Call it Grizzly 660 long term test Review

I posted this 15 years ago right I after I bought my 660. Still have it today. About 3200 miles on it at this point (because I got married, had 3 kids, didn't ride much for a very long time). No real problems with this quad after all this time. I had that boiling gas thing from the first year like many others, the recall with vented side guards and heat shielding for the tank and carb took care of that. I had a guy borrow it and run a stick through a CV boot, user error. Thats about it. Changed the oil in it when I was supposed to, used synthetic Mobil 1 motorcycle oil and Yamalube. Put a jet kit, K&N filter, and an HMF pipe on it 13-14 years back, no problems out of any of that. It still runs fine, its lost a couple MPH on the top probably. It doesn't smoke or cut out or do anything that would make me think there are signs of wear. I've never changed wheel bearings. I've never broken an axle. I changed front brake pads a year or so ago, but it didn't need it really. I changed the drive belt a few years back, but the original was still just fine (so I kept it).

Sure I'd like a new quad after this much time, but I'd really just be getting something faster, maybe a better ride, and likely power steering. But its not going to do enough more or differently than this thing to justify how much I'd have to spend. 3200 miles in 15yrs is pretty low for a quad, but still, I think I made a pretty good choice all those years ago.

July 2001. JT Powersports Jonesboro, AR - $6399. Its been well worth it.

 

And.. just noticed that this thread was in the Arctic Cat forum, where I used to pretty much live back then before the 660 replaced my 99 AC500. Hindsight 20/20.

 

We'll forgive ya, Andy, haha. I usually recommend the Grizzly or Arctic Cat to anyone who asks what to buy. I really like my Arctic Cats. What I can say, if you disconnect one end of the sway bar and tie rap it in place if you ride in the rocks and rugged stuff, connect it for the high speed groomed trails. Put the AC sway bar on my 2001 AC 500, after a month or so of the novelty, disconnected it. Curious what you get for top speed, since modding my AC 500, it will turn 8,500 in 5th gear!

 

That Arctic Cat I had was a 99 and had those 1 year wonder Titan 495 tires that steered like hell. 10.5 wide all around. All wound out on pavement, I think it would pull about 53 mph after a long topout. It got to 48 or so pretty quick, but as far as pulling power, it was a mule. And that old swingaxle ACT suspension with 100lbs more over the front tires than the rear was probably the most stable thing I've ever sat on.

I currently have the sway bar off the Grizzly. It comes as goes from time to time, but now its currently hanging on the wall over the top of a climbing stand or something. That 660 got to about 65 on a GPS in its best days. I bet it will be lucky to make 60 now, but those stock yamaha tires/rims didn't weight a thing either. I run 25" Bearclaw HTR's on STR rims now. Had a lot of good times on this forum, mainly in the AC forum from about 97 to 2003. Don't come back often though anymore unless its some nostalgia trip. Whatever you've done to that 01 is pretty sick. I read a little about it down there somewhere. That 493 is just a solid engine to begin with.

 

Haha, had those Titan pos tires when I got my AC500! 30" Mudzillas now, the opposite end of the spectrum. Gotta say, the little AC 400 is no slouch either, tops out at 57 mph with 25" tires, I think the 500 hits about 64 mph. No tach, on the 400 but I suspect she's hitting 8,500 too. BTW, over 7,000 miles on the AC 500, almost 4,000 on the 400. GL with the Grizz, bet she's got many more miles in her!

 

The 660 is a solid machine. Keep taking care of it and it will last for many more years. Too bad you don't live closer to me, I've got a set of stock wheels and tires off my 06 with that I got rid of a couple months ago still sitting in a spare bedroom just collecting dust and still have good tread left on them and the wheels are in good shape too. Won't work on my Brute as its not an irs equipped model. Maybe someday I"ll buy another irs machine that they will work on. Those aftermarket wheels and tires probably account from your few mph lost as the extra weight and rolling resistance over stock will cause that. I've got Mudlites on my Brute and it probably won't go quite as fast as if it had stock tires on it but it goes faster than I ever get to go anyway. Will still top out at over 60 mph, claims of 70 mph with stock tires I think were a little on the optimistic side. I'm lucky if I ever get to hit 40 mph but the v-twin power is nice to get that quick acceleration in short bursts when I get the chance.

 

So your 02 Grizzly is still going after 15 years. How do you think the 99 AC is doing?

The 660 could still fair well in a ATV shootout today and beat out any current Honda 4x4 with it's power advantage.
My friends 03 660 smokes a 2015 Rincon and the Rincon still has no diff lock yet.

 

I'd assume that AC is likely trashed. It was heavy and pretty tough, but also basically the original Bearcat 454 with a few slight improvements and little bigger hole in it. And there were definitely some design flaws, namely the sealing of the rear driveshaft bearing. Wasn't too keen on the bolt on rims as opposed to wheel studs either. But it was solid and stable.

Honda did a bad job of resting on their laurels and living off of their sales when they made the best engine and every other quad was a 250/300 2wd with short travel suspension and drum brakes. They were the king of that whole 1984-2000 generation. I'm a firm believer in saying that Polaris machines were junk in the 90's, but what they did was push the envelope on everyone else. Kind of like the space program spawned a lot of everyday technology. The Sportsman 500 stood over everything else for a while aside from being heavy, and then the introduction of the Prairie 650, Grizzly 660, and Sportsman 700 pretty much changed the whole game. And everyone else took a step forward except Honda, who still gave us the 3wd and drum brakes. Those 3 quads surfaced and then Honda dropped the Rincon and wow, swing and a miss. Blows my mind they still don't offer a differential lock. I honestly didn't know that.


BTW, my stock rims/tires are in a stack in the garage. Not a lot of tread left on there (I had a set of Mud Machines that I swapped out from time to time, so the stockers didn't take all the miles over the years actually), but once in a blue moon I'll swap them out and pull the quiet core and try and test for speed loss over the years. Best I ever got down a big paved hill was 69 on the speedo (65gps) long ago. I think a few years back the speedo pulled 65 with those tires in the same spot.

 

The Rancher and Rincon never got the diff lock. The new Foreman and Rubicon just recently got diff lock.

Honda is still using the out dated 28hp 475cc OHV , until they drop that they will never catch up in the 500 class. Many are moving to DOHC and Honda will not use even a SOHC in a utility ATV.

My 15 year old SP500 easily out powers my cousins brand new 500 Rubicon, he sure gets pissed about that on some of our wider gravel road rides.
But the Rubicon finally has diff lock, a dedicated low range and IRS. Better late then never.