I am looking at buying the new Kodiak or a Rancher. Riding friends have said they observed that the Kodiaks seem unstable, lifting rear wheels high off the ground in turns or rough terrain much more than other machines. I noticed the width on the Kodiak is 3 inches narrower than most other atv's. Can others comment on how this machine performs? Is the narrower width a stability factor?

 

I ride on a lot of off-camber trails, what you've heard is a bunch of non-sense. The Kodiak has one of the lowest center of gravities out there. It's very stable.

 

I own a Polaris its true,but I had the oportunity to ride one of the new Kodiaks this past sunday that a friend had just purchased and I must say it was impressive to say the least. It seems to be a great machine. I found it to be very stable in many diffrent conditions.

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Kevin Gowdy aka Kagey 1999 Polaris Magnum 500

 

one week old and my son rolled our 2000 Kodiak - not his fault - I checked the toe in and it was off - dialed it back in and now have no problem - either that or he thought he was on the Blaster ??? !!!

 

dont feel bad i rolled my wolv on ice when it was 3 days old. 2 days after x-mas

 

Even if u get one and think it is a little unstable u can get wheelspacers

 

I was at a dealer today to ride the Kodiak. The salesman went to warm it up. He took off on pavement under full throttle and went tearing around the building in a tight turn. Same coming back. Inside rear wheel was at least 10" off the ground each time. I'm sure he was trying to impress me, but I'm not sure if another brand/model would have acted similarly. Unfortunately it was a Yamaha only dealer so I couldn't ask him to try the same trick with something else.

Thanks to those who have responded. Don't think we have anyhthing conclusive yet. Still hoping to hear from more riders who have experience on the Kodiak as well as other machines to see if they feel there is anything unusual with the 2000 Kodiak.

 

My buddies Honda 450s does the same thing. I like it though, it makes it turn ALOT sharper.

 

Most will lift if you jam them hard in corners.

 

Only quads with swing arm suspensions, have that problem. Most quads with semi-independent and full-independent will got on 2 wheels before 3.

Acellerating is a differnet story. I can got in to a turn, on my Arctic Cat 500, and in the middle of the give about half throttle and my inside front wheel will come off the ground if I am leaning far enought to the out side of the turn.