I am new to this forum, so I apologize if I am beating a dead horse here! I am considering buying my first atv, and these two are the ones I am most interested in. A couple of my friends have Grizzlies, one of which is a service manager and mechanic at a local dealership that sells both machines. He is a Yamaha fan through and through, so I think his advice is very biased. He tells me that the CVT on the Kawasaki is much more prone to wearing flat spots into the belt than on the Yamaha, especially if it is used for snow plowing. Says the belt is always engaged on the Yamaha, and it's tranny uses some sort of clutch instead of slipping the belt. From what I've read on this and other forums, it sounds like this is at least partially true. I really like the Grizzly, but haven't spent much time riding one and haven't ridden a BF 750 at all yet. I guess I just like the idea of that V-twin and would like to have something different than all of my friends. If there is any truth to the advice that I will likely have belt slippage (or other?) problems with the Kawi though, I'd probably lean more towards the Grizz. Does anybody here have any UNbiased opinions, or preferably first-hand experience to share? Thanks much!

 

Like many others, I debated on these quads as well as the KingQuad. I never got to test a Kingquad but I did test a Grizzly and a BruteForce. I noticed a big difference between the two. I was much more comfortable on teh Grizzly, I liked that I at least had some storgage space under the seat, and I wanted a winch and plow setup for the winter. They were still waiting on Brute mounting plates. The engine was awesome on the Brute, but I didn't feel comfortable on the machine at all and it really seemed to push more through the corners. The Brute didn't have any storage that was protected from the elements either. If the the Kingquad had the bugs worked out, it would have made for a more difiicult decision. Overall the Grizzly has plenty of power for what i need, is proven to be reliable and comfortable (IMHO). But test drive it before your make your final choice.


Koko

 

If you are planning on doing alot of snow plow work with the quad then I would go with the Grizz for the simple but important fact that the shifter is on the left side allowing you to work the gas and steer with your right hand and control the direction with your left. If fast trail riding is what you want I would go with the Brute Force 750 or better yet for sportier riding the Brute 650. If you plan to plow with it you should try simulating in the pakring lot the manuvering involved in snow plowing, I think you will see what I am talking about.

 

Okay, thanks for the replies, goldmember and cc1999. I really need to find a dealer that will let me ride a BF I guess. I should also say that I would consider other big-bore quads outside of these two - I'm just intrigued by that V-twin! I am also hoping that someone on this forum can enlighten me on the subject of the transmissions in these two quads and whether the BF tranny (or belt) isn't going to hold up as well as the Grizzly's if used for plowing. Anyone?

 

It has been my experince and a general consinces of several other forum members and magazine edditors that the Yamaha belt drive is the best one on the market. I personaly do not think the Kawi is very far behind it but others may disagree. I felt the Polaris was the weekest of the belt drives I have owned in the past. The main reason I was leaning toward the yamaha in my answer was that plowing would be much easier and faster if you could use your left hand for directional control and your right for steering and gas. In the case of all kawi's , polaris and honda 650's and up, all have the control on the right which can be combersome to work with your left hand likely forcing you to work everthing with your right hand slowing down the plowing opperation. I am as you can see a big fan of twin's and would highly recomend one if smooth running powerful engine is high on your priority list. i only was recomending the grizz if plowing is the quads primary function. otherwise I would recomend the kawi my personal best recomendation of great buys is the Brute force 650 with a list price of 6599.00 and the going rate around here @ about 6000.00. I say this beacause it has the original award winning kawi V-Twin and the prarrie chassis under all new plastic. Its is realy just the flagship kawi prairie 650 from 2002/2003 with new plastic at a 500cc price.

 

Thanks again. Looks like you've owned a ton of different machines, so I value your opinion! I don't think that plowing will be a primary use of this quad, so maybe I shouldn't be so worried about it. Aside from a big snowstorm or two per year, it doesn't seem like we get the big accumulation around here (Michigan) like we did back when I was a little kid. Guess I need to take another ride on my buddy's Grizzly and try to find somewhere I can ride the Brute to compare. The 650 has a solid rear axle, right? Maybe I should ride one of those to compare to the IRS, but I'm thinking the IRS would suit my use better. I was quoted around $6800 out the door for a camo BF 750 in a neighboring state, and I don't believe I would have to pay sales tax if I leave it titled in that state (would probably have to re-title it in Michigan whenever I sell it though?).

 

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I have an 04 Prairie with a Warn 2.5 installed by the dealer. My winch control is on the left hand side of the handlebars, and I cant imagine that you cannot arrange for that with any other machine. However, if you are speaking about manual plows then yes, you do have the lift typically on the right hand side. However, the throttle on all machines is on the right hand side so I do not see any advantage for one machine or the other in this case.

Also, I did not think that the Yamaha had a continuous tension system on their cvt's. I was under the impression that AC was going to be the first to release this on thier 650 H1 with thier own trans design.

 

According to my buddy's brother in-law (service manager and former tech at the dealership), they have some sort of centrifugal (?) clutch that he described as being somewhat like a drum brake where the clutch pads move outward and engage. Might be a better system, but why can't they put a v-twin in it?!?!

 

Maddog, I was talking about the gear selector being on the left. not the plow control. I would imagine a plow control could be mounted where ever. I was mainly thinking of having to manuver back and forth with a plow, that a left handed gear selector would make things simpler and faster than a right handed gear selector. I know that in the past the one thing I missed was being able to work the gas and steer with my right hand and control forward and reverse with my left hand. But like I said I would only pic the grizz over one of the twins if I was needing to plow all the time. Its not a big deal here in kansas, I was just thinking of possable advantages in work related applications that feature might be important to mention. My priorities are fast and fun with unlimited capabilities. Thats why I still find myself recomending the prairie's/Twin peaks / BF 650 because the SRA is what makes them so much more fun than IRS quads, Its all in what you like to do, I guess.

 

Sorry cc, I seem to have had another brain fart. I read the thing about directional control and thought plow control, and I forgot about your prior post for some reason.

I agree that the shift lever on the right side severely impedes the efficiency of the bike in plowing smaller areas. For plowing my pond off its not as much of an issue.

Now that that's cleared up, I concur with cc1999 on just about everything else. He gives great advice and I seem to have a problem distinguishing my **** from a hole in the ground so I'll shut up and let him help now.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]