2012 Kawasaki Dealer Business Meeting
Teryx4 740 4x4 EPS LE being unveiled at the 2012 Kawasaki Dealer
Business Meeting
By Jon Crowley,
www.UTVGuide.netI was fortunate enough to be invited by Kawasaki USA to attend their 2012 Dealer Business Meeting in Orlando
Florida. Annual meetings like this are a chance for dealers to get up to
speed on manufacturers’ new products for the upcoming model year. And
this year it was obvious to me that Kawasaki went all out. Several other
ATV/UTV editors had been invited out for the event and I had the
privilege of getting information on the new models under embargo before
the reveal on Monday morning. Seeing images and specs in print can do
only so much to satisfy my curiosity so I was really looking forward to
putting my hands on the new Teryx4.
We all arrived on Sunday afternoon,
and after quickly checking in to the hotel, we all took a bus over to
the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center where the meeting was
taking place. This hotel is big (over 1,400 rooms), and Kawasaki had
completely taken over all of the rooms and the entire convention center
for this event. After a question and answer session with some of Team
Green Kawasaki’s top riders, we were off to a welcome party. Food and
drinks flowed and an excellent band played covers to lots of songs we
all knew. The place was rocking and filled with a sea of Kawasaki clad
dealers and corporate staff. Truly amazing to experience!
Welcome party just getting started
The next morning hit bright and early
for us west coast folks, but I was excited to see what Kawasaki had in
store for presenting the new products to their dealers. We all filed
into a huge exhibition center around a circle facing a large area in the
center that was concealed by drapes. It was a little after 8AM and our
embargo for posting the new 2012 models wasn’t lifting until 9AM. It
was interesting to watch all the editors sitting in the dark with their
laptops, iPads and smartphones poised to release new model information
while a Cirque Du Soleil atmosphere surrounded us.
When the moment arrived, the drapes
dropped and the entire corporate sales/support staff appeared. I was
expecting a bunch of new models to jump out but that wasn’t their plan.
Several speakers talked about the market and there were a few key pieces
of information that I gleamed from them.
- The ATV market continues to see lackluster performance.
- The UTV market continues to grow.
- Shoppers get 35% of their buying information from the internet, which is
way more than magazines at 4%.
- Kawasaki USA is geared up big time to hit the web hard as a huge part of
their marketing program – YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
It is a good time to be focused on
UTVs with a website as your outlet!
Finally 9AM arrived, and I hit send on
my industry news posts and starting blogging about the new Teryx4. After
presenting the new
Brute Force 300,
Ninja ZX-14R,
Ninja 650,
Ultra LX and the
Teryx4 it was time to head over to the New Product Showcase to see the
Teryx4 firsthand.
The Teryx4 display area was right
where we walked in and people were climbing in and out of the half-dozen
units on display. It was hard to get good product photos with all the
commotion, but this was a time to touch and feel so we jumped right in.
I crawled around a nice yellow EPS LE
model for a while, then headed over to the Team Green area to get the
skinny from Reid Nordin. I knew that Reid has spent a lot of time on
this project so there would be no one better to explain all the new
stuff. There was a nicely customized LE model that had been put together
by Funco. It sported their new +6” long travel with King Shocks,
harnesses, a new roll cage, wheels and tires and Muzzys dual exhaust.
This Teryx4 looked tuff!
Here are a few things that I felt were
important:
- Although the engine is
still a 749cc v-twin, it is completely new and puts down about 20% more horsepower than the 2011 Teryx. Parts are not interchangeable between
the Teryx and Teryx4 and the output shafts and engine mounts are in
different locations, so there won’t be easy drop-in upgrades for any of
you that already own a Teryx. The good news for horsepower junkies is Muzzys Performance Products has had access to a unit for a while and
already has exhaust ready to go and big bore kits designed. Look for an
880cc kit with stock cylinders, and also a 916cc and 999cc with Muzzys’
billet cylinders real soon.
- The CVT features an
industry-first centrifugal clutch assembly. I believe this is a huge
development which should virtually eliminate belt slip and really shine
in the rocks. The centrifugal clutch assembly offers an extra degree of
precision slow-speed power manipulation and smoothness, which is ideal
for slow-speed where precise throttle manipulation is key
- Differentials are all new
and larger. Axles and CVs are also bigger.
- Suspension is completely
new with nothing in common with the Teryx. Although the Teryx4 is about
6” wider than the Teryx, this does not equate to any increase in wheel
travel. So those of you wanting a long travel suspension will have to
look at the aftermarket for that. Funco and Long Travel Industries
already have their designs complete and I am sure a whole slew of others
will follow suit.
- The Teryx4 is pretty
roomy. I am 6’ 1” and sat in the back without having my knees hit the
front seat.
- Air filter sits up front and is easily serviceable and should
have access to cleaner and cooler air
- Power steering is a great
option. I have added power steering to several UTVs and I am a big fan.
Drive a UTV with EPS, and you will be too.
For those of you that are looking at the Teryx4 as a RZR 4 killer in the dunes,
it will take some work to get the Teryx4 there. It is pretty clear to me that a
four-seat dune machine was not the target for the Teryx4. Instead look at the
Teryx4 as an adventure vehicle (see
Kawasaki Adventure
Hunters). Explore, hunt and even rock crawl with three
others in comfort.
Like other UTV enthusiasts, I would
really like to see Kawasaki’s version of a sport UTV and I hope they
have something up their sleeves that has more power, more suspension and
is lighter than the current two-seat Teryx. I think the Teryx4 fills a
void for Kawasaki and I am happy that they see value in expanding their
UTV market offerings.
In closing, the 2012 Kawasaki Dealer
Business Meeting was an eye-opening event for me. Kawasaki is truly
energized and I am excited about their new products. I can’t wait to get
behind the wheel of a new Teryx4 and hopefully add one to the
UTVGuide.net
stable so we can bring you more details.
Dealers were able to get behind the wheel of a 2012 Teryx4
2012 Kawasaki MULE Line-Up
2012 Kawasaki Teryx4, Teryx and Mule line-up:
About Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A.
Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. (KMC) markets and distributes Kawasaki
motorcycles, ATVs, personal watercraft, utility vehicles and recreation
utility vehicles through a network of more than 1,350 independent retailers,
with an additional 8,000 retailers specializing in Kawasaki power products
and general purpose engines. KMC and its affiliates employ nearly 3,100
people in the United States, with 300 of them located at KMC's Irvine,
California headquarters.
Kawasaki’s tagline, “Let the good times roll.™”, is recognized
worldwide. The Kawasaki brand has become synonymous with powerful, stylish
motorcycles for over four decades. Information about Kawasaki’s complete
line of recreational products and Kawasaki affiliates can be found on the
Internet at
www.kawasaki.com.
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