Pages: 1
Posted by: JohnO
04 650's had a frame crack problem. It was fixed on the 05, and Cat is replacing 04 frames as cracks appear.
Been my experience that Cat stands behind it's products. My 02 500i has been bulletproof, and crawls anywhere I need to go. Best rough ground machine I could find. Killer ground clearance. Very smooth ride, too.
Posted by: JohnO
I don't believe you, because had you actually ridden a Cat 650, you'd know that the engine wasn't a 'suzuki powerplant tuned to run like crap'. Right there on the belt cover, it says in great big letters - KAWASAKI.
The remainder of these comments tend to fall into the 'I read some negative comments and I'm a blowhard' category. The last Eiger that tried to follow my Cat 500i ended up high centered on a rock. Not so fast after all.
On the other hand, I remember when I was 13 - I probably made some pretty emptyheaded statements myself.
Quote
Originally posted by: quadduck
Okay to answer up I say this; As far as not owning one, I have and it was gone 1 week after I bought it (a/c5002k3). My dad bought one at the same time and sold his after a month in a half. Excessive body roll, poor craftsmanship on fit and finish, way way wayyyyyyy to heavy, single lever braking, improperly tuned motors( for godsake they use suzukis powerlants and tune the them to run like crap) improperly clutched trannys, They use has been left over technology on thier smaller cc units(old king quads) Heavy steering, Way to tall and tippy feeling and alot of vibration throughout the quad.
Now I will admit they do have cool stuff like strong racks, high ground clearance, mrp option and having the kahunas to build a two rider Quad. The dvx is fine but other than the cosmetic chages it is just the z 400, so if they want to impress me they need to do more of thier own thing like using more of thier own motors.
As far as you guys thinking I am a fool for my responses, I am, for responding to a/c thread, you guys either don't believe me because your blinded by brand loyalty or maybe all you have ever ridden was less than par machines. Oh well I enjoy to a degree riding with you types of guys as I love out performing you all with an inexpensive eiger 400BTW the eiger was bought for my wife when I purchased the a/c 500 apples & oranges
Posted by: Bluethumb
Quote
Originally posted by: quadduck
Do yourself a favor and stay away from arctic craps. They look good on paper but that is where the buck stops. About the only thing the ac has going for it is ground clearance.
And MRP racks, biggest gas tank, smooth ride, locker, etc. Don't see one in your sig, so your opinion is pretty weak from an owners standpoint. I see you run Suzuki's, AC uses a lot of components built by them, so in some peoples eyes you could be shooting yourself in the foot. The DVX is a rebadged LTZ-400. You must hate the stickers or something.
Posted by: Bluethumb
Quote
Originally posted by: quadduck
Okay to answer up I say this; As far as not owning one, I have and it was gone 1 week after I bought it (a/c5002k3). My dad bought one at the same time and sold his after a month in a half. Excessive body roll, poor craftsmanship on fit and finish, way way wayyyyyyy to heavy, single lever braking, improperly tuned motors( for godsake they use suzukis powerlants and tune the them to run like crap) improperly clutched trannys, They use has been left over technology on thier smaller cc units(old king quads) Heavy steering, Way to tall and tippy feeling and alot of vibration throughout the quad.
Now I will admit they do have cool stuff like strong racks, high ground clearance, mrp option and having the kahunas to build a two rider Quad. The dvx is fine but other than the cosmetic chages it is just the z 400, so if they want to impress me they need to do more of thier own thing like using more of thier own motors.
As far as you guys thinking I am a fool for my responses, I am, for responding to a/c thread, you guys either don't believe me because your blinded by brand loyalty or maybe all you have ever ridden was less than par machines. Oh well I enjoy to a degree riding with you types of guys as I love out performing you all with an inexpensive eiger 400BTW the eiger was bought for my wife when I purchased the a/c 500 apples & oranges
So let me get this straight, you bought it without riding it, it was on stock 2 ply tires, there's your handling problem. Did you know you could adjust the shocks, that's what the spanner wrench was for. Shall I continue? It's a UTILITY quad, yes it's going to have ground clearance, it's not meant to handle like a sport quad, your mistake for buying something and trying to ride a 650 pound quad like a LTX400. By no means am I saying Ac's are perfect, but you obviously were misguided and bought the absolutely wrong quad for your riding style and intended purposes. For what this guy wants, he's right on the money.
Posted by: TrailBlazerguy250
Quote
Originally posted by: quadduck
Do yourself a favor and stay away from arctic craps. They look good on paper but that is where the buck stops. About the only thing the ac has going for it is ground clearance.
lol thats funny seens though arctic cat and suzuki share alot of the same stuff , such as acrtic cat uses suzuki motors in their quads
Posted by: sp600towtruck
Quote
Originally posted by: MrTommy
Maybe I'm missing something here. None of my cars have seperate brakes for front or rear, and when I had a Jeep CJ, it didn't either. I drove that thing all over hell and never regretted not having seperate brakes. None of my pickups had seperate brakes. Now, my motorcycles did have a seperate lever and there was a good reason for it. But I just don't see why that's supposed to be such an important addition to an ATV. If you're on such a steep hill that the back brake will toss you over, then you shouldn't even be on the machine. You should be off and using the brakes while walking (or sliding) along beside it. And if you apply the front brake in that instance, you're just going to slide the front wheels anyway, which will give you no control. I think there's just too much made of this issue and once again, it's a matter of what you're used to and what you have. And of course, we can argue this all day long and line up supporters for each side - and in the end I don't think there is difinitive proof either way. It's all about rider skill (or lack thereof) and how and where you choose to ride your machine. Riding with care and realizing you really can't go everywhere is what it's all about. hr>
Good point.
Posted by: shadowmaker
The 04 & 05 650 AC are having problems with the frames cracking. Looking under the seat at the storage box. Cat is trying to fix em but from what I ve read I think this is going to be a huge problem as more and more people learn about it and get more miles on them. The cat maybe a good atv but they have lots of bugs to work out before I would consider one. Just my $.02
Posted by: shadowmaker
No the 05s have the problem too. Just now started to get reported. They thought they were fixed but they didnt get that lucky. The 05 were made before they knew of the problem. Now mid 05s maybe fixed but not the earlier ones.
Posted by: bigbamaboy
Bluethumb, Lmao. I like it when somebody badmouths a brand, then gets made a fool of.
The AC's do look good on paper, but I have no real world experiance w/ them so???? I wont comment on something I dont know about. If you dont think that 500 was enought for you, then try the 700EFI. It is a good machine that has proved itself. I personally like my Polaris, but if you find a Cat that you like, go for it.
I'll say this, I really like the way the Cats look. I like that big brush guard on the front of the new ones.
Posted by: MBullism
Seems to me that one of the reasons I even bought my AC500 was that it had proven SUZUKI components in the driveline. Never occured to me to bad mouth SUZUKI because of it, lol. Take the proven running gear on the 500, add to it the "only thing it has going for it...ground clearance", a huge gas tank, great rack capacity, IRS, the front locker, digital instrumentation... it's a wonder I get up in the morning BR>
No brand bashing here, I'm only biased!
Posted by: Catterman
No more tranny issues, that was fixed for 2005. Even in the 2004 all you need is a new CDI and you won't have any problems. Seems like the 650 would be good for what you are doing, AC's are great for going in the woods, food plots, etc. Mine brought out a moose last year, through tundra, trees, and creeks. Totally impressed with them.
Also, later this week Arctic Cat is suppose to have their new H1 650 out. It will be Cat's own engine, with the Duramatic tranny. See if you can check on of these out. Good luck!
Posted by: MrTommy
I'll make this simple. We bought two '04 400i' Cats in late '03. I've got 1300 miles on mine and my wife has 950 on hers. So far, no problems. We love 'em. I've never owned any other machines so I can't compare. But who cares? We love 'em and that's the real issue. But then, I don't buy something and then spend all my time trying to find stuff to complain about. We just get on them and ride.
Posted by: MrTommy
Maybe I'm missing something here. None of my cars have seperate brakes for front or rear, and when I had a Jeep CJ, it didn't either. I drove that thing all over hell and never regretted not having seperate brakes. None of my pickups had seperate brakes. Now, my motorcycles did have a seperate lever and there was a good reason for it. But I just don't see why that's supposed to be such an important addition to an ATV. If you're on such a steep hill that the back brake will toss you over, then you shouldn't even be on the machine. You should be off and using the brakes while walking (or sliding) along beside it. And if you apply the front brake in that instance, you're just going to slide the front wheels anyway, which will give you no control. I think there's just too much made of this issue and once again, it's a matter of what you're used to and what you have. And of course, we can argue this all day long and line up supporters for each side - and in the end I don't think there is difinitive proof either way. It's all about rider skill (or lack thereof) and how and where you choose to ride your machine. Riding with care and realizing you really can't go everywhere is what it's all about.
Posted by: quadduck
Do yourself a favor and stay away from arctic craps. They look good on paper but that is where the buck stops. About the only thing the ac has going for it is ground clearance.
Posted by: quadduck
Okay to answer up I say this; As far as not owning one, I have and it was gone 1 week after I bought it (a/c5002k3). My dad bought one at the same time and sold his after a month in a half. Excessive body roll, poor craftsmanship on fit and finish, way way wayyyyyyy to heavy, single lever braking, improperly tuned motors( for godsake they use suzukis powerlants and tune the them to run like crap) improperly clutched trannys, They use has been left over technology on thier smaller cc units(old king quads) Heavy steering, Way to tall and tippy feeling and alot of vibration throughout the quad.
Now I will admit they do have cool stuff like strong racks, high ground clearance, mrp option and having the kahunas to build a two rider Quad. The dvx is fine but other than the cosmetic chages it is just the z 400, so if they want to impress me they need to do more of thier own thing like using more of thier own motors.
As far as you guys thinking I am a fool for my responses, I am, for responding to a/c thread, you guys either don't believe me because your blinded by brand loyalty or maybe all you have ever ridden was less than par machines. Oh well I enjoy to a degree riding with you types of guys as I love out performing you all with an inexpensive eiger 400BTW the eiger was bought for my wife when I purchased the a/c 500 apples & oranges
Posted by: quadduck
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, did you read my whole response? Or was that just the part that you thought you could make your point on. One other thing that is on my list that I forgot was resale value, maybe its different in your part of the country being that its closer to the factory and I would imagine there is some brand loyalty out there but thats not the case in the Pacific Northwest. Dont get me wrong I don't hate the a/c, its just not the best or second or third or fourth choice of most people. Also the dealership told me about the shocks and it didn't make enough of a difference. As for buying one the dealers in my area didn't alow test rides, they ride it in the lot for you(big woop)So I relied on the specs at the time and what the sales guy said. The guy thats looking for the hunting quad and farm quad sounds more like he needs a tractor or one of those rangers that polaris makes. Even if all you do is hunt with it the brakes are reason enough for most of us to stay away from the a/c. One lever braking, who are they kidding? Throw some wieght on it, get a deer, try going up a steeper grade and have to stop on a hill for whatever reason. Guess what those rear brakes stop it and can and will cause it to flip over backwards. The samething could happen going down hill. Do you have hills? Maybe you don't , or maybe you only ride around in circles around a cow pasture. So this is why you love the a/c? For some people its just natural to like the underdog.
Posted by: lownrangr
ahhhh yes, the H1. I sure would like one of those in my garage. As for the tranny issues with the 650 V2, those were mostly due to the Kawi trans and that should have been fixed when the H1 came out since the motor is now built by AC.
Posted by: lownrangr
This could quite possibly be the most entertaining thread in any message board on the net.
Posted by: lownrangr
Oh man, you better stay safe over there and you know where to find us when you get back. I have my best friend over there too and it sucks not having a riding buddy, but he'll be back (hopefully) for 2 weeks at the end of june so that'll be cool. Best of luck to you.
Posted by: JimJa
There are lots of good machines out there. Many are faster than the AC, or have more of this or that, but AC does have one of the, if not the, strongest racks around (hopefully you'll be carrying a nice buck back from bow stand) and is one of the best utility machines out there. The 500 probably has a better reputation than the 650 and it could be argued a better over all utility machine, but the new H1 may be the ticket for you, if you want the bigger engine. The Duramatic is bullet proof. The H2 transmission has had its problems but those are fixable if you want to spend a little time. The guys on the AC fourm know the fixes.
No one has mentioned the dealer. I'd check with owners of all machines with dealers near you. Quad dealers are no different than any other, talk sweet when they want to sell you something, but when it comes to service.... You may find a near-by dealer of a brand that you had not considered with a good reputation and that can have a big impact. Do your homework and you won't be dissapointed.
Posted by: garrett5462
i have a cat and its great machine.
Posted by: alpha27
I'll be buying a new ATV in about 3 months. Been doing a little research. I'll be using the atv for making food plots ,getting to my bow stand in the deep swamp and maybe trail riding once a year. I'm not too impressed with my buddies Polaris500-just not enough, (smooth ride though). I was thinking about getting an Articcat650 but a little concerned about the tranny issues I read about on the AC forums-any suggestions?
Posted by: alpha27
Plans have changed ,no four wheeler for another year and a half. Gonna go play in a big sand box for a tour. Thanks for all the input though- I wonder what will be available in 2007!!! keep me posted
