Thread: 4x4 bike

If you have ridden a quad a lot you just ride it and notice very little. If you ride one with no experience, as I did a few years ago, you might as well get a helicopter. They feel awful and you get tired. They feel even worse with a load on.

He said "Is there an advantage over a 4x4 ute". There is if you have a proper RV quad like a Canam. A utility quad, while very very very practical, is not always enjoyable.

Originally Posted by berg243

can am was $3.5k with 17000kms on the clock needs seat recovered but apart from that just needs a service.

He posted after me. Spend $5000-6000 on the same thing and you should have a ball.

TRX500 a good solid bike, I've had one for years. Not as comfortable to ride as an independent rear suspension machine due to the solid rear axle and double shocks, but tow trailers well if needed.
Stick to a manual or the manual / auto gearbox, CVTs are a shit to use as a sneaky hunting bike as you have to rev the crap out of them to get them rolling. Got two mates with Can Am's and you can hear them take off from miles away, while the Honda just quietly purrs away off then mark in stealth mode.

Originally Posted by Mathias

TRX500 a good solid bike, I've had one for years. Not as comfortable to ride as an independent rear suspension machine due to the solid rear axle and double shocks, but tow trailers well if needed.
Stick to a manual or the manual / auto gearbox, CVTs are a shit to use as a sneaky hunting bike as you have to rev the crap out of them to get them rolling. Got two mates with Can Am's and you can hear them take off from miles away, while the Honda just quietly purrs away off then mark in stealth mode.

Maybe a the problem with the noise from the V twins was not the CVT?

Still wondering why my neighbor asks me how often my 750 rears up on me going up hill, as this does not happen. I'm guessing an uphill down change in an auto can be stimulating.

I've had a good run with suzuki's. Whatever you get an extra muffler welded on makes a big difference in noise.

Originally Posted by Tussock

Maybe a the problem with the noise from the V twins was not the CVT?

Still wondering why my neighbor asks me how often my 750 rears up on me going up hill, as this does not happen. I'm guessing an uphill down change in an auto can be stimulating.

Yeah those V twins are noisy, one mate has added another muffler. What I was really pointing out, the CVT needs a lot more revs to spool up and drive than the typical centrifugal clutch as per the manual bikes hence the extra noise. I use mine mostly on high country stations shooting pesties, and being able to move along with the least amount of noise helps.
Power steering on these beasts is a great thing, less chance of the bike taking over control when on rutted track.

Originally Posted by Mathias

Yeah those V twins are noisy, one mate has added another muffler. What I was really pointing out, the CVT needs a lot more revs to spool up and drive than the typical centrifugal clutch as per the manual bikes hence the extra noise. I use mine mostly on high country stations shooting pesties, and being able to move along with the least amount of noise helps.
Power steering on these beasts is a great thing, less chance of the bike taking over control when on rutted track.

This was a Canam issue as well. Personally I think they set the CVT in the wrong rev range and don't make enough use of engine torque. My boss trialed Canams and stayed with Kingquads for the reason you state. Our 750 Kingquads are very quiet when you are gentle on the gas. Our brand new one is exactly like a Canam. Revving its tits off going slow.

Also, you need to clean the CVT occasionally. They go fine with crap in them but it shift your bottom "gear" higher and your top "gear" lower. My slowest speed went from 6ks/hr down to <1ks/hr and my top speed went from 86ks/hr to 106ks/hr after a clean out.

The can-am cvt transmissions are trash hands down. Seen a fair few smoke the belts up that have come on rides with us in the local atv club. Everything else about them is great. Honda, a few mates have the trx500's they seem sorta reliable but lacking power still using the ohv engine, the 420cc model uses an different engine but are crap also. and suspension wise is not fantastic . Kawasaki KLF etc, riden one didn't like them. Yamaha grizzly, the 700cc is a great machine definitely worth a look at. Suzuki king quad which I maybe be sounding bias here cause I have one is the pick of the bunch in the big bore department, top notch transmission, twin overhead cam engine, easy to work on readily available parts, easy to modify and hotrod if that's what ya into . Don't be put off from CVT, I would never go back to a manual shifting quad.

I’ve got a Yamaha Bigbear, it’s a 350cc 4wd. I use it a lot around my block towing trailers etc. it’s an older bike (early 90’s I think), has been relatively trouble free and only cost $1500. My only gripe is the front diff is open.
IMO you don’t need more power than that, a lot of these big 700cc bikes have been made due to farmers using quads to tow trailers full of PKE etc.

Bugger. The cvt belts aren't to hard to change. Check out YouTube. Il have a look after work and post a vid of how it's done. It pays to use low range when working them hard.

https://youtu.be/3_q1rEhlbFQ

Heard of a 400cc kingquad coming up for sale in Timaru if you're interested, can get you the owners details. All set up for shooting apparently.

Originally Posted by Magnus

(Canams)..It pays to use low range when working them hard.

Dead right, labouring them with a heavy load/taking off steeply uphill in high range is hard on the belt. It's 2 secs to select Lo-range

I pulled a long wheel base landrover up and bank and over a pile of scrap metal with my Kingquad.