I am in the process of getting rid of my last Polaris (kind of like getting rid of cancer ...j/k) and need to pick up another quad for the wife. The Polaris's were just too big, heavy and hard steering for her to ride. I was originally leaning toward the Honda Recon, but after doing some reading on this forum and some magazine shootouts, I am leaning toward the Ozark. I have some questions though:

1. Has anyone had any problems with their Ozark? I have read where a few were dying due to carb problems. Have the dealers been able to properly fix these problems?

2. What price should I expect to pay? I know that they retail for $3,600, but what did you pay?

3. This will be my first Suzuki, how hard are they to work on (compared to say a Honda)?

4. Any dislikes / likes about this machine?

5. I plan on getting the Cycle Country 42 inch snowplow for this machine. Has anyone plowed at all with this machine? We get pretty wimpy snowfall up here, so I am not too concerned about the lack of 4wd.

Any other information would be helpful also. Thanks.

 

Let me start by saying I love my ozark, very peppy for a 250, handles great and very nice on hills and techinical trails. Seams very low maint, and easy to clean pulls very hard and gets power to the ground very easy. My only complaint is that the gear shifter is a bit hard to shift. My wife hates to shift it, its a good thing it has a start in gear feature or she would not ride it. The shifting is a bit sticky for me but I have more weight and get more foot on the shifter. be very sure about the shifting if your ok with it buy the quad its a great machine. The dealer told me he gets them for 2800 not including shipping and all that bs. I got mine for 3200 + shipping.

 

I love my Ozark. It is a little better in almost every way than the Recon. It has given me no problems so far {bought early April 2002}. It does not shift as smoothly as the Recon but it is slowly loosening up as it breaks in. The shifter is adjustable and that should help to tailor it to the riders preference. I moved mine up about 1/4 inch and it helped. Easy to maintain but
I'm very mechanically inclined. I paid $3399 but I got one of the first ones in my area. I could have got one cheaper by checking around and driving a bit, but I value good relations with my local dealer. I think it is worth a couple hundred dollars to buy local in the long run and I will get it back when I buy a Z-400 or Kawi clone in the near future from them! As for the snowplow, what the heck is a snowplow? What the heck is snow? Seriously, no loser in the choice between Recon and Ozark. Slight advantage to the Suzuki in my opinion. Ozark is the better quad, but the Recon is a Honda! Tough choice, but I wussed out and bought both.

 

Thanks for the reply guys. The Magnum has found a new home. I think the new owner will take good care of her. I am going to deliver it to the guy on Sunday.

Mad Dasher - My wife is used to automatics, but I think she will pick up the shifting pretty quick. I wonder if a synthetic motorcycle oil will help the shifting be smoother. It helped my 400ex. It shifts incredibly smooth since I switched it to synthetic oil. I will have to try it and let you know.

bobcatv8 - Thanks for all of the help. I too am pretty mechanically inclined. I do all of the service on my machines. The maintenance on the Magnum was getting to be a pain though. Your snow comment was pretty funny. We have weird snowfalls up north here. Last year, I plowed my driveway about 10 times during December and only about once the rest of the winter. This year, I never put the plow on until the end of March when we got about 8 inches of snow. Some years, you can get by without snow removal equipment, others, you are lost without it.

I am going to call a few area dealers tomorrow to see what kind of price they are getting for the Ozark. I may see what a package would cost me with the plow and trailer hitch included. Service is not a strong point of any of the dealers in the area, so price is definitely important.

 

We've had excellent luck with my Wife's Ozark and my 11 year old will be competing in an ATV rodeo with it Saturday night. The shifting seems to get better with age. I haven't had the chance to adjust it to see if that helps. I changed the oil and filter on hers last night but I used Mobil 1 synthetic. I have pretty good luck using that in quads and I use to run it in my bikes. I paid 2999.00 for my Ozark but I also bought my Z at the same time for 5099.00 both on a farm tag so I didn't pay any tax. I weigh over 230 and it pulls me just fine even on trails and will wheely in 1st gear when the wife isn't watching. LOL

 

hey guys any chance one of you can walk me step by step on how to do a oil chance on the ozark I paid $150 last month for my first service and want to avoid paying that.

Hehe thanks

 

Well first you pull the drain plug on the bottom of the engine and let it drain for a while. When it has slowed down you can remove the 3 small bolts right behind the brake pedal and remove the filter. Make sure when you replace the filter that you get it back the way it came out with the hole facing in. And I would loosen the dipstick so it will vent while it's draining. They recommend changing the o-ring in the owners manual but I figured as new as mine is that it would be fine. It's supposed to hold 2.4 quarts of oil. I buy the synthetic mobil 1 in the 5 quart containers for 17.88 at walmart and use a funnel. And I used 15-50 weight. I probably wouldn't use that heavy of oil if your not using synthetic. My brakelight did the same thing on my Ozark that my Z did. I simply put a little loctite on it and tightened back down. They vibrate loose. Your suppose to let the engine run a little and then let it set for 3 minutes before checking the oil just like the Z. And you don't screw the stick back in when checking it.

 

zook

I have been using the Mobil 1 15W50 in my 400ex since in was new. I may use that also in the Ozark. Did it seem to help make the machine shift better. Sure did on my ex. Not that the ex was bad before, just super smooth now.

 

I think it did. But the real test will be when the wife gets on it again. She noticed it more than I did anyway.

 

Well, I just put a deposit on a green Ozark. I am getting a 2002 for $2,999. My wife originally wanted red, but at that price, she said green was good too, beside that will work out better for hunting. The good thing was that the dealer is not that far away. Just a few miles north into Michigan. I plan on picking it up on Monday after work. I now have a Honda and a Suzuki.