I picked up my 2003 Vinson the other day. Took it out on the snowy trails for an 18 mile ride and am very impressed by it's performance. It handled very well and I thought it to have remarkable menouverability compaired to my Prairie. I'm happy with my new atv and hope to get many years of enjoyment out of it. There were 8 other quads out there with me....Prairie 650, Yamaha Grizzly600, Honda Rubican500, Polaris Sportsman400, Honda Rancher350, couple of sports and an Arctic Cat500. The Vinson handled all hills and rough terrain with ease....I even had to pull the Prairie up a steep hill with my Warn winch. A couple of the other riders took mine for a ride and were very impressed with the power and the way it handled. I did a lot of research before I bought this machine and felt it was the best quad for the money....I was right!!

Just thought I'd share my experiences with my new Vinson...and if you're in the market for a new 4X4 sport utility consider the Vinson, its got ALL the right stuff!

 

WOW.....your machine is a 499cc and the P650 is a 633cc....HMMMMMM.......a difference of 134cc.......I think the prairie pulle you up the hill....How can your machine, which virtually weighs the same as the 650 prairie, make it up a hill without a locking diff. and the prairie that has much more horse power and torque along with a locking front diff. not make it up???????????? WOW. That doesn't make any sense!

 

WOW! You really like to say "WOW" don't you? As for your question...the cc have little to do with it...I think it was the rider in this case. He did not seem to generate enough speed coming up the snow covered hill and when the Prairie came to a stop, all 4 wheels were spinning (even with the diff. lock on) I don't care what kind of ATV he had, he'd do the same thing! Being that I had already made it up the same hill first and in FRESH snow, I simply pulled him up with my winch with him giving his Prairie some gas. Is there some sort of problem with that?

Besides...like I said before, for the money, the Vinson is a better machine in my opinion....Yeah the Prairie has the extra power and front diff lock, but what else??? The suspension is out-dated and there are few other features that it has to justify the extra $1300.00 for.....Vinson has the aluminum alloy wheels, handle bar headlight, more storage space, dual shocks in the rear sus., and on this particular buy...I got the 2000lbs. Warn winch and 4 year ext. warranty For ALL that, I'll sacrifice the extra 100cc of power.....Kawasaki wasn't even coming close for what my wants and needs were. Yeah, my buddy can win an all out drag race on the open road, but I'll stay right with him on his Prairie on the trails, no problem.

 

Well said! I too have been doing a lot of research and am leaning toward the Vinson but am also looking at the Kodiak 450. I believe they run about the same price and has the front locking diff. Since you ride with a lot of guys that have different ATVs how does your new ride comare? I want something sporty but I want something that can climb too. Yamaha makes some nice machines but what do you think? Have you rode any of your friend's rides?

 

You definitely can't go wrong with the Vinson. I bought mine for the same reason: best bang for the buck, I could've gotten any atv I wanted but I was able to get the Vinson with the Warn 3.0, bumper and Warn backup and trail lights (I have 7 lights on it, 5 on the front and 2 on the back) for the same price as the 700's (Twin Peaks or Prairie) And I wanted a solid axle for towing and sidehilling. I haven't had the chance to put this thing up against anything else yet, but judging from other atv's I've ridden in the past I'm not going to get embarrassed.

 

I bought mine for the same reason, bang for buck. Plus, I wanted the sporty
5-speed. The Vinson is the largest Sport/Ute available with a manual. That
was a big deciding factor for me. Plus, I like the looks of the Vinson.

 

My cousin has the 2003 Kodiak 450. It is a very nice bike!! I think you would be real happy with one. Its got the push button 4wd w/diff lock and when your ready to play just click her into 2wd
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i also have a 2003 suzuki vinson 500. Mine is the automatic version. I have pulled a Geo Tracker out of the woods and have also pulled 3 Honda 300 fourtrax four wheelers up a hill! I am extremely impressed with the suzuki!