I'm looking at getting an Eiger 5 sp. I rode an Eiger auto yesterday and seemed nice but the guys I rode was Extremely cold natured and had to be choked several minutes in 70 degree weather to start but was ok after warmed up. Are they all like this? My kodiak was considerably faster but I'm not after speed but want decent acceleration which it had. I'm keeping my Kodiak as it has been a great bike but would like a 5sp for a 2nd quad. Any of you fellas have any insight on this bike? I was looking at a Quadrunner 500 but that back of the front fender design scares me and am spoiled on floorboards. Even the dealer said the fender gets ripped off the 500 and suggested cutting the fender with an exacto knife which I would hate to have to cut on a new machine. Appreciate any info. on the Eiger 5 sp. ....

 

Well.... I have a Arctic Cat 375 which has the same engine as the Eiger. If the engine is cold, I just choke it, start driving and take the choke off.

The Hondas we had you couldn't touch the accelerator until the engine was warm, or it would die.

 

Kodiak faster?

Not even close, eiger whoops it in acceleration and top speed. Sold our 2002 kodiak for one!!!
It is very cold blooded though.

 

No way, yours must have been broken. The eiger is only 376cc and the Kodiak is over 400. I'd race anyone on an Eiger for titles. Nice bike though but not even close in speed or acceleration.

 

Depends on the technology of the engines and transmissions... I don't know about the Kodiak, but the 376 has a single overhead cam and four values. The transmission is also geared a little higher for the trail.

 

I have a 5 sp manual. The reason I got the man. is because of the terrain here. I haven't seen a auto that you can submerge without messing up the clutch. I was just riding with some guys with a Honda and a Kodiak. We had snow on the ground at that time. One had swampers and one had KT's on. They could go thru more snow than me because of their clearance, them tires gave them 2" more clearance than me. I can't really say more about the Honda because it was new and the guy was babying it, but the Kodiak, he got the water up around his engine and got his belt wet and he was screwed for about 2 hours until we got it dried out. We had to tow him back to camp. We got his back up and running and went back out. I could take my whole front end and put it completely under water with no problem but neither one of them could and I had stock tires on. I have a little over 800 miles on mine now. I flipped my machine about 2 weeks ago, the price of parts is outrageous. For the push bar, hood, speedometer, and the rack came to a little over $900 and the parts are on backorder for 2-3 months. But I am still riding my machine. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] Yesterday I packed out about 250lbs of meat, the hide (Black Bear), my wife and me and climbed steep hills to get out in first gear and it never spun a wheel going up. I didn't have the ***** to try it in 2nd gear because I have allready flipped it, but these were bigger and steeper than average hills, probably about 60 yds or so at a steep incline. As far as the starting goes, look at where I live. I put my choke on and within 2-3 min. of starting I take it off and the machine will sit right there and purr. I have not had one problem with the Eiger so far besides what I have done to it.

 

I've not known a Yamaha to get a belt wet personally. I've had mine to the seat in water/mud with no belt probs. If a Kodiak gets wet with the water below the racks then the air intake bracket for the tranny must have come completely loose which they try to do. I've just checked and tightened mine every year and have NEVER taken on water in 2000 miles thus far. Anyway, the Kodiak has been an excellent bike and the speed of them is pretty much known for a ute. I think the Kodiak is a little more sport ute than the Eiger and has more puch when you hit the gas. Since I'd rather have the Kodiak for an auto tranny and keeping it, I am seriously considering an Eiger 5 sp.

I'm not here to defend the Kodiak against the Eiger auto. They are both nice. Even though I like the Kodiak for the speed and easy one touch starting and reliability, I would recommend the Eiger at roughly $1000.00 less as a excellent value. Appreciate the good info on the Eiger 5 sp. I am going to test ride one to see if it had good pep to it like the auto. I can live with the cold natured. Apparently they are in demand, cause my dealer can hardly get one. Since I have beige Kodiak for hunting, I think that red one looks pretty sweet. He quoted me 4995.00 but think I could do a little better hopefully but may not where they are in short supply.(??)

Hey HuntfishAlaska, is that a Kid rock quote. Saw him a few weeks ago and he rocked the house. I was skeptical going in but was a party from start to finish. Congrats on the black bear. Can't wait for deer season again here.

 

JHAM - thanks for the congrats on the black. The guy with the Kodiak had roughly 500 miles on it and the Honda was new. Why it took the water in the belt I don't know, and neither do they. The machine had never been apart. It was a nice machine. I can't say anything about top end or racing because we didn't do any of that. We were doing some serious hunting!! When it comes to deep water and low end *****, I think I had them both. But as far as machines go, they were both nice machines. I know I whipped an LTF500 in 2wd. But for the hunting and terrain here, thats the reason I went with the manual, because we get over 300" of precipitation here. I would like to get me a set of swampers or K/T's, the only thing I didn't like was the price on them. The swampers were a $135/each plus rims and the K/T's were $115/each plus rims. At that price I will stay with my stocks until I wear them out, and then I think I will go with the K/T's. The swampers were nice but they jerked the Honda all over the trail. I would like to get another 2" clearance on my machine, but after $900 for parts now, my wife is reluctant to let go of another $800 for rims and tires.

I do like Kid Rock. I am from Michigan, and yes, that's where the quote came from. I seen him and M/M in Detroit.

 

JHAM

I have about 150 miles on my Eiger 5sp. My brother has a 350 Wolverine and in a flat out drag across an open field I get a litlle jump on him and stay in front by a length. I can't pull away and he can't make up the difference. Yesterday we were riding at Wayne Natl Forest. His Scrambler 4X4 broke and I pulled him out thru the trails up and down hills etc. Then I rode his wife's Trail Blazer while they doubled up on my Eiger. We rode some rough rocky hills, thru mud, sand, and what have you and the Eiger carried them with no problem. It is COLD NATURED! Once it warms up though it is a torque monster. When I am riding trails it is almost like being on an auto because I leave it in fourth and it goes up and down just about everything. I can't imagine it not outrunning a Kodiak. A recent test I saw put it at 58 mph. It winds pretty high and could easily handle 27's, especially with low range. I would look around as far as price is concerned. They are going for several hundred less than that around here and aren't hard to find.

HuntfishAlaska

Rocky Mountain ATV has Gators at a very reasonable price. I have had them on other machines and they did very well. The 26" were only like $55. They are 6ply and clean out well. They also give a pretty smooth ride. They also had good prices on the Titan 589's.

 

The Kodiak low range is really only for heavy towing. Otherwise the high range has an excellent blend of low and high and is used 99.9% of the time. One other feature besides water cooled new engine for 2000 on the Kodiak is the Park brake. I hope the Eiger has it but don't think it does. When you put the Kodiak in park via the tranny, all four wheels lock and won't budge. I use it posting signs and stand on the front rack at steep angles to get the posted sign high in a tree, very nice. I hope my dealer can find a red manual Eiger for me. At first I felt I needed to get more engine than I already have but the Eiger sounds like the bike for me. That 500i AC seemed nice at first till I read the weight and the width, about 4 feet wide. It's too tight around here for that and thats one thing I like about the Kodiak is the size. I can go down in a "holler" and drag out a deer easily.

BK thanks for the info. I have rode both and the guys auto I rode just did not have the punch in acceleration that the Kodiak has. Maybe his is slower than most or mines faster than most. The Eiger is definitely no slouch though. I've out run sportsman 500's and honda 450's before but not really into racing. But the eiger may have me in top end cause I didn't wind his out much. I compare mine to the auto cause unless it's a racing bike, an auto can usually outrun a 5 sp. just due to not having the hesitation from changing gears. It sounds like the 5 sp. has good power and speed and I can live w/ the cold natured I guess. There may be one in my garage soon. Thanks.