Gents,

The Dec 03 issue of ATV Rider had a review of the 450 and it said the following:

"....its handling disappointed only when having to turn while pointed downhill. The front end geometry and suspension tuning is such that if one of the two front shocks is loaded more than the other, it will sink all the way through its sstroke an dlift one of hte back wheels.....if you need to do any steering that takes you into an anlge descent, lookout!"

OK, is this true and if so, will spacers help and do you put them only on the front or front and rear? Thinking about this of the Rancher AT for my 16 year old daughter.

Thanks,

Slim Wallet

 

While riding my Kodiak 450 last weekend with my wife behind me she said mine was
doing exactly what you described. I was suprised because I never even knew one
of the rears was lifting, it felt fine to me. She said I spent quite a bit of
time on 3 wheels.
Oh well, it didnt bother me at all, not real tippy or anything.

 

Okay Dude...thanks for the input.....

I wonder if this is a real problem or if the writers of the mag are just putting unde focus on this so they can stir up controversy....???

Slim

 

I`ve read a bunch of stuff about the Kodiak being tipsy,
but I just dont think its that bad.
The ONLY time it ever felt weird to me was when I was
crawling over some bowling ball sized rocks on a hillside,
but even then it wasnt too bad.

 

Slim,

I have not noticed any problems that they suggested in the magazine and I have pushed it pretty hard since I bought it playing in the mountains. I would normaly suggest it is all in the way you ride but since this is a magazine they are using proffesional's( yes? no?) and they would know how to ride it downhill with out flipping so I can not use that answer. Of course since I can not look behind to see what my wheels are doing while downhilling to see if this happening I can not say for sure this is a problem.

I love to go down steep hils with it unlike my last one(Suzuki King Quad) because of the transmission brakeing is so sweet on it, my old one like to lull me into a sense of happiness while going down hills then jump into neutral and the brakes have always sucked on that model and I would be rocketing down and it would jump back into gear and send me over the handlbars with it coming down right behind me. Did not happen alot, just every six months to a year apart.

Back to the Kodiak450, In my own opinion I do not think this is a big of problem as they point out and I do not think spacers would help this as they say it is a shock issue. Maybe cranking the shocks up to the stiffest position might help, that is how I have mine set. It helps when I carry alot of gear and myself, it makes for a stiff ride but I do not mind. Not sure if this helps.

Maybe the Bruin for you daughter? AlaskaBoy.

 

Thanks men, It seems that this is a pretty good quad. I will finally get to buy one when I return from my next road trip. I'll let y'all know.

Thanks,

Slim

 

It is a little tipsy but one you get used to it, it's no biggie. Like you mentioned, spacers are a good idea. Either that, or go to some offset wheels. The Kodiak 450 is an amazing quad.