We haven’t ridden a big bruiser quad in a very long time, so when we saw this one at Suzuki East/Bikeshop Boksburg we made tentative enquiries about borrowing it and for a review. Because it looked brand new, and new these quads are north of R200k, we were expecting to be told to go fly a kite.
This is a 2008 model that had just been looked after really well and used it for a few days.
That is just testament to the quality of stock that Jannie and his team of ‘Bike Buyers’ curate for Bikeshop Boksburg. This Suzuki King Quad is available with Just on 1,020km’s on the dial. It is fitted with ITP Mags, chunky tyres, wheels spacers and an array of bash plates for a mere R129,900.00.
As far as we can establish, the only difference between this unit and a brand new one is that they seemed to have removed the back up Recoil/pull start for when your battery is kaput.
Other than that it all seems the same to us.
We gave it to Séan, to go and do some stuff with it in our backyard and he managed to find a Combine Harvester, a Fleet of John Deere tractors and a river. Then we gave it to our Junior hooligan in training, Tristan, who immediately found a mud bog and proceeded to roost the heck out of our resident photographer, here is what they each had to say:
Séan says:
I had forgotten how much fun a properly big and powerful quads were.
When I first walked around this King Quad I noted that it has exactly the mods on it that make complete sense. The wheel spacers not only make the wheel track wide enough to ride on normal twee spoor easily, but they also spread the load and lower the centre of gravity. That was and always is still the biggest gripe with quads in my opinion, the wheel track unspaced is too narrow to clear the middle mannetjie on a tweespoor, so you end up riding lopsided with one side of the quad in the one spoor and the other on the middle mannetjie – not lekker fun.
The biggest problem, however is that they can tip over. The addition of front and rear wheel spacers has sorted those two concerns out completely. I chucked the King Quad hard into a couple of high speed tight turns and it remained upright. My favourite trick has always been the side wheelie. I tried in vain to get this one up on either the right or left wheels to no avail, proof of its stability.
Initially, when I hopped on the King Quad, I had to ride down a longish dirt road to get to our favourite playground just behind our offices and was able to get on the gas quite hard. When I got up to what I thought was a comfortable cruising speed I looked down at the speedo and was surprised to see it was reading just a kay or three under a ton. That four corner fully independent suspension really does soak up all the lumps and bumps very well, making for an exceptionally comfortable ride. Then, a whole lot sooner than I expected, I ran out of road and had to make a right turn at the T-junction and head into the veld.
I will tell you this – loose gravel on top of hard compact red dirt does not offer any traction whatsoever, and clamping on all the hooks and stamping on the foot brake did very little to scrub off speed – like riding on ice. Fortunately I brought it all under control and avoided it all ending in tears, the only damage was a pucker mark on the wide comfortable seat…
I decided it was best to go do some slower speed, more technical riding and went down to the river which, with the incessant rain we’ve had, just happened to be in flood. PERFECT! We normally tip toe through here on our two wheelers when it isn’t in flood and generally ride around when it is.
With 4WD, low range and diff lock, proper ground clearance and some serious rubber It was barely a challenge crossing the river, so I ended up exploring the little tributaries just for fun, which quickly got very deep and I had to splash a hasty retreat before the flotation capabilities of said King Quad was put to the test.
DAMN this bike is quad is super capable.
Eventually, I noticed the local farmer out in the fields with his combine harvester and a fleet of bright green tractors and trailers and wandered over to say ‘Hi’.
I really enjoy big machinery. The farmer, who had been watching me cruise along the trail and fields to get to him popped his head out of the window, shouting a greeting and saying, “Dit lyk flippen lekker, ek kort so ding vir die plaas, beter as om my bakkie op te donner hier in die lande. Lyk as of ek ‘n paar tools kan ook saam dra op daardie rakke”.
He is quite correct!
Eventually, I had to hand it over to Tristan for a bit who immediately suggested a cool test would be by the willow trees with a mischievous glint in his eyes….. Mud Bogging time, our photographer was in for a rough afternoon…
Tristan says:
I know Uncle Séan likes quads, but flip it looked like he was having so much fun on it in the river that I really wanted to have a go on it.
I had something a bit more challenging in mind – or so I thought. The area down by the willow trees had turned into a deep mushy swamp, the perfect spot to get stuck and get Uncle Séan and Uncle Deon knee deep in the smelly mud digging and pulling me out…. While I gently roosted them…..
If I had been on a bike I would have been axle deep and stuck within the first 5 metres, unfortunately this darn King Quad is just sooo good and absolutely refused to get bogged, and I wasn’t even in 4WD drive yet.
Them two old uncles did need a good bit of mudding though, especially Uncle Séan with his, “I’m in my work clothes, I don’t want to get dirty…. Nag, nag, nag”.
He has street smarts and kept well clear. Deon on the other hand is the newbie…
The mud was thick, mushy, sticky and trying to do donuts in 4WD was just not working. The traction was just too good and it kept bulleting me out across the swamp. But, when I put it into 2WD and engaged low-range things changed… Dramatically!
The back end became very loose and started chucking mud everywhere!
I lined Uncle Deon up, saying he would get the best photo at a certain spot because I reckon I could do a cool Donut with the new settings – and he fell for it, how could he not know?
Newbies are just so gullible and so much fun. Séan on the other hand knew exactly what I was up to and came bounding and splashing through the mud with complete disregard for his ‘work clothes’ with video camera in hand.
Man it was fun, the King Quad was completely stable, that huge engine spinning up the rear wheels easily and slinging it everywhere in the biggest roost I have ever done….. And Deon just stood there taking pics…. Until it was too late, when I came around for the second spin he was still standing there….
Oh Well – round three was definitely called for, but by now he wasn’t too happy and was trying to stumble away, Uncle Séan crowed like our Rooster, he was laughing so hard.
Eventually, we decided to go look for a more difficult river crossing and found one with very steep embankments on both sides. We have never been able to cross the river at that point…. Ever, but this King Quad was just so easy to ride I figured I would give it a bash. I put it in 4WD drive low-range with full diff lock on and slowly crept over the edge. It is very easy to control the speed of the descent on the brakes and sure enough I made it into the river. The crossing was a doddle with the big wheels and high ground clearance, but climbing out the otherside was a bit more challenging and I needed two goes at it, the second with a bit more momentum and I was up. That was a lot of fun, so I turned around and went straight back into another crossing, this time it was much easier.
I am a Dirt Bike rider through and through, but this King Quad has really got me looking at quads in a different light, they can really be huge fun to ride and they can literally go anywhere – in comfort and without getting full of mud.
And there you have it folks! Quads are fun! This one is really good value for money, the closest to a new King Quad you can find and for pre-owned pricing. Go chat to the guys at Bikeshop Boksburg. They can assist with easy finance and insurance options, extended warranties and gladly accept trade-ins. Any lifestyle item in good condition will be considered – bikes, boats, jet-ski’s, caravans, trailers, customs and classic cars, bakkies you name it they will look at it and make a very fair offer if they are interested in it.
