I Wanted to order a new 2002 Foreman 450S for $5899 but the dealer is trying to talk me into a great deal on a 2001 Kodiak Automatic 400
$5400 It looks good but I do alot of Mudding and am worried about the belt drive. I always had good luck with my Hondas but what do yall think about this Kodiak 400..
? Is the belt reliable in the mud
? Will the Auto Rob too much Power from the smaller 400
How fast will it Run, my 2000 450S fulltime 4X4 Ran about 49 before being stolen any other advice will be appreciated

2000 Foreman 450S Stolen
2001 250EX Stolen

 

I dont do any mudding on my Kodiak but I can speak to it's speed. I have raced a Sportsman 500 and beat it by about 3 lengths. Yesterday I raced a Sportsman 500 HO and it beat me by about 10 lenghts... but then it overheated and we had to run for home before it blew up. We had em up to about 55 when we let off. There's nothing slow about this 400. The ultramatic drive doesn't detract from the power at all. And best of all, I have not had one problem with either of the two I purchased this time last year.

 

Dirt Wheels Magazine did a shoot out a year or so ago on the two quads you asked about. Best I can remember the Kodiak beat the Honda in most every catagory of the shoot out. You really need to find somebody with a scanner and the magazine and have the article e-mailed to you.

Based on the article I bought the Yamaha and have been extremely happy with it. While it is narrow, and because of it a little tippy, everytime I'm out I'm always squeezing between trees and have wondered what I'd do if I owned a wide Polaris. The automatic tranny is fantastic if your into automatics. It is especially fantastic if the area you are riding in is technically difficult. I did ride a foreman one time and found the steering to be too light and the handlebars were always trashing your arms back and forth everytime the front tires would hit rocks, ruts etc. I don't know if the foreman's steering could be tightened up. Whatever you pick good luck and enjoy! One other thing, if you get the Yamaha put the $400.00 you save towards a winch. The bears roam the woods and occassionally get stuck, everyone else should stay on the trails!

 

Seeing that you're crying like a baby about Yamahas having plastic skid plates in another thread, I think you should stick with the outdated Honda.

 

I have a 2001 Kodiak and do some MUDDING i must say i am impressed!!! I have done some THICK GOOEY DEEP(well top of the top part of the rim) mud and have not had any problems, the only problem i had was it stalled once when hitting a deep washout on the side of a RR grade but it was all water, i was soaked and it stalled after i stopped to wipe off my visor while sitting idle. The fastest i can get my kodiak going is 50mph cannot hit 55 ??? i did a shoot out type of race thru a deep mud pond against a warrior with mud tires and i killed him IN 2WD NOT 4WD and i am all stock!!!!

 

$5400 would be a good deal to me. The belt drive is excellent in mud and in water too when properly snorkeled. "check my pics" I had to learn the hard way but if you keep your belt dry then you will loose no more power than a gear drivin. Thats my opinion anyway. Since my pics I have modified the rear with a 45degree ABS plastic bend to enable me to run it between the rack and the fender. I dont have a speedometer on mine but now, with 27" tires, it will run 50mph by my GPS. I rode a 2001 Kodiak with 27" VAmps on it and it would almost run 52mph with my GPS "but his speedo showed 45". I have never seen a case where 2000 model is as fast as a 2001. Also the 2001 was stock in everyway except for the "heavy" tires.

Snorkeling the tranny is the key to success on the Kodiak. My snorkels have never failed me or required any maintenance what so ever.