I picked up my "Z" yesterday and what a bummer it was pouring out.

A little history. Most of my riding has been on a 300ex. I've been wanting to move up but nobody offered the machine I was looking for.
Then comes the pictures of the "Z" in the magazines, I drooled on the pages. After settling down from looking at one beautiful ATV I read the features, liquid cooling, reverse, brake light, ect. Thanks to this forum I realized I better get to the dealer and put my name on the first one he gets.

Like I said it was raining when I picked it up so it was a short ride. First of all the choke was nice to find it on the handlebar in a easy to get to location. Hit the start button and we're off and running. After a little warm up I pulled in the smooth working clutch lever, pushed down on the shift lever while at the same time turned the reverse switch and saw the reverse light come on. The reverse worked perfect and found this thing goes backwards pretty fast if you want to. Pull in the clutch and lift the shifter one click and I'm in first gear. Taking of was a breeze, rode slowly for a bit then opened the throttle slightly aggressively, I found I better get a better grip cause this thing is ready to go. Before I knew it the front end is off the skipping along the ground relandscaping my front yard with the rear tires. I had to park the "Z" due to rain.

Tonight, I couldn't wait to get home, the sun is bright and the ground is perfect. Same starting procedure as before and I'm off and riding. What I found is this 4 stroke has a power band, it comes in some where around 3 to 4 thousand RPM. Since its not broke in yet I didn't rev to high, but it felt excellent and very controllable.

I read where one person said it was "tippy" I do not agree. With a little body english you can push pretty hard through tight corners with out any "tippy" feeling. I did notice however the rear tires do not slide as easy as what I was used to. I had to change the way I exiting the corners too much throttle too soon and the front end is skipping the ground and on turning anymore. Once again a more agressive riding style cured this problem.

I did some jumps , nothing big but enough to feel the suspension work,in a word "smooth". The take off was easy to get the right bike angle with just a blip of the throttle I was airborne. In air manuvers were easy and the landings were soaked up by the suspension.

Little things- Reverse- Worked perfect.
Front lights - Bright
Steering - Easy except for tight agressive corners
I had to muscle it a bit.
Brakes - Rear- great
Front - I'd like to se a more agressive
feel to it. It may get better when
they get broke in.
Choke- Good location
Overall attention to detail- Excellent

I feel I waited for the right ATV, I am extremely happy with this vehicle.

If you are waiting for yours to arrive I believe it is well worth the wait.

 

I'm glad to hear that you like your quad. I've been pretty excited about the new Quadsport since last fall but I won't be able to get one for a least a year. So far it sounds like it has been living up to everybodies expectations.

 

Im happy to hear you like your new quad. Im also happy that Suzuki has finally gotten back in the sport quad game after such a long absence.

 

JDRider,

Similar to what I experienced yesterday. I was up at 3:30 a.m. for work to find out that it was pouring rain. I had been anticipating the pickup of this machine since Tuesday, to find it raining so hard I was a little dissappointed. Luckily the rain stopped completely by 8:30a.m., and the my spirits were escalating. Blew off work early( extremely understanding boss) and was finished with the dealer by 12:00 p.m.. Headed to the gas station, filled it up and,then went riding. My question for you is, I weigh 180lbs. and found the suspension to be a little too soft for the trail ridding I do, what did you think about the suspesion stock settings?
[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

I saw my friends new Z400 last night. They just picked it up and rode it for about 45 minutes and then washed it off. Very cool looking machine in person. Suzuki looks they are a major player in the sport market again. Time will tell but the thing is very nice. My buddy bought it for his wife as he has a Raptor 660. He did say he really likes the new Zuke and would be possibly looking to sell his Raptor and buy the new Z400. He said he just didn't need all that power of the Raptor.

I must say it is a very nice looking machine. I will get to ride in a week or two. Until then I will be riding my new 02 Warrior.

 

Reply to my weight. I weigh 165 lbs and the jumps were not huge, I probably got about 3 to 4 feet up and went about 12 to 15 feet so there hasn't been a real hard landing yet. Tomorrow I'm heading to a actual track and should encounter some larger jumps.

 

I weigh 180 and I had to adjust the fronts as firm as they go and then they soaked the jumps up nicely. I will play more with the settings tomorrow. I have a track in my backyard so it will be easy to do. I think the sprockets will be changed also. I found that I need a sixth gear on this atv. Alot of motor left but no sixth gear. It is awesome!!!

 

<< He said he just didn't need all that power of the Raptor >>

Excuse me? Was he serious? Of course he needs that power. Tell him different.

 

JDRIDER....congrats on the new quad.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

Yes absolutly, I can't tell you how many times I have tried for the sixth gear, it definetly has the power to carry the atv trough the next gear. I did some hard riding over the weekend and had a blast, the harder I rode the more it put out. Excellent- Excellent!