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  Thanks, but that part I have figured out. Just wondering what the alignment sequence is to be sure it is solidly in gear when the shifter says it is. Sometimes my backup lights flicker on and off indicating it may not be totally in gear and sometimes the low light does not come on.  Just some things that may suggest a shifter alignment is needed.  Trying to get a factory service manual but no luck yet.

Finally got my top in and dealer installed it. I'm a happy camper now!

My dealer already had one installed on my UTV and it looked good so I told them to leave it on. A bit pricey yes....but does make the machine look good. I do find the mesh sides to be a pain in the a$$, with seat belts and a shoulder harness what good does the mesh do other than make it a pain to get in and out? That seat can be a little slippery if your zipping around the trails so yes we do wear the belts and shoulder harness.

We were thinking about a s-by-s to criuse around all the trails around here. Could not justify the $8k for any of the Kymcos and was looking at one of the chinese knock-offs for about $4k. I am not really impressed with public opinion of the chinese machines so are really interested in your experience with your 450i.

Karl

I was in the same situation and have been researching this for about 4 months. Looking at the Chinese knockoffs, I found many shortcuts in their build quality including quality of welds as well as parts availiability. Not many positive reviews!! Especially those owning for more than 6 months. ON the other hand the Kymco quality is quite good, I have dropped the skid plates in preparation to add a snow plow and have been quite impressed with their build quality. All frame members are closed tubing unlike some with U shaped frame and their welds are continuous all around rather than intermittent welds. Kymco builds engines for Honda and has for many years, builds the complete drivetrain for Artic Cat ATV and UTV's. They also build engines for Kawasaki ATV's and UTV's. They offer a full year warranty where others are only 6 months. Take a ride in one of the Chinese units and you will find they rattle your teeth. Having driven a number of UTV's I can safely say the Kymco does have one of the smoothest rides of any I test drove. The only complaint I have is what others have said and that is the shift lever....hard to find the gear selection...gets better with use, but still finicky. According to my insurance company, the average cost of a UTV has been over 15000.00 according to sales records and the Kymco can be had for at least 40% less. Read in the forums for other manufacturers and search for those that compared their brand to a Kymco....almost all of them say they were impressed at the quality, especially when the cost is 30% less for the Kymco. Search and take a couple test drives and I think you will come to the same conclusion I did. Some dealers do not allow test drives so beware....what are they hiding?

   After reading many posts on front end alignment problems I decided to check mine out.....yep sure enough...serious toe in, one side much more than the other.  I have had this same scenario on my ATV's and have created an easy way to align your front wheels. I use an 8' long pc of sq aluminum tubing but a really good straight piece of plywood or 2x4 works well also. You need to find something that will put your straight edge about in the center (elevation) of the tires and extend it to span the front and rear tires. Push your straight edge up to the rear tire while it extends just pass the front tire and check the parallism of the front tire to your straight edge. Adjust the tie rod end until your front tire is just a small amount further in the front of the tire than the rear of the front tire.  This should give you about an 1/8" toe in, or mabey a tiny bit less. then do the same thing to the other side then recheck both sides, some minor tweaking will be needed as one side adjustment may affect the opposite side. Once completed you should have less tha a quarter inch toe in, meaning that the front span of the front tires is a little closer than the rear span of the front tires. You need a small amount of toe in as the pressure on the tires from moving forward will cause them to spread out slightly. I had some serious understeer on mine but the new alignmenrt cured that. Not only that but the front tires now are aligned to the rear tires and steering is much more responsive. On my ATV's it also helped with tire life. I live out in the country where limited driving on the road side is permissible and as most of you already know, the paved roads do eat up the knobby tires much quicker, but this alignment will help slow down that wear. Interested to hear any other tidbits of info from other readers that has helped their side x side experience.