I have a Yamaha Raptor and absolutely love it, but I want to get a 4x4 so I can really hit some hard trails in the woods. My brother has a Yamaha Grizzly and I would like to keep up with that.... Anyway, I'm not exactly sure what I want to get. I'm looking at the larger end quads about 650cc and up....I want some freakin power. I really like the Grizzly, but I'm also considering the Kawasaki Brute Force 650 and 750 and the Honda Rincon 650. I guess I would even consider going smaller with like the Kodiak 450, but for a little bit more money I think I would rather stick with the larger 650's. Any feedback would be helpful.....

 

Take a look at my AC 650V2 in my pics. They have the same kawi V-Twin as BF, but with more ground clearance, a better rack system, and some awesome power! It has a diff lock with the flip of a switch, and the 4x4 is shift on the fly at any speed, and it engages right when you push the button.

 

Ride as many as you can, before you choose!

They are all to big and heavy for my taste, but allas sometimes the rocks get to big and the snow gets to deep, and you are forced off a superb sport quad and onto a clunkey utility. I choose the Rancher becasue it is the smallest and lightest of the bunch!

 

I dont need to tell you much about them cuz you ride em alot, but the grizz is the way to go. AC makes a great machine as well. I havent had any experience with a kawi. Stay away from polaris.

 

If your wanting some really good power that'd eat up a Grizz 660 look at the new Brute Force 650i it's got upgraded engine parts over the regular BF 650, ATVscene.com has a great review on this thing and they claim it beats their BF 750i. They call it a muscle quad in their review...and they're pulling a wheel in almost every picture. Has to have a lot of power to pull wheelies as easy as they are.

 

If you want big bore I would go with EFI, the King, Bomb or look at the AC 700, it is the same motor as the King. If you get one of those then you never have to rejet just get the chip. All the atvs listed are nice, I would just look to EFI. The new AC 700 look awsome IMO.

 

Go with honda rancher or kodiak 450 both great. Big bores suck.... way too much gas, They can't do any more than the small bores. Only maybe get to the gas station faster.

 

What do you mean big bores suck?? They have more pulling, and pushing power, better power to ground, and most of the time have better ground clearance. If your 450 can pull as much as a 650 or 700, than you can say they cant do anything more. But they can. And i have a 6.5 gallon gas tank, so i wont be stopping for gas when you do!

 

I'm not real familiar with A/C other then I remember them filing for bankruptcy back in the 80's when they were building some pretty cool sleds, they have joined forces with Suzuki and Kawi<?> to help share expenses and battle Honda in the marketplace.

Polaris reputation seems to be stained from some quality issues back in the 90's...in fact they quit making watercraft because fo this reason. It appears they have worked hard to improve quality, I'm just very leary cause I've had a few dealers who used to carry Polaris warn me to stay away as they had SO many quality issues they quit carrying the brand.

Honda(rincon)/Yamaha(grizzly) seem to dominate the market with quality utility machines but the Grizzly is dated and the Rincon is marketed as a "recreational" ATV rather then utility, it has no low gear and engine braking isn't as strong as other brands, it is the most comfortable ATV to ride on though. Both are single as opposed to v-twins. Yamaha has the new Wolverine which is kind of a cross between a sport and utility but is only a 429 cc.

BRP-Can-AM Outlanders are at the top of their class in sport/utility ATV's IMO.
The only thing they are lacking(although I've never had a need for it) is a front locker, some claim the Visco-lock doesn't do well in mud, like I said, I've NEVER experienced a problem and you don't even know it's in 4WD when you are riding it. They will be releasing a 500cc v-twin this fall/late summer.

The King Quad seems very nice and is probably the best value for your money, 700cc EFI but its a single vs. v-twin.

Brute Force is a nice quad but the Outlander seems to constantly out rank it in magazine shoot outs and I'd argue the Outlander is a much more comfortable ride. They have had recalls on front suspension problems though.

All the quads in this class are 600 lbs or more with the Polaris tipping the scales over 700 lbs. All seem to be pretty good ATV's with similar pricing. Personally, I'll be getting another Outlander either a 650 or the new Renegade this fall, just have to decide if I can justify the nearly $2K price difference. IF you can find any leftover 05's Rincons you can probably get a HECK of a deal, as much as 2K below MSRP.

Good luck and I'm sure you'll have fun on whatever you buy.

 

I say non big-bore utes suck...simply not enough power at all for my tastes..I had a 400cc ute and it was so boring when you hit the throttle...nothing. To me 400 class utes and under are built just for working because they sure aren't fun to me. And this guy wants to keep up with a Grizzly...you'd need a lot of luck on a Rancher. I still am not satified with the power of my KQ 700 so I recommend getting the most power you can afford or else you'll just want more. Oh yeah, the gas mileage on my KQ is just as good as my 400 was so you don't got much of an arguement there.