Hi,
I've owed an 05 Kodiak 450 for a year now. In all the reviews I've read they talk about the front trying to roll under in a turn. I've experienced this several times now, to the point I thought I was going to eat bark. The machine is hard to turn in some situations. Increasing the front pressure makes things a little better, but stiffening the shocks only makes the ride rougher from here. Is there a fix for this? A stiffer roll bar? Do radial tires help?

I've noticed the alignment of the front end appears to have a lot of positive camber, top of tire further out then the bottom, which isn't adjustable. It seems to me that this would greatly contribute to the problems described. are there mods for this? You notice the off road racing trucks run a lot of negative camber, they must do this for a reason.

If anyone out there has been experimenting with with cures for this problem, get in touch. Thanks.

As a side note, I've enjoyed this machine in every other situation it's been in, especailly rock crawling, mudding, etc.

 

I have also noticed similar handling characteristics. I would also be interested in any mods that might help. Agree that its a super machine otherwise.

 

We have two 05 450's and I also know what your talking about. It definately seems to be a characteristic of these bikes that you have to learn to deal with. I have wondered, myself, about the camber. Really hard cornering can be dicey and I use alot of body action to compensate for the roll if I have to do it. It's the one thing I would like to address if a mod comes out. If I was going to be doing alot of tearing around, I probably wouldn't have bought this configuration of bike but I bought it as a great all round bike. (which it is)

 

The thing is guys, its a utility machine and not designed for high speed cornering. I like to ride mine fast sometimes too but if that was my aim all of the time i would have gone with the wolverine. I think the front is designed that way to compensate for the load the front rack is desined to take. under load the wheels are straight.

 

If it was a class wide quad problem it wouldn't be an issue. On a ride this weekend I tried following an 03, 04 Kodiak 450 and well as a variety if IRS machines in the 400-500 class. I alone had this problem and widened the trail in a few spots, even when hanging off as far as I could and I wasn't the fastest rider. I know soft sided tires contribute a lot to this, but before making the 600 investment, I'd like to know if there's other factors needing attention.

 

Mine is an o4, I do see a canter in the front wheels but have never felt it roll that much . I don't think they changed the front on the bike from 04 to 05 so maybee something is out of alignment. Or maybe the IRS makes it behave differently than the swing arm on the 04. It is definately something I would bring to the attention of my local dealer and if you get nowhere I would go right to Yamaha. You don't want a bike that you don't feel confident on.

 

admjohnt1,

I agree, the positive camber on the 05 450's is a little too much imo. However, putting some radials on mine helped alot. It doesn't feel nearly as squishy in sharp turns now and handles alot better.

If you're still running the stock tires, consider upgrading to some 6-ply tires. You'll notice a big difference and it will help compensate for the positive camber. Aftermarket tires was the first mod I made on my Kodiak, and it was worth every penny. I just mounted new tires on the original rims.