I am the proud owner of a new Kodiak. I've never owned a Yamaha before, or an auto, or a locking diff, or a 450, well...., you get the idea! I'll just use the rig for hunting in temperatures from 10 degrees to 90 degrees at elevations below 500 feet. Varied terrain from creek bottoms to ridges. Lots of water (not deep) and clay, but also high speed runs to and from the woods on good dirt roads. Any hints or tips on keeping a Yamaha running at its best? Reliability is most important to me and I want to make sure it starts first time every time and purrs like a kitten! Any secrets you experienced Yamaha riders out there can share with me? Thanks!!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Nothing special, just maintain them and they will run forever. I havent heard of a problem on the kodiak yet so you will be fine,

Patrick

 

That makes 2 of us. I've heard nothing bad about them. Nothing but good.

 

Does it ever get down to 10 in Florida? (HA!) I've just recently bought the 450 Kodiak also! I've buried it, doused it, and loved every minute! Seems super reliable.

 

The only thing that I can think of is to watch out for the belt snorkles. I'm not sure if that problem was resolved on the 03's but the 02's have to be watched. Mine after driving for a while would come loose allowing water to come into the belt compartment.

 

I wonder if the 450 has the same easy drain, on the drive cover, that the Grizz has? I had a 00 400 Kodiak, MAN! That engine runs good! 450 is the same design, bigger bore, right?

 

Hi everyone! I also own a 2003 kodiak 450 ,I happy with it so far. However My handle bars. came loose after two weeks. It came loose at the lower shaft w/ the large nut and the funky little clip thingy. mine does'nt have a "castle Nut". just a plain metric bolt. I tightened it up and its fine,but I think funky little clip is a bit flakey. I'll change the nut to a castle nut where a wire passes though the nut locking it in place. I'm a CNC machinist/inventor/Bass player so I'm often fabbing parts. I just intalled a Warn winch on my Kodiak.Im in the process of making tune-up sheet on my computer where I have all the tune info. on it (Oil filter #s,Spark plug types/gap,Bolt sizes,Torques...ect). If ineed to do a tune up ,I'll just print it out. This will keep my bike book looking new.

 

TeddyTwoFire,

Interesting about your handle bars. Recently mine has a little slack in it that I have not investigated yet. I'll have to take a look.

OldDog and others,

I've had my Kodiak since last October with no problems other than a couple of loose/lost front rack bolts. The plow is great. I am definitely selling the snow blower in the fall. I haven't been on to many long rides yet but have put on a few hundred miles while exploring my area. I am heading out next weekend with three other Kodiaks for a nice long run. The Kodiak has also been great around the yard. I have hundreds of trees many of which are dead tall pines. I have been able to tow or haul more in a short time this year than past years thanks to the ATV. Work was never this fun. I'm one happy Kodiak owner!

 

I am also a happy new owner of the Kodiak 450. Over memorial day weekend I took the machine to Moab and put it through its paces. That locker really comes in handy when the terrain is extreme. The only problem that I have had is with the transmission snorkel. The rubber coupling kept coming off of the back of the transmission. Finally, I reversed the mounting direction and tightened down the hose clamps and I haven't had any problems since. Super fun machine!

 

Congrats on the new machine,
I have almost 1000kms on mine and no problems (until now since I hit a water hole too fast, probably because of the belt case snorkle ingesting water or water in the fuel, a problem that I made not the machine made). I love the kodiak and the locker really does come in handy when climbing steep hills and going through mud. A word of advice though, toss the stock tires, they are crap. Get some Kenda Bearclaws like I have or Dirt devils ITP 589s etc.
My rating...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]