Farms & Farm Machinery #385

UTV/ATV REVIEWS
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Beauty & brawn
The Kawasaki Brute Force
750 ATV is tough to beat
and fun to ride, Barry
Ashenhurst wrote in 2017
Kawasaki Brute Force 750
Engine
Fuelling
Bore/stroke
Trans
Frame
Susp
Front travel
Rear travel
Ground
clearance
Front tyres
Rear tyres
Front brakes
Rear brakes
749cc V-twin
Fuel injection
85x66mm
CV with reverse, selectable
4WD/ diff lock
Double-cradle, high tensile
tubular steel
Double wishbones front/
rear with adjustable shocks
169mm
190mm
240mm
AT25x8-12 tubeless
AT25x10-12 tubeless
Dual 200mm discs/2-piston
calipers
Enclosed wet multiplate
Park brake Enclosed wet multiplate
Dimensions (LxWxH)
2,195x1,180x1,220mm
Wet weight 315kg
Load cap (front/rear) 40/80kg
Towing cap 567kg
Colour Super Black
With a powerful engine coupled to a great off-road
transmission, the Kawasaki’s Brute Force 750 can tear up
the ground like a stick of dynamite – if that’s what you want.
But in the right hands it has a subtle talent for reducing difficult
obstacles to an exercise in throttle control.
As far as we know, this is the only ATV with a lever-action front
diff lock with benefits that can be applied inc ementally. It’s like
asking for more traction and getting it. And then, when you’ve
finished with it you put it back in the box.
Control is one of this machine’s strong points, and much of it
swings on learning to use that little lever on the handlebars –
the yellow diff lock on this machine is a stroke of genius. When
you learn to use it properly, you too will realise the benefit .
Fortunately, Kawasaki has genuine aluminium skid plates –
costing about $1,300 for a complete set, protecting everything
between the front and rear CV joints.
LOOKS THE PART
We’re tempted to say the Kawasaki Brute Force 750 ATV shares
with the Suzuki 500 AXi an indefinable quality that adds to its
appeal. This quad is actually what the industry now likes to call a
hybrid. It has all the tough bits for carrying, towing and going off
road, but also the fun bits for riding fast, sliding through gravel
corners and blasting up hills.
The 749cc V-twin in this machine is manufactured in Lincoln,
Nebraska (US) and makes this the first Japanese 4WD ATV to
sound like a Formula One car in a bottle. A big bottle. You’ll never
need more power than this engine gives you. The fuel-injected
V-twin develops 50hp (37kW) at 6,750rpm and maximum torque
of 59Nm at 5,250rpm, giving it a 567kg tow rating.
The V-twin has less engine braking than we expected. Where
the Suzuki 500 Axi engine happily restrained its downhill speed
to 2km/h with no brakes, this model whistled down the hill at
7km/h and counting.
This was disappointing and the only weakness we found in
the 750 Brute Force, a quad we liked very much in every other
respect. The Kawasaki’s power steering also feels a little light to
us, as if it were designed for a heavier quad – such as the 349kg
Polaris Sportsman 850 SP. Then again, the fact that it accelerates
1. This ATV has as much power as you’ll ever need. Sharp handling
and punchy acceleration make it fun to ride, and it’s very capable
off road
2. The diff lock on this machine is a bright yellow stroke of genius
3. The ride is firm, but, with so much power, it needs to be. Riding
this thing with sloppy suspension wouldn’t be much fun at all
so fast and has a top speed of about 120km/h is a valid reason
for the power steering to feel slightly twitchy.
SETTLE DOWN
There’s nothing unusual or innovative from the CV joints at one
end to the CV joints at the other (there are no grease zerks,
either). The suspension is what you’d expect on almost any
4WD ATV – independent suspension front and rear, and shock
absorbers with preload adjustment only.
Ride quality is firm definitely not as plush or ‘settled’ as the last
quad we evaluated on the same territory – the Suzuki KingQuad
500 AXi. It’s not harsh as such, more the ride you’d expect on a
hybrid with gobs of power and a suspension setup designed to
keep it all right side up.
You wouldn’t want a Brute Force 750 with sloppy suspension.
The 25-inch (63.5cm), rather than the more common 26-inch
(66cm), six-spoke cast aluminium wheels look a bit small but
don’t seem to effect ground clearance in any measureable way,
and we know from experience that the Duro rough terrain tyres
on this machine are capable and durable.
The front brakes are strong, but the wet rear disc feels a little
weak – as most wet brakes do. Butterfly adjustors a e there to
remove any slack in the lever, and they succeed, but you’re still
riding with the same type of brake and living with its inherent
weakness. Adjust away. It’s still a weak brake. Storage space is
quite good, with a small pocket on the back of each front guard
and a larger, shallow waterproof box at the front, where on most
ATVs you’d find the adiator top-up point.
The air filter is easy to get at so is the engine oil filler point and
the racks are steel. To engage 4WD you push the button and get
3WD but when you haul in the diff lock lever you actually do get
4WD, and plenty of it. The Brute Force broadcasts the message
that nothing short of a tank trap will stop it.
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