I posted a question about the V in the Buying forum but thought I'd bring it here to get some more input. I live in Minnesota and am buying 2 ATV's in June. One is for my wife and will be either a Trail Boss or Bruin or similar. I'm not going to sweat that decision for now becasue my ATV choice is harder and more important! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img] J/K

Well, I really don't need a utility based ATV because it's for play not for hunting or camping. But, because I live in Minnesota and will ride occasionally in the winter I just assumed that I would want/need 4WD. Plus of the few people I know who I would ride with have 4WD. So I was pretty set on a Scrambler. Then I think about the fact that my wife's ATV will not be 4WD so I figure if I do and I'm going through some treacherous $hit what is she supposed to do.....watch?

Basically, I need some information about the kind of capabilities of the V-Force. Honestly, I'm willing to bet about 80% of my time will be spent on your typical ATV trails but I'm from the sticks up north and will take some very less traveled trails/logging roads through the woods, etc. But there is the factor of the snow, too. I don't want to sit and spin (who does) while the Grizzly and Sportsman are fading out of sight.

Is the V for me? That is the question.

I seen a video of it on a ATV site associated with a review and the thing sure looked like it could handle the super rough terrain on the steep hill it was flying up but I can't go based on a pro rider going up a hill he's probably been up 100 times.

Well, I look forward to and appreciate your thoughts on this. And I actually really hope it will suit my needs because this thing is a pretty mean beast!

 

Sounds to me you need a Praire 700. This will give you some wicked power and 4x4. You can follow your friends and snow will not be an issue at all. If you get youw wife the Bruin she will have 4x4 too, so you can both go places the V-Force won't. Well the V-Force could probably follow but it would take alot more work and you may not find it enjoyable.

Look on my website and use the left hand menu and scroll down. Look for Kawasaki Videos. Click it and download each video. If your on dialup then it may take a long while. The link to my website is in my signature.

 

I'm no prorider by any means and I drive my V-force up almost anything. Hill climbing didn't excite me at all until I got the V-Force, now it's probably my second favorite thing to do while riding. I had a Scrambler 400 before the V-Force and although it was fun, and sometimes I still miss the 4X4, it's no comparison to how much fun I have on the V-Force. It's definitely no deep mud machine either, you can make it through lots of stuff if you're flying but when it's stuck, it's a pig.

 

I love the V-force, because no one around me has one. If you live in a place where you can put some duals on and not annoy everyone, it has a high fun factor. It's actually pretty nice right out of the box, but I haven't been able to resist the temptation to mod. I will honestly say this though, if I were going to buy an atv for purely trail-riding, it would be close between the cammo Prairie or the new FI Polaris. The biggest reasons are: these will keep you very clean on muddy trails, you will have very little to worry about as far as getting stuck, and you won't have to worry about engine braking on steep declines. By the way, the cammo will show dirt less if that matters to you (some care& some don't). If you are bent on getting a V-force though, it has plenty of pros and only a few cons. I'm down here in Ky. and have no idea what your terrain is like, but for these eastern Ky. hills I would prefer a pair of 4x4's for a husband-wife combo. I am not really into mudding; that's why I mentioned the part about keeping clean. I do have some friends that are not happy unless they come home coated head to toe[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] Sorry to ramble, but if you can deal with the lack on engine braking and don't mind getting muddy or wet(remember winter) I give the nod to the V. If any of these things are important to you I would look at the prairie and sportsman. #1 thing is get what you want[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]. A few hundred dollars or even a grand won't make that much difference if you are not happy. Good luck on choosing.

 

Someone above alluded to it; the fender protection on the V-Force isn't that good. You'll get wet and muddy.

Someone also mentioned engine braking. After slowing down and the rpms approach idle, the engine braking stops working by design. You'll need to get used to it if you want to crawl down steep terrain.

It wheelies fairly easily out of the box without any mods. If you're a climber, you should take that into account.

This machine isn't a 4x4. Be careful not to talk yourself into thinking it can do 4x4 things because you want one so bad. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Those are about the only negatives I can think of.

The gas-n-go automatic is great. 0-30 acceleration will beat most open class machines. Put a pair of aftermarket shocks on and the ride gets even better. I'd recommend doing this before any engine mods. This bike is powerful enough until you get used to it.

I'd agree with the guy re: the Prairie 700; awesome machine. AND, Suzuki will release an IRS 700 fuel injected King Quad late summer, early fall if you can wait and test that.

Good luck with your decision.
Mark

 

I agree with bbertram, sounds like you need a prairie 700! Go and test drive a prairie and you'll see what I mean. The prairie has more power than alot of the sport bikes out there, plus it has 4-wheel drive. If you're not in to big of a hurry to purchase you might want to wait and check out the 05 models, word is the prairie will be a 750 efi.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Hmmmm. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img] Well, it seems I have even more to consider now. You make some great points about advantages/disadvantages about things I never thought of like having 1 4WD is better than none (can pull 2WD out of trouble if needed) and about the V having poor protection from the elements, etc. After coming accross good info on the P700 I am pretty impressed by that unit, for sure.

With the P700 coming into the picture now let me ask you this. What little I know about the specifics of quads I know some like the Sportsman and Grizzly come with IRS (right?) and the Prairie (and others) do not. If it's not too hard to sum up easily, why would a quad NOT provide IRS? What are the pros/cons of IRS and those without it? Do some people dislike IRS?

I really ask this question because if I get a Prairie (or even a Scrambler, which has no IRS either) I'd like some ammo for when someone gets lippy (like my Sportsman and Grizzly owning pals!) when they say "No IRS in that Prairie, huh? Blaa blaa". I know one thing I have is more power but I could use a con to the IRS specifically. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Thanks again.

 

a con to irs is handling, they seem to feel a little tippy while sliding them through a corner. but that is pretty minor if you dont do alot of aggresive riding

 

The biggest problem with IRS is reliability, they constantly bust axles if driven hard. If you plan to take it easy on the trails and keep the stock tires you might get away from ever breaking an axle shaft. If you put on some bigger tires your looking for trouble. I had an IRS Arctic Cat and I busted 2 axles with my outlaws on. After that I went back to solid rear axle and have never had a problem since.

A solid rear axle is also easier to work on, less things to break, cheaper to make and is great when the quad is loaded down. When the quad is packed with gear on the racks and once your on the quad the IRS will sink down loosing ground clearance. Once you add this factor is IRS has no advantage except for the smooth ride it still provides. The solid rear axle will always keep the same ground clearance no matter how much weight is placed on the quad, well unless the tires pop, hehe.

Me, I won't get IRS again, its unreliable.

 

From what I've read from various sources and from this thread, it seems IRS is better for rougher terrain and deeper mud taken at slower speeds and the straight axle for higher speed, sliding corners type riding. Here's a link I thought was interesting:

The site wouldn't let me use that link, but it's from ATV______, as in Sports <u>Illustrated</u> and it's of the Prairie VS Arctic Cat where the AC is the 2004 winner.

Hey bbertram, what about this scenario, I'd keep the stock tires but at times would rip around corners and play in a sand pit, let's say 75% trail/rough trail riding and 25% "racing" type riding, you think an IRS unit would be reliable and sufficient?

Best part is no matter what I decide on rear suspension, there are awesome choices everywhere you look. Now I'd have to say my top 2 choices are the Prairie or the Acrtic Cat. Before I started to really research ATV's I didn't realize how fast some of these big 4WD units actually are.

One thing though, gas consumption must be a real bummer, no? Could you give me an idea on gas consumption on say the Prairie 700 compared to a Sportsman 500 HO?

Thanks - Tom