[Hardwood Hitman]

This is my honest opinion of the 2017 700 eps when comparing it to my past ATV's and the prior model Yamaha's that my friends have owned. It's a good machines and don't get me wrong here I have enjoyed riding it, but as far as comparing it to past models. The engine is not as good and the rear break is a major issue. After the trail riding I've done, and the little bit of work I've put it through. I don't believe it's going to hang with the Honda's I've owned. The air intake design is poor and it let dirt and debrie into the intake. This ATV is just OK with me as is. If Yamaha would fix a few minor things this would be the best ATV on the market by far. I have owned all the other brands with the exception of CAN-AM and they all had there flaws. I'm afraid to say from my option the Kodiaks issues just stand out all over the place. I'm gonna hold on to it for a bit, but if Yamaha fails to address the stuff I listed above. I'll probably be going back to the Red Team.

 

[Link]

I siliconed a k&n filter in the air box and run synthetic oil in the final drive. Seems to fix both issues.

 

[kodiakmatt]

What is the issue with the rear brake? I haven't had any trouble there yet. Yes the air intake does suck for sure

 

[Hardwood Hitman]

Thats just it, I paid over 8k for this machine and it's a "Yamaha" I should not have to mod a thing and or go outside the specified lubricants for the final drive. Kodiakmatt have you ever rode a machine with good rear drums or disk. There is no comparison, the rear brakes barely stop this machine and locking them up is a no go.

 

[JimP]

I've got over a thousand miles on my machine and have had zero problems with the rear brakes stopping it. I haven't come to a point where I needed to lock them up but I have no doubt that I could if needed.

Link really didn't go outside on the factory specified final gear oil by going to synthetic. Most synthetics have the friction modifier in them that the factory requires and the factory recommends a Mobil oil which is a semi synthetic with the friction modifier.

 

[Hardwood Hitman]

Thanks JimP, I always go by the user manuals recommendation for these things.

Yamaha friction Modified Plus (ACC-SHFTL-PL-32) is what I put back into the final drive as specified by the user manual. What I'm saying is these breaks are nowhere near as good as Drums or Disk. They may last longer but they do not stop the machine nearly as good.

 

[Firefighterjake]

Well I partially agree with you . . . I like this Yamaha and I cannot point to anyone thing, but it feels less rugged than my old (OK, very old) Honda Foreman 450S.

That said . . .

a) For the price point I would have had to pay a lot more for a Honda . . . and it would have had a less powerful engine and/or come with fewer of the "extras" that I was hoping to trade up for -- i.e. I wanted IRS, EPS and a full automatic.

b) I loved . . . and still love Hondas as they are built well, but the one thing I was never a fan of was their drum brakes. I would adjust the brakes and within a couple of weeks they were barely working . . . only thing that helped was my ability to manually downshift the Foreman.

 

[kodiakmatt]

Jake I agree I had a Honda and a Suzuki and I gave up on the drum brakes on the rear of them couldn't keep them adjusted and this time of year the bike wouldn't move because there was always moisture inside the drums and they would freeze. Thank god for being able to down shift them and use the front brake. My rear brake on my kodiak will drag on gravel. Hitman I am thinking there is something wrong with yours and would be having it looked at

 

[Hardwood Hitman]

Thanks Kodiakmatt, I had the 20Hr break-in service performed at the dealership. I ask them to use Yamaha specific fluids and and as part of the service to adjust the breaks which they did. They are telling me they are performing as they should. I understand how drum breaks do not work well if they are not adjusted properly which is not the case with disc. They work better than the wet break on the Yamaha Kodiak if adjusted properly.

 

[Hardwood Hitman]

This is a little disturbing as well. I can see outsourcing the majority of the machine, but the power plant should be owned by the manufacturer.


http://www.kodiakowners.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5786&stc=1&d=1513118492

 

[VmaxSteve]

In my opinion, I really like the rear brake on the Kodiak. I do a lot of mudding on mine, and as soon as the wheels get covered in mud it pushes the front brake calipers in so the front brakes do not work without pumping them. Since the rear brakes are sealed, they work the same no matter what. Sure, the back brakes feel crappy and they really don’t seem that strong, but I readjusted the cable so that as soon as you touch the brake at all, you can feel it grab. With some effort, I can lock the rear tires up doing 20 mph on pavement. My only overall complaint about the Kodiak is that you cannot view the coolant temp on the screen, and I wish it had a little bit more top end power. Other than that, it feels like a very strong reliable unit. Oh, and after driving it at low speeds on warm days for long periods of time, it will occasionally backfire through the throttle body (really really wierd, and I don’t know why.)

 

[Primethious]

I siliconed a k&n filter in the air box and run synthetic oil in the final drive. Seems to fix both issues.

What final drive oil did you go with?


The air box issue can be fixed using EHS racing air box mod.
http://ehsracing.com/

 

[Link]

I put Amsoil synthetic atv/utv transmission\diff fluid in the final drive. Its gl-5 rated.

 

[Primethious]

I put Amsoil synthetic atv/utv transmission\diff fluid in the final drive. Its gl-5 rated.

I use Amsoil in my street bike along with a cleanable billet oil filter..
Are you using the same fluid in both the front and rear differentials? What weight(s) did you use or is it just one weight?
Are you using Amsoil for the engine?

 

[Link]

Ive been running Maxima sxs premium gear oil 80w90 in front diff and maxima pro plus 10w40 in the engine.