New Owner 2017 700i

[trailjunkee]

Just wanted to say hello. Just got a 2017 700I and fairly new to the side by side game.

What do I need to know about these machines?

I have already found it odd that it will not start in park, only in neutral. Is this typical? That's what it says in the manual but it just seems odd to me. It's also almost impossible to get it out of park and into neutral to start it. What am I missing or did I get a dud machine? Last one on the sales floor and I'm afraid they sold my wife a bad unit but all the reviews I've seen are positive. Lots of questions, but I figure I'll start here.

Thanks Bryan

[airshot]

Not sure on the 700, Welcome aboard, I am a 450i owner for 3 yrs. No problems so far!  Mine is also hard to shift when stopped,  but I can start in any gear as long as brake pedal is pressed. I just leave it in gear and press on brake to start. It has gotten easier to shift over time, especially after switching to synthetic oil. I am sure some other 700 owners will chime in and offer some suggestions. In the mean time have fun, talk to your dealer first if you have any issues and the Kymco USA factory has been helpfully to me. I

[trailjunkee]

Thanks Airshot. That's what I was expecting. I have limited experience with rangers and foreman but lots of experience with commercial equipment. Your explanation was how I was expecting this one to work. My wife even tried to jump it off because she thought she had killed the battery to get it here. It won't start in any gear except neutral but that doesn't seem right because why would you even need park. Found a manual online and it says only cranks in N. To get it from park into neutral you have to get someone to rock it back and forth to get it past reverse and into N. Hope I can get some help at the shop but from what I can tell they were less than helpful to my wife. I plan to use this to plow smaller driveways for my company but didn't end up with a complete plow kit. Recommendation from shop ended up being a plow blade and mounting bracket but no mention of push bars or the need for a winch. I'm a little concerned about the  lack of options for this machine. Had really planned on mounting a full hydraulic system like a boss plow but can only find warn and eagle that look close and neither have hydraulic lift and angle. But first have to figure out if the machine has mechanical issues. Thanks again. Hope to get some good news and recommendations on here.

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[CROSSBOLT]

This will be about the ONLY place you will get a straight answer! You may find another dealer that may be receptive but I doubt it. I have a UXV500i and it will start in any gear if the brake is pushed hard enough. "Hard enough" means just a tiny bit more than just feeling the pedal stiffen. When pushed enough, the pump noise slows a bit. Then the starter will activate. Starting in Neutral only is nuts; has to be a mistake in the book which Kymco is famous! Park maybe but not Neutral only. Their book writers/translaters may not know but their engineers and designers do! I will go try everything on mine to be sure and get back....standby.

[trailjunkee]

Yep. Got the dealer on the phone just a minute ago and he said same thing. Push harder on the brake. Seems to work. But my kids will never be able to push that hard. I'm concerned because it seems like this is one of only a couple they have sold. Really just concerned about service and parts in the future.

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[trailjunkee]

Ok. Next question. From what I can see I do not need to order any mounting plates to mount a warn winch. Is that correct? Am ordering a vantage 3000 and it seems to have the same bolt pattern as the 2000 and 2500 provantage listed on the Kamco page, 3 x 4.87 inches. Can't imagine putting a 2000 lbs winch on this thing since the dry weight is almost that. Back in the day on our jeeps we always ran winches that were 2-3 times stronger than the weight of the jeep and all our safety equipment for work is usually 10x the load.

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[souzamoto]

Ok. Next question. From what I can see I do not need to order any mounting plates to mount a warn winch. Is that correct? Am ordering a vantage 3000 and it seems to have the same bolt pattern as the 2000 and 2500 provantage listed on the Kamco page, 3 x 4.87 inches. Can't imagine putting a 2000 lbs winch on this thing since the dry weight is almost that. Back in the day on our jeeps we always ran winches that were 2-3 times stronger than the weight of the jeep and all our safety equipment for work is usually 10x the load.

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The kymco item bolts up without an adapter plate as do most other winches. There maybe a few differences in the winch kit such as switches and wire length supplied by Kymco vs other brands.
I wouldn't be to concerned about service or parts. Kymco has about a 90 to 95% fill ratio on dealer parts orders
CJS

[CROSSBOLT]

Start: went out and checked. It will crank and start in Neutral without any pressure on the brake so I gotta back off a bit! It WILL crank and start in any other selector position when you pressure the brake like I said. I see you got that part!

Winch: wife bought me the cheapest and on special sale Harbor Freight 2500# winch. It has served very well and will pull the machine with all four wheels locked. Probably lift itself off the ground! I did have to Dremel grind a couple of bolt holes to mount it but other than that was a piece of cake to install. The weak link is the battery. I have installed a mower battery to get the cranking amps necessary to reliably start especially in cold weather.

[airshot]

I used a KID winch, 2500lbs cap. No problems with it on my 450i machine. Winch was a bolt on no mounting issues, had way more than enough wire length. Had my machine buried in mud over the top of tires, winch pulled it out with no problems.  There are many different kits to make power angle on various plows. I don't need it on my pile driver plow kit. Only rarely do I change the angle on my blade. I also use a battery tender during the winter cold. Winches use lots of power so the battery works hard when plowing including headlights for night time plowing. The battery tender keeps battery full for cold weather use. I have never had any issue getting parts thru my dealer,  factory web site has parts microfisch with actual costs so you can see if your dealer is being honest.  If you have dealer issues...talk to the factory.. they will respond,  at least they did for me.  Also try " cyclopedia" an online service manual ..50 bucks for lifetime script and they offer a trouble shooting service and you can also buy a hard copy. The online has worked well as I can just print the pages I want. Your gonna have fun with your machine when you get things figured out!

[Brad]

yeah the shifter should settle in ok once it starts to brake in my 700i did the same but now that I have some miles on it it's getting easier to shift

[trailjunkee]

Ordered a Warn Vantage 3000 yesterday. Guy calls me within a couple of hours and says that they're out of those but he's going to sell me the newer version which is sealed and lifetime warrantied for the same price. Even threw in the wired remote that was included with the vantage but not the VRX. Great guy to work with. He's Weaver Equipment Co on Amazon. Much better deal than my semi local shop. $285 total for the 3000 VRX with that wired remote and found a dash switch for an additional $35. So I guess I'm headed in the right direction there.

Now I need to start figuring out enclosing the cab. Any thoughts there? Factory or aftermarket. Hard or soft enclosure? Man the factory full hard enclosure is expensive and it doesn't look like you can buy it a piece at a time other than the top and windshield. Ulitimatley I'd like to enclose the whole thing to keep the snow out but $3k is a lot more than I had anticipated.

Again, thanks for the help. Finally got to drive it around yesterday and that was fun. Unfortunately looks like it's going to rain for the next week so I guess I won't have it out much for a while.

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[airshot]

Sorry about the bad spelling, it is supposed to be a KFI winch not a KID winch!  Damn spell checker crap and little buttons!    I have the Eagle Pacific soft side enclosure and it works well for keeping me warm during snow plowing on my 450i. I also have a propane golf cart heater to take the chill off and that little item really work well.  I was opposed to hard side due to cost and excess weight. I have factory hard top, made my own fold down windshield and just add the soft enclosure for winter use. Hard enclosures can trap alot of heat in the summer.  A regular poster on here is part of Eagle Pacific with his bumpers and side doors. KURT can point you in the right direction....great guy!   So what if it is raining?  That just makes ridding fun....get her muddy and see what 4 wheeling is all about!! 

[Brad]

right now you can get encloser's one way and that's in soft cab and I have looked everywhere

[Heck]

Hi Trailjunkee- fairly new owner here too....
Was wondering if you bought the 700i or the 700i LE version as they have a redesigned roll cage on the LE...It has a couple of bends in it that the 700i doesnt have.. I've had no luck in getting anything aftermarket as far as cab parts for it either. In fact my dealer sold another LE right after I picked mine up and they wanted that pricey cab installed.... I saw the finished product before they picked it up and they had to change out the LE roll bar setup for the standard 700i setup so it would fit....
Just got off the phone with the Kymco Mothership in South Carolina (Kymco USA) and they indicated that the new cab parts are "in the works" but no info as to pricing and availability yet.
I guess we wait and continue to get dusted out every time we get in the machine.
Your dealer should be able to adjust the switch on the brake that allows starting in all the gears so you dont have to press the brake as hard. I would imagine that you want to press hard enough to fully engage the brake before starting, however mine just takes a normal brake application to be able to start it- nothing earth shattering.
Have fun with it!! 
BTW have you checked your speedometer accuracy with a GPS?  Mine runs about 25% fast on both speed and odometer...For reference, that is for 500 odometer miles, (service interval) you are actually only putting about 400 or so miles on the machine.... I have an inquiry into the mothership for that issue too...It seems to be fairly common, but not really acceptable... 
Cheers !!!

[trailjunkee]

Heck, I have the 700i, not the LE. You're lucky to have a dealer providing any support at all. I've called 2 dealers that are listed on Kymco's site. Neither really deals in them and have no parts. Both have said they'd contact the the warehouse and get info. Neither have called me back. Guess I'll call again today. One in Winston Salem has lots of parts on their website but no prices or availability.

What I'd like to do is a factory hard top, since that is the only one I've found and a windshield. Then maybe soft back and doors for now then add hard doors and back a little later. In the winter I really need a full enclosure since I'm in the mountains and it gets really cold and we can get a lot of snow. Probably would take most of the enclosure off during the summer.

I'm really leaning toward the eagle plow system. 72" blade, hydraulic turn, winch lift. Seems like there's good availability of replacement parts and at $1800 shipped that seems like a reasonable price for a utv plow. Wish it was fully hydraulic so there would only be 1 controller, but it doesn't look like that is out there. My only concern is that my mechanic has worked on a couple of kymcos and both had transmission problems, both from plowing...he says. So that's got me a little concerned. What do you guys have to say?

The one thing I have found that I wish this machine had is an easily removable tailgate. I was dumping some wood that has been sitting so long that it has rotted and that just seemed really hard on the tailga

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