shaft drive. I thought all 2wd sporty ATVs were chain drive.

Shaft drive is a lot less maintenance and is tougher if it hits the occasional rock on the trail then a rear chain sprocket.

 

It's a dual-edged sword. The shaft drive is nice not having to ever worry about it, but I can't change gear ratios to make it faster. I put larger tires on, but now I have to suffer with the larger tires and it really doesn't go that much faster.

The 250EX also has pushrods. It also has no oil filter. The shocks are non-adjustable. There are lots of things to not like, but it's a great all-around quad. A friend of mine bought one for his daughter then bought another for his wife.

 

The dealer I got my quadsport from had some "test ride" trails that actually had some pretty good climbs to them. They decided to start selling the trikes and quads when they went out one morning and saw trike tracks in the snow going up and down the hills that were sketchy for some of the sleds of the time.

A couple of things, the 80s were unique. You can't really test ride new quads anymore thanks to our litigious society. Plus, little trikes are awesome in snow, something many will never experience sadly. And yes, those little 2wd quads also can do an excellent job off road.

 

The Polaris Phoenix also has shaft drive. I prefer the chain drives on sporty quads for the same reason JR does. But I want a ratio that allows more 1st gear torque, rather than top speed.