Which ATV do you Yamaha lovers like better? Does anybody know the top speed of the Kodiak?

 

i hear the prairie is an nice wheeler. i have 2 kodiaks (2000) and i love em. about 55 top end speed. i expected automatics to have to wind up to get to speed.. not the case. very quick. kodiak is a little tippy with the stock dunlop tires (junk). a good set of tires with stiffer sidewall will reduce that tippy feeling and almost anything gives better traction than dunlop stockers. prairie has good following and some say is faster. not many around my area , so i shyed away from kawis.... so far the kodiaks have been awesome bikes.

 

55 mph and WISKODIAK is right they are pretty tippy i have tipped mine about 5 times .

 

all depends on who is driving it to. i'm not saying either one of you are wrong, just making a point.

 

Prairie is supposed to be pretty fast now. They changed the compression in 99. Still, it lacks engine braking, and I would rather have the kodiak. Prairie has a hell of a ride though. Even the 97 did, but the kodiak will turn a tighter circle.

 

i have riden the praire 400 and i agree with andy bassham for it having a nice ride. i'm not sure, but i think the newer praire 400's still don't have a switch from 4 to 2 whel drive. for that i would have to say the kodiak is better for me.

 

I had a praire 400 2000 model. I currently have an 02 kodiak. Both have thier pros and cons. The praire has the softest riding suspension I have ever encountered. It has adequate power(slightly less than the kodiak). The belt engagement, gearing and shifter are my main complaints. The shifter is lousy. Sometimes I would have to fiddle with it to get it in gear. Gearing, way to high in low range. The belt engages at a very high rpm(maybe 2000 rpm). It's hard to put put because by the time the belt engages you will be going 10-12 mph if you leave the throttle at that pressure level, let off and the belt disengages. One more complaint on the praire no engine braking. In hilly country it's very dangerous if you're not used to the bike.
The negativity of the kodiak, it isn't as wide and seems very tippy until you get used to it while turning sharp. You have to check the belt snorkels they have a tendancy to work off and allow water into your housing(mine has not yet). The rear single disc wears down easily(can be replaced by a $20 pad that will last for years). And finally the ride is harsh in rough terrain.
If you want a hunting quad for the back country hands down choose the kodiak. If you want to do a lot of more sport oriented trail riding choose the praire. With it's wider stance it's a little more forgiving on the sharp high speed turns.
The kodiak in my oppinion is oriented more towards severe duty utility, while the praire seems fit better for lush family trail riding. Both are quality bikes and have a descent price.

 

The Prairie 400 was dropped for the 2003 model year, so unless you are looking at a 2002 or older machine, it is kind of a pointless comparison. Kawasaki is now touting their Prairie 360 as the machine to fill the gap... I don't know about you, but going from a 360 to a 650 just seems like a large displacement leap. They shouldn't have dropped the 400. They should have at least come out with a 500-class machine first.