Thinking about buying an 05 . 400 or 450 . Hows does the IRS seem to be , my concern is does it feel kinda light in the rear going down hills . whats the goods and the bads of the IRS . I will only be trail riding Iwill not be towing anything or even mud bogging it just plain ole trail riding and maybe over some rocky areas . also has anyone had any problems out of these machines?

 

love mine but mine doesn't have IRS...i have had no problems with mine either... you might wanna get the 450 because of low range and diff lock

 

The IRS is great on the Kodiak 450. It rides super smooth. I have my shocks still set on the 2nd level as they were from the factory. Haven't seen a need to change them yet, but I may put them on setting 3 just to see how that feels. It has good balance in my opinion.

This thing climbs like a goat. I rode with a buddy who has an '05 Grizzly and we did some pretty steep rock crawling and dirt/slick mud hills trails the other weekend and I never once felt I wouldn't make it up or over anything. I never had to put it in 4WD lock either. I was totally impressed with the climbing abilities of this machine and how comfortable it is. Plenty of power for me.

I guess you could say it's somewhat light in the *** going down steeper rock surfaces. The engine braking had the back tires being dragged sometimes if it was steep enough. I just had to keep a hair bit on the throttle so it wasn't a full engine drag and that took care of it. But I never felt tippy or anything like that, the wheels stayed planted, just dragging here and there on the really steep downhill rocks.

I'm totally happy with my Kodiak, it's more than I expected out of a 450. And no troubles at all on mine yet.

 

going down hill its nice on the kodiak because all 4 wheels will brake in 4x4

 

i had a chance to ride both and noticed quite a differance between the two. of course the 450 is a bit more powerfull than the 400, but it also has some better features. both are great quads but i like the 450 better. good luck.

 

Hey kawasaskirules, how do you like those 25" Dirt Devils? I've been thinking hard about getting a set of those to replace these stock tires, but I just wish the 25" DD's came with the deep lugs like the DD XTs.

I'm afraid if I get the 25" DDs that I won't like the shallow lugs. I want to stay stock tire size so it's a tough choice. I don't know if the 26" DDs will fit on these stock rims or not.

 

Argyll....there is a guy on this forum with 26's on his 450...you can go 26-10-12 the whole way around and they will fit on stock rims...i like my 25's though i don't do alot of mudding..but do hit a couple big holes and never get stuck..and the price you can't beat'um

 

kawasaskirules, yeah, I think it's camoKodiak that has the 26" DD XTs if i remember correctly, but he got some nice other rims for them. I really like the looks and reviews I've read about the DD's are mostly all positive, and the price for them is good too.

I wish GBC would make the 25" DDs with the deeper tread like on their 26" and above, like ITP did with their 25" Mudlites. I bet the DDs would sell like hotcakes in the 25" size if they did.

 

I've got the 26" DD and there great. I've also got almost 1000 miles of trouble free 4 wheeling on this 450 Kodiak. I even hooked it up to my 12 ft trailer that I use to haul it on and was able to haul in 6, 24 ft roof truss up a old trail to a cabin that were building. It never missed a lick! It's the best Mid-size ATV out there. I got the overfenders on now and will post some new pictures soon. Just wish it would cool off and rain around here, it's a little dry and dusty when riding. If your just plain ol trail riding then the IRS is the way to go!

 

Hey CamoK, thanks for posting, I thought I might drag you out on this post, hehe.

Did you put 26x10x12 on both front and back of your 450 or did you go with 26x12x12 on the rear? I have to stay with my stock rims because of funds. I Just want to be sure I'll be able to fit the 26x10x12 XTs on the front 25x8x12 stock rims.

How about steering, do the 10x12 XTs degrade the steering ease any being 10" instead of 8", or is it about the same as the stock maxxis tires?


thanks again for your reply [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]