Hey. I'm am looking at quads. Going to using it for hunting, food plots and some other work. I like the King Quad, just from some research I've done.

I just noticed that there is no rope pull start. Is that something that can be added? What do you do if the starter goes?

If anyone has any other tips or things I should know. Please share thanks as this is my first ATV. I was also looking at Yamaha kodiaks but Suzuki prices are better right now.
Thanks

 

"What do you do if the starter goes?"

Walk home! Many modern Quads don't have a pull start, partly because the fuel doesn't get pumped into the injector anyway, if the battery is flat, partly because 500s are heavy to pull start, and partly to save money. The pull start was standard on all but the very last 450 King Quads, so a 450 pull starter can be fitted. We sell the 500KQ and it is about the best 500 Quad available for comfort and useability. Reliability is excellent, except for the frame which can break if you carry heavy loads, a simple welding job to repair, but Suzuki have been making that frame for 12 years and should have fixed it by now.

 

Maybe you can retrofit one from an older Arctic Cat. Cat used that motor for years. Of course that was years ago, Suzuki might have changed things. I had a pull start on my 2001 500 Cat. I know Cat still offers 1 for the 700 H1. I only had to use it once when old battery failed. Good exercise, though.

 

Thanks! Do you recommend it for what I will be doing? Compared to the Kodiak 450/700
or the Honda foreman? Considering $$ as well

When you say heavy loads? What is considered heavy

 

If they use the same motor as Cat did, yes! That motor is awesome. I sold my Cat with 9,000 miles. New owner called me to thank me for selling it to him! Said he had just dragged a 540 lb bear 2 miles out of a swamp to his truck. Remember reading about a guy with a 500 Cat that he used on a ranch with 28,000 miles. I'm not a Honda fan. I would say dragging a 540 lb bear was a heavy load. Here's a picture of my old cat with 2,500 lbs green firewood. So if I couldn't buy a Cat, I'd look at the Suzuki, however, my 700 cc Cats are awesome! Oh, those are 30" tires on the 500.

 

Kodiaks haven't been out long enough to tell, old models were OK. The new 500 Honda seems to be OK, but I don't like the gearchange on the new Autos, try before you buy and see if you can live with it. Sadly any weight seems too much for a King Quad frame, they break first round the anti-roll bar mountings, so those who load weight high up, on undulating ground, put the most strain on the roll bar, but the frames also break in front of, and behind, the foot pegs. Some of our customers use bikes all day, everyday, so faults show up more than most users would find.