New Compact Chassis
Rather than place the new 450 in a full-size chassis, Yamaha built a new smaller chassis for the 450, which is more compact and lighter. And that gives the Kodiak a little sportier feel in that the 450 isn’t carrying around a full-size chassis. Looking at the weight figures, the difference isn’t much between the Kodiak 700 EPS and 450 EPS chassis: 677 lbs. wet on the 700 and 650 on the 450. As for the dimensions, the 450 is 80.1x46.5x45.7 (LxWxH) compared to the 700 at 81.5x46.5x48.8.
Although the chassis is a bit more compact than Yamaha’s full-size ATVs, the ground clearance is within about an inch (10.8 inches on the 700 vs. 9.6 inches on the 450) and we appreciated every last inch the 450 provided us on the Capitol Forest trails. And we also appreciated the full skid plate, which we used more than once.
The overall feel of the chassis, seat and handlebar ergonomics was good. The seat is four inches longer than the Grizzly 450’s was and we made a conscious effort to slide back to use it but found ourselves sliding back forward to get more toward the center of gravity as we negotiated the really technical trails. Yamaha changed up the handlebars a little, as the Kodiak 450 bars are swept back 31mm (about 1.2 inches) and 25mm (nearly an inch) up. It was easy to move around in the cockpit area of the ATV, something we were constantly doing on the technical trails. It never felt like we had to manhandle the vehicle but it responded (thanks in no small part to the EPS) immediately to our leaning and twisting and turning.
As we rode the forest trails in Washington that day and as the ride was coming to a close, we weren’t sure if we were more impressed with the EPS or the new tires. Both earned our respect that day.
The Kodiak uses new 25-inch tires and they took a beating the day we rode the 450. There were so many roots and rocks and other hidden obstacles on the trail that the tires went over, along with some very rocky trails near and on Capitol Peak (elevation 2,659 feet) that we were sure would cause some tire trouble. Nope. Not a one.
Too Honest?
Is it too honest to admit that there were a couple of times we stopped on the trail after one of the many obstacles just to see if the tires were okay? The tread pattern on the tires is very open, too, which made us a tad skeptical as to how they would hold up but, again, no problems.
Listening to Biolsi, Yamaha’s ATV/SxS testing manager, tell it, the tires benefit from the reworked suspension on the Kodiak 450. The new ATV, which has 6.7 inches of front travel and 7.4 inches of rear travel, has more travel than previous iterations of the 450 and a wider footprint. When you get more suspension travel, the shock can be longer and the A-arms bigger. A benefit of all that is it let Yamaha use a stiffer sidewall tire, going from a 2 ply to a 4 ply tire. Of course, a 4-ply will hold up better in turns because it’s stiffer but also can endure more abuse.
As for the EPS, it protected us (and the Kodiak) from many an obstacle hiding along the edges of the trails. Anyone who has ridden in the Capitol State Forest knows there is plenty of foliage along the trails and that foliage hides a lot of nasty roots and rocks and the like. We could seem some of the obstacles (remember the trails are 48-inch wide and the Kodiak 46.5 inches) and would do our best to slip by them but even trying to fudge an inch or less by turning to one side of the trail or the other many times meant we would strike something on the other side—most of the time unseen.
There were a couple of times our hands just about got pulled off (jerked out of?) the handlebars because of those hidden obstacles. We can only imagine what the ride would have been like on a non-EPS model. No thanks.
Yamaha is using a new steering ratio on the Kodiak 450 with the benefit being a lighter steering effort and increased assist. Those are just bonuses of an already solid EPS system from Yamaha.
For us, the Kodiak 450 is a great recreational vehicle, one we could spend hours and days riding and enjoying. And if we had to, we wouldn’t mind using this ATV for work as well. We just prefer the play part.
