• Handbrake Headspace Settings
• Handbrake Headspace Software
• Handbrake Headspace App
• Handbrake Headspace App

REVIEW: KYMCO UXV700I UTV

By: Barry Ashenhurst, Video by: Barry Ashenhurst

Headspace Handbrake. Signs you might be in a toxic headspace and what to do about it. It can put a real handbrake on things if you suddenly jump out of a creative headspace and into a reading and research headspace. When you’re writing, it’s inevitable that things will come up that need further research – whether that’s the precise year of a particular event, or what kind of vegetables are likely to be grown as a staple.

LINK to Trade Farm Machinery

LINK to UXV 700i EPS

Kymco’s new UXV700i side-by-side is a smart little package for those who want civilised features, not big carrying or towing capacity

We’ve had brief experience with the Taiwanese Kymco brand but impressions have been favourable. The machines appear to be well made for the price; the specs competitive at the softer end of the market where Kymco operates.

The brand has been handed around over the past 10 years, and been allowed to run down from a marketing point of view, but deserves better and will probably get it now that it’s being handled by Mojo Motorcycles. Kymco’s aren’t the biggest, fastest, strongest or toughest, but are made by a recognised equipment manufacturer, not a can-opener factory with a sideline in UTVs. Kymco builds UTVs for Kawasaki and its product is generally considered good value for money. In my always humble opinion, they’re underrated.

The problem with comparing a Kymco with a similar UTV is finding a similar UTV. The off-road market is bat-flap insane, more so for first-timers. Many makes and models compete for your attention, so you need at least a basic working knowledge of these machines before you can tell the difference and make sensible purchasing decisions. You can screw up really quickly. So here’s some unsolicited advice.

If you’re in the market for a new UTV, conduct a box ticking exercise. Look for machines in your price range to determine who offers the most for the money. Run through the specs of every machine (it’s easy; they’re on the net). But the last and most important thing, get your bum on the seat. A machine that looks good on paper might drive like the crudest thing that’s ever had wheels, so don’t buy anything until you, and especially the wife, have driven it.

At $13,990 drive away, right now the Kymco’s closest competitors are the Polaris Ranger 570 HD at $14,990, and the CF Moto U550 EPS at $11,990, so maybe you should start box ticking there.

COMPACT AND COMFORTABLE

Kymco, CFMoto and Landboss (formerly Linhai) are distributed in Australia by Mojo Motorcycles. In our opinion Kymco is the better product. And they keep improving it. Some changes to the latest model are minor but some will, or should, make a difference. Here they are:

• the ‘flagship’ 700i gets new fuel injection mapping and an output of 45 horsepower (33.6kW) from its liquid-cooled four-stroke single. Does it feel like 45hp? We’ll get to that in a minute.
• Kymco says the transmission has been improved to match the extra engine output
• front suspension A-arms have been redesigned to increase ground clearance
• rollcage and seatbelt designs are new, to “create better headspace in the cockpit and increase overall occupant protection”. “Better headspace” probably means more headroom.
• Kaifa gas shocks have preload, compression and rebound adjustment. Most UTV shocks have preload adjustment only.
• seats have ultra high backs. There’s a new steering wheel as well.
• this model has a shaft-mounted handbrake and a Park slot in the gearbox. Good.
• 25-inch (635mm) Maxxis tyres are standard, on 12-inch (304.8mm), four-stud black steel wheels.

A recreational version of the 700i is available in the US but the Australian version is farm only. Here’s what we think of it.

The UXV is a compact machine, perfectly suited to crawling through tight scrub and along twisty creek-beds. We know because we spent a day doing it. That it has a 700cc engine gives it decent on-road performance as well. It’s a neat combination of on and off-road capability and turns out to be a very pleasant thing to drive.

Ground clearance is said to be 12 inches – ‘said to be’ because we don’t actually measure these things – and not once did the Kymco get hung up on trail obstacles or in rocky creek-beds. It’s also quite agile for a machine with a rollover protection system (ROPS) and if you’re careful you can sneak under low hanging branches and through ‘tree tunnels’.

Kymco says the single-overhead cam engine produces 45hp. Some American reviewers have said they doubt that figure but we think it’s legit. The little donk certainly pulls hard on hills and its top speed on our gravel dragstrip was 90km/h. It had no difficulty fording the Brisbane River either.

The two-seater arrangement is nicely laid out. The high-back bucket seats are more than comfortable and better than you’d expect in this price range. No doubt this will make the Kymco popular with women who find more agricultural machines clunky things to drive.

Other features will make it popular as a civilised cross-over:

Handbrake Headspace Settings

• positioned between the seats, the gear selector has a smooth action and picks up the gear with no crunching, stalling or bogging in one slot
• storage space is well thought out. In-cab is a two-slot cupholder, a small tray in the centre of the dash and a glovebox to the right. Moving the driver’s seat forward reveals a lidded bin.
• lift the bonnet and there’s a huge storage bin, though unsealed
• the electronic power-steering is well weighted;
• the brakes are strong and engine braking in low range is excellent.

Handbrake Headspace Software

The radiator is well protected with a mesh guard. The cargo bed is smaller than you’d get in a purely commercial machine but has a nice rubber liner and tips easily under its own effort when you pull back the latch.

Ride quality is pretty good for a small machine like this. No doubt to gain a marketing advantage, Kymco fitted fully adjustable shocks, and by ‘fully adjustable’ we mean preload, compression and rebound, something you see only on recreational UTVs, and not all of them. Will farmers mess around with clickers? Probably not, but young blokes who see themselves as rally drivers probably will. No harm done. And they might learn something, like how to get compression and rebound totally out of whack.

Controls are well placed. A small switch-dial to the left of the steering wheel chooses two or four-wheel drive and engages the diff lock.

In-dash are a 12-volt socket and a USB port. The instrument cluster is small but easy to read. A bright, coloured row of gear position indicators runs along the bottom of the digital display to let you know what gear you’re in.

To make sure you fit your seatbelt, the vehicle will do no more than 10kph until you buckle up. Kymco fitted net doors but there’s only a small shoulder bolster on either side. Frankly, we like that. One of our testers rolled a UTV at low speed some years ago and when his body contacted the steel bar it damaged the nerves in his shoulder, necessitating an operation. Manufacturers have a habit of including these bolsters as a safety device but seldom pad them with soft material to prevent the injury I’ve just described.

Which, I must confess, drags me kicking and screaming to the subject of whether or not to wear a helmet in a UTV. The answer is yes, bloody yes!

The Queensland Gummint can’t decide one way or the other on this issue and has changed its poor little mind several times. Bugger the gummint. If you refuse to wear a helmet then you can’t blame anyone when your bonce collides with a portion of a ROPS that more or less surrounds you in a UTV.

We can’t be anything but positive about this neat little machine. It may have faults we didn’t find in the six hours we had it – they all might – but on the face of it the Kymco has a lot going for it. It’s for those who don’t need big carrying or towing capacity, or serious rough terrain ability, but a comfortable people mover that can handle a bit of rough terrain if it happens to be in the way. And you can play in it, which does no harm at all. As a cross-over vehicle it’s good value for money.

We love suspension bondage and we’re excited to share it with you. We want to be very clear, however, about the risks involved.

1. Suspension bondage involves unavoidable risk. Like rock climbing, suspension is a risky activity. Good preparation and training can reduce your risk, but even if you do everything right there is still a chance that you may be injured or killed, or that you may injure or kill another person.

2. We don’t have all the answers. Unlike rock climbing, suspension bondage has no professional standards bodies and no expert consensus about best practices. This book is based on years of study, practice, and consultation with outside experts. Nonetheless, you should be aware that suspension is still a developing field, and our understanding of the best way to do things is still evolving.

3. You can’t learn suspension from a book. The only safe way to learn suspension is to work with a qualified instructor or mentor. This book is a valuable adjunct to expert instruction, but not a substitute for it. Without a skilled teacher to guide and evaluate you, you cannot learn suspension without placing your partner in tremendous danger.

Handbrake Headspace App

4. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Suspension is fun and exciting, and you will likely be tempted to rush ahead and try activities that you aren’t yet ready for. We can’t stress enough the importance of proceeding slowly and methodically, and always working within your skill level.

5. Always use good judgment. Your best defense against mishap is your own common sense and good judgment. Always be mindful of what you’re doing, and err on the side of caution.

Your partner is placing tremendous faith in your competence and judgment. If you are careless or overly ambitious, they are likely to pay a heavy price for your foolishness. Make sure that you are worthy of their trust.

Handbrake Headspace App

Suspended Animation accepts no responsibility for any injury or death which may occur as a result of the activities described in this book. By reading this book, you agree to take full responsibility for your actions and their consequences.