My almost new (85 miles) Eiger 4x4 5-speed has had a knocking sound since the first trail ride. Only when it's in neutral it makes a metallac knocking sound like something bouncing on top of a rotating gear or shaft. It goes away as soon as it's in gear. Anybody else have this? I'd like to get an idea of what's up before I start ripping off plastic or carting it back to the dealer.

Jaybee

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles with the eiger. I have the same model as you and I haven't had any trouble with mine. If I were you I would take the bike back to the dealer asap.

Let us know what you find out.
jt

 

other than that are you happy with the quad. how fast does it go. how much did yo pay. i was thinking about buying the same quad, but changed my mind. i will be picking up a vinson in a few weeks. the manual eiger looks like a good machine.

 

Even with this noise thing, I'm very happy with the Eiger. I suspect that this is just a slight adjustment, probably with the auto-clutch. I just don't know much about adjusting this and am waiting for either some wise words from this forum or will take it back to the dealer next weekend. This has not interfeared with using the bike, it's just something that I know is not supposed to be there.

All in all, the Eiger is a fun, easy bike. Lots of power, especially low to mid range. This thing likes to rev and do it quick. Steering is very light although the front end is heavier that it feels. The light steering fooled me on the first few jumps, as I stayed too far forward and tended to nose in. Once I learned the balance the Eiger is a fine jumper. With it's quick reving you can decide at the last second to take a jump and have the speed that you need. I've found that the steering response is so good that you can make most turns with just body english.

Start up is Suzuki-easy, Choke, start, short warm-up, go. There is some stiffness in shifiing between reverse and high range (also a zuki trait) where I sometimes have to roll a few inches to enable it to shift between the two. I expect this to ease up after more use. Shifting in and out of 4x4 is totally seamless. Any speed, any load conditions, just flip the lever and it's in or out instantly. I really like the 4wd shift lever - I got caught going up a steep, wet clay hill over the weekend and felt I needed 4wd about 2/3 of the way up. The 4wd lever is easy to find and just took a quick flip with my left hand to engage. The Eiger has plenty of power, able to pull moderate slopes in 4th and steep ones in 2nd. Water has been no problem, I've had it in up to the racks. An unexpected bonus looks like the gas milage will be good. On the first weekend out, I ran with my brothers Kawi 650 and my sons Honda 90. At the end of 34 miles it took less than 3/4 gal. of fuel - the same as the Honda. Of course, I was going easy for break-in. Went through lots of mud last weekend, past a stuck KQ and pulled out a Rancher, but I was in 2 wheel most of the time so I think it was a matter of picking the right line and having good ground clearance.

I saw the Vinson when I first saw the Eiger. I was looking to pay 5K for a quad, not 6 or 7. Also wasn't too thrilled with the Vinson's plastic front end and I preferred to stay with a 5-speed rather than the automatic. I payed $5210 out the door and am happy with that price. As to top speed, I just don't know yet. I've had it up to 46 or so and there is still lots left in it. It has enough power to pull hard in 5th so I would suspect somewhere in the mid-50's for top speed.

All around I thik I's a great bike. It would also make a good "wife bike" as it is so light feeling. I've done some damage to my arm in the past and it's been nice to ride a full day without any arm pain. The only mildly bad things I can say about it is that I don't like the rack design, I am used to having some side rails to help hold my stuff in. Also, I'm not sure just how sturdy the snap-pins that hold the plastic together will be. I've got a few that are already a little loose and may have to replace them with bolts.

Jaybee

 

So any news on what is causing the knocking sound? For the fellow asking about the price, I pd $4500 for and 02 4x4 red eiger.

 

Did you get it fixed? What was causing the problem? JT

 

Took it to the dealer today. Naturally, the knocking noise that has been around almost every time the engine has been at idle decided to disappear as soon as it rolled into the shop. At least I had spent enough time trying to track down the noise that we knew it was in the auto-clutch area.

It's fixed!!!!! There is a cupped washer that acts as a lock washer behind the main nut on the shaft of the auto clutch. That washer was installed backwards so the nut could loosen. The nut would get loose and then tight again, it could not come off the end of the shaft so nothing would fly apart, just make lots of noise.

Jaybee

 

Glad to hear that your problem was fixed. I took a ride this afternoon. The eiger performed great. I had it on a couple of really steep trails and was impressed with its power. The thing that I notice the most is the smoothe as silk ride. Mud isn't a problem at all. I was riding with several other quads and didn't have any difficulty keeping up, even though I am still a novice.

keep on posting your thoughts and impressions.
jt