The only complication about buying a used Yamaha 350cc Big Bear is the confusion surrounding model choice – dual-range/ten-speed examples, the later five-speed version and the 400cc Kodiak. Mudding the model waters still further, there’s now a new Big Bear Professional available – with both ten speeds and 400cc. James de Havilland acts as guide through Yamaha’s mid-range ATV maze
They arrived in late 1985, the first Yamaha 4×4 350 Big Bears. And it is these original machines that formed the template for all following models, as well as the 400 Kodiak, up until spring 2000. The accompanying table, page 36, gives a brief family history.
Within the tabled chronology, there are a few key changes that warrant special mention. In 1997, for example, the Big Bear lost its dualrange
transmission on the 4×4 models, and the Bear’s role as a heavy-duty ATV was handed over to the 400cc Kodiak. This year the Big Bear reverts to its former role as a beefy working machine, now badged as the Big Bear Professional.
Boasting 400cc and ten speeds, the Professional replaces the Kodiak. But just to keep matters confusing, the existing Big Bear 350cc five speed remains as a lighter alternative, and the Kodiak name now finds itself attached to the new, liquidcooled 400cc auto.
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