Words: Séan (The Office Orangutang)
Pics: Deon (The office Appy)
Although at the time of riding this machine we’d only had a few days of good rains, the old trails were through some swampy grounds. We gave the… should we call it the ‘baby’ King Quad to our resident Orangutan who is an avid Quad enthusiast as well as an actual, fully certified ATV riding instructor.
The newly appointed ‘Roofie’ in the office was jammed on the back and experienced a proper ‘Baptism by…. MUD’ into the world of ATV’s.
Lets first run through some of the hi-lites before we tell you what it is like to ride:
Smooth power and torque – The KingQuad 400 has some great technology. Powered by their efficient, fuel-injected 376cc engine, it delivers plenty of smooth power and torque
Twin rear shock suspension – It comes standard with advanced dual rear-shock suspension.
It has the option for a 5 speed manual or fully automatic transmission Whether you choose the 5-speed manual or automatic CVT transmission, both models include high and low ratios and a reverse gear. The version we rode was fully automatic
Fuel Injection – Adds reliability and an increase in power and torque, whilst maintaining good fuel economy.
Multi function digital display All the information you need, easy to read at a quick glance, giving you more time to concentrate on the terrain.
From R156,450.00 – Which does seem like pretty decent value for money
Want more details?- Go to https://suzukimotorcycle.co.za/bikes/quad-bikes/lt-a400f-lt-f400f/
That all looks good in theory, but what is it like to ride? As mentioned, we haven’t ridden a lot of these trails for quite some time purely because they are a proper quagmire, especially after the rains and we get horribly stuck for hours on end which starts wearing a bit thin after a while. Nonetheless, we were on a capable 4×4 quad and in the mood for some mud bogging, river crossings, rock crawling and a couple of hill climbs.
From the outset we are going to tell you straight up, this is not a two seater and is in no way designed to carry two people, especially two big oafs from our office. The office Appy took a lot of strain being pillioned through the African bush behind our 2m tall ATV lunatic who has never understood the meaning or need for half throttle on a quad through the bush. Clinging on to the rear carrier for dear life, trying desperately not to lose any of his camera equipment along the way, he will enthusiastically tell you how little fun he had and even offered to walk the 5 kays back to the office lugging all the equipment with him after the shoot.
Séan on the other hand had a completely different view of proceedings and the comfort of the 400cc KingQuad, and had this to say:
“For Five Snakes! I was really looking forward to this test, it has been a long while since I hammered an ATV through the bush and played in the mud. Having the Appy clinging onto the back, ostensibly to take pics and videos for you to enjoy, but with the secondary unspoken function of standing knee deep in the boggy waters to push me out gave me quite the sadistic thrill.
Yes – I am that guy’.
Firstly let me comment on the comfort and ergo’s.
The seat is wide and plush, the bars are at a comfortable height for both sitting or standing riding positions, even for my 2m tall chassis and are easily shoulder width. Seat height from the foot wells allows for a relaxed yet commanding riding position while sitting and allows for a range movement needed to easily negotiate any obstacle, while still easily keeping all the necessary controls within quick and easy reach.
The cockpit layout is intuitive with everything being exactly where you would look for it instinctively, especially important in cheek clenching situations. Flicking from 2wd to 4wd is easily done with the right thumb via a mechanical actuator mounted on the RHS bar.
The left hand brake is linked directly to the rear foot brake, so you can use either or, great for people with limited mobility or if your cheeks are that tightly clenched onto the seat that you can’t use your foot to apply the rear brakes. The digital dash display is easy to read, albeit a bit challenging when the sunlight bounces off of it. The fully auto gears are super easy and very slick, so whipping through Hi, Lo and reverse trying to rock yourself unstuck is kiddies play.
4WD, Diff lock and Low-Range cries out for a challenge.
I put in a concerted effort to attempt to beach the 400 KingQuad with no success. No matter how deep the water, how thick and slushy the mud or how deep the ruts, it just refused to get stuck and I wasn’t having any of that – The Appy had to get a little bit muddy somewhere, somehow… Eventually I loaded him back up onto the Suzuki quad, went into Hi-Range with no diff lock or 4×4 assistance and tackled the most monstrous bog I could find – SUCCESS…. We found a deep rut in the swamp with a big boulder lurking somewhere in the murky depths and got stuck. He clambered off unwillingly and trudged through the slosh to the nearest high ground whilst I and the Suzuki 400 KingQuad bobbed out and trundled off happily spinning the wheels into a roost.
Then, figuring the mud was no challenge, I tried the rocks, same story there. Unless I was being a complete fool and purposefully beaching the belly against the rocks, I always had plenty of ground clearance and traction to keep moving forward. Eventually I gave up trying to get the 400cc KingQuad stuck and aimed it at the jumps, slides and wide open spaces to see how it performed as a sports utility quad.
The max speed I achieved over a 500m section of fairly flat dirt was 76 kmh flat out and she was reasonably stable at those speeds. The wheel track is narrower than the average bakkie, so following a twee spoor is a bit awkward, but I am sure a set of wheel spacers would remedy that and spread the CFG out a bit more making it even more stable. Sliding the mid weight Suzuki Utility quad through a corner is easy on most surfaces.
So! So far it is a great mud blogger and even better rock crawler as well as a fairly fun sports quad. But what is it like as a utility quad and an agri tool?
Well, we were on a farm, the appy weighs around 95kg’s and I tip the scales at 115kg’s, so altogether 210 kg’s was no challenge for it to lug around. The suspension soaks up all the unevenness and corrugations attributed to ploughed fields and cattle hoof mauled fields with ease. We put exactly 5 litres of fuel into it and banged it hard for a good three hours around the veld and it still had a good portion of that 5 litres in the tank from what we could see.
As a final test we wandered around the farm counting the eyelashes on the cattle. The KingQuad is quiet enough not to startle the livestock, they just stood there chewing the cud and staring at us dispassionately.
