i have a brute force 650i and am a little disappointed in the ride and handling.l
the ride is stiff, not any better than our foreman 450, and the handling is way worse.
it seems a little top heavy.

my question is, how does the grizzly ride and handle?
i'll take comments on the 660 and 700.
does it take bumps well?
does it handle technical trails well?
are the shocks stiff like the brute force, ours seem oversprung.

i need a little advice cause on paper i like alot about the grizzly and it's transmission and 4x4 system. thanks, jason

 

The Grizzly offers a more comfortable ride than the Brute Force, that is for sure. However they also have more body roll than what a Brute Force has. The 700 Grizzly has a better ride than the 660 (in terms of handling and comfort). Now if you were to get a set of high quality shocks (i.e. Works or Elkas) that were custom made for your weight this would make a big difference in terms of handling and comfort for you. There is no doubt that the Brutes are stiff in stock form, putting Elka shocks on mine made a big difference, but my 700 Grizzly still had a more comfortable ride.

As for technical trails, the Grizzly is first class, especially the 700 because of the power steering. It is amazing just how easy the machine can maneuver through the rough stuff. The 700 handles high speed bumps better than the 660 does, I had to be more careful with my 660 especially on those erosion barriers humps / ditches that you find on some dirt roads and trails. If you hit one of those wrong the 660 will bottom the front suspension easier than the other two...

 

The 700 is an extremely comfortable machine. It's suspension is very soft (too soft for me) and has a lot of body roll when being pushed hard, partly due to light steering feel (still not used to the EPS's sensitivity), but doesn't feel top heavy. It's an extremely nimble machine for its size, both in tight trail situations and through the bumps. It has a better turning radius than my Banshee for what that's worth. I don't hit the whoop section like I do with the Shee (Elkas), but It handles them better than my brother-in-laws '04 Polaris 700 which feels like it has no travel at all. I absolutely love the machine and so does my wife. It's her quad (which is why it doesn't have Elkas) and she chose it after riding her brothers' 700, a Grizzly 350 and 450. I wanted a 660, she wanted a 450. After she test rode the 700 she was sold, and I was one happy camper.

 

Yes the 700 seems like a nice machine with all the improvements thats for sure. I wonder if they will be coming out with a silver or black model soon that would be cool.

 

My father just bought a 2007 Brute Force 650, and I have a 2007 Grizzly 700. The two ATVs have a few significant differences in set up, which I think affected the opinions I formed of these ATVs. The Brute Force has stock tires with 3 psi pressure. The Grizzly has 27" ITP radials with 5 psi pressure, mounted on 14" ITP Type 7 wheels. The Brute Force also had the suspension set on setting #1 (softest), and the Grizzly is set on setting #2 (second from softest).

It was 14 degrees when we started out on our 30 mile ride Friday, so it was a brisk ride. Here's what I thought of the two ATVs.

Power: Brute Force. The Brute Force revs quicker, and has faster throttle response, but the Grizzly feels like it has more torque. That may not be the case at all, because a V-twin is supposed to make more torque than a single, but that is how it felt to me. They both make a ton of power, and I know the Grizzly would have jumped a lot harder when I gave it the gas if it had the same super light tires on it that the Brute Force had. We did not drag race the two ATVs (Dad is 71, and it was cold).

Engine & Transmission: Grizzly. The Grizzly has better engine braking. And the Brute Force is always at least a few hundred RPM higher at any given speed, because of differences in clutching. I like the lower RPM cruise speed of the Grizzly, although it may hurt it in responsiveness relative to the Brute Force.

Suspension: Grizzly. This is a close one, because the Brute Force felt a tad plusher over choppy rocky roads, but bottomed out easier than the Grizzly on big cross washes. You can really slam the Grizzly without it bottoming out.

Steering: Grizzly. Hands down, no comparison. The Grizzly really drives well.

Handling: Grizzly. The Grizzly feels more stable and well planted than the Brute Force. There were several off camber washouts that we had to cross that made the Brute Force lift a rear tire a foot off the ground, but the Grizzly could take the same line with all four tires staying on the ground.

Dad and I switched rides at midway through our 30 mile ride, because we both wanted to try the others ATV for "a mile or so". Dad was leading, and he didn't get back off the Grizzly for 13 miles. I got a good chance to really try out the Brute Force, and I got the impression he liked the Grizzly. I really liked the Brute Force as well. In fact, I would be perfectly happy owning either one of these ATVs. If I owned one of them I would certainly wait till next years model came out to buy the other one.

3TV

 

I will tell you this. One thing the new grizz doesnt get enough credit for is its power. Just about two hours ago i was drag racing a BF 750 on concrete. It would take me off the line hard but i would catch him by a sixteenth mile and pull away. I have known this cat for a long time and everything has always been a competition so i dont think he was sandbagging. But you never know. What i do know is my grizzly is the first utility atv i have owned that will easily pull the front tires and brake tourqe. Oh yeah and it handles great.

 

I've only raced a Polaris 700 Twin and I beat him from start to finish. I attributed that to HP-to-weight ratio as Polaris's seem to be a very hefty machine in stock trim (756lbs=Polaris 600lbs=Grizzly going by the manufacturer's numbers). I also think the front end on the Grizzly feels light, and was surprised how easily it comes up.