Suzuki4ever,

Thanks for that info but did they test the Kodiak too. I know both machines(Vinson and Kodiak) are comparing apples to oranges. Like I have said both are great machines but if he is planning on staying up here he might want to find a dealer who has good customer service in all depts because mechanical machines will and do break at sometime and that particular dealer he is dealing with is the worst in all depts. I wanted to get a Eiger but walked out after being treated bad by the sales dept and have already been screwed by the Parts and service dept on my Knig Quad so that was the last straw. I did mention another Suzuki dealer out in the valley and if he checks it out great but as for me I do not have the time to drive 80 miles roundtrip everytime I need something when I can walk two blocks to the Yamaha shop, now if only Harley Davidson made quads I would be set as I live 5 doors down from them.

Also I have been buying my quads and bikes from these guys(Sqeeks/Steve) since I got up here and they have worked for every shop in town I believe but they have been at Yamaha for the longest. AlaskaBoy.

 

kodiakowner,

I looked at Racers posts and see he just signed up so I seriously doubt he has any factual info as I know we would of heard about it on here or in the archives and I have found nothing about a rash of problems.

Racer, by the way welcome aboard the forums if it has not been said already. AlaskaBoy.

 

they must build the vinnies diferent up there in the north woods because they dont cut it in the ozark mountains . its not a bad bike but it won't out do the kodiak except in a drag race . i ride a 400ho outlander and the only quad that can hang with me in the nasty and rough country is a kodiak . in this part of the world tru 4x4 is a must and the locker on the kodi fits the bill . if they didn't build the bombardier outlander i would own a kodi.

 

he y there, and a new Kodiak owner.

From one of the posts about the wet belt thru the breather tube, can some one explain this, or more importantly., the fix, and is the drain for the belt turnable by hand?

i thought the whole unit was sealed, and was kinda surprised when i read in the maual that there was a cooling tube located in the left front???

any info about this, and anything else i should know about my new bike (kodiak 450!!!!) would be appriciated!!

Also looking for a good storage device for it, one tha will be able to hold bothe clean and dirty stuff. Still deciding on soft canvas bag types or hard plastic, but havent found anything i real really like yet.

Thanks!!!

 

Okay guys I just saw an ad for a 2003 kodiak 450 with a 2000 lbs winch for $4800 OBO. It has just over 300 miles and is still covered under warranty for another 17 months. He has a picture of it posted and it looks okay but what do you think? How much does a winch cost with installation? Also, what kind of warranty do you get with a new one?

 

Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. You can tack on a few hundred extra $ for a Warn 2000 winch. E-bay has some good prices on winches. 17 months left on the warranty is good. The factory warranty is only 6 months.

 

Uh yeah, these Kodiak clutches have a ton of problems. I've replaced mine about a dozen times already. Look at all the threads posted about them Kodiak clutches...

How is the 4wd on the 500 more "reliable" than on the 450? I haven't had a problem w/ mine and I don't think there are many on here that have either? I'm not sure if the Vinson has a diff-lock, but the Kodiak does and where I ride, it's a necessity.

 

atv123,

Boy, you had me there for a second. I almost went and researched the clutch problems that we are all experiencing [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img].

Outrage, that is a great price and I would jump on it if it is still avaible. As for the winch pricing, Todd my friend had to buy his winch for his as the winch promotion was over and he paid just about 400 and they took off 60 bucks for him. I bought a Warn 2000 from Trailer Craft 5 or 6 years ago and I paid either 349 or 379 for it and mounted it myself, it was realy easy because I had it wired already for the Superwinch.

My quad came with a 6 month warranty and declined the extended because they wanted 500 for it. You say it looks pretty good, does it have damage then? AlaskaBoy.

 

man you guys and all this diff lock crap. if you know how to make a limited slip work corectly than it is just as good as a locker but without the hard stearing. I ride with a number of quads with locker and i dont have a problem unless they have problems and i usaully end up making it when they dont due to rider skill. The suzuki limited slip is the only one iv ever seen that works at all, and for some reason the eiger's dosent work quite as well as the vinson but is still way better than the honda and yamaha limited slips.

 

hey man your vinnie is a good bike but in a big mud bog the limited slip wont cut it . when you start robing power by useing the brake to lock the limited slip you are done and begging for a tow in my part of the world . do a bit of research on the most recent shoot outs it is agreed by most all of the pro riders that the vinnie needs diff lock . until it gets it it will not compete with the kodi and i dought it will ever compete with the outlander on the same level . look at any pro motor sports 4x4's diff lock is considered the best way to go . that goes for trucks buggies quads diff lock rules !!!