I just rode my brand new Grizzly 450 and I am impressed with its off-road capabilities. Tonight I ran it through miles of rotten, snow covered trails and love the automatic. I'm still not accustomed to not shifting and find myself either tapping the floorboard with my toe to downshift or thinking about shifting every time I run the throttle up or go into a corner or into deep snow. It is so cool to be able to just punch the throttle and concentrate on steering while working the quad through the snow.

<u>Power</u>
Tonight I noticed the 450's accelleration is not thrilling. It feels like the Eiger will take it out of the hole and have a higher top speed. The Eiger also feels more snappy just because of the gears. The 450 feels very torquey, it is a tractor. It had no problems churning through the snow in high range with stock tires. Low range is really low and will be great for towing and utility use.

<u>Handling</u>
The 450 handles differently than my old Eiger. It is not bad, just different. Both dive the front ends during heavy braking and have a bit of roll in the corners. The 450 rolls more because of the independant rear end. The Eiger is much easier to slide and spin brodies on than the Yamaha. The 450 wants to carve but will slide, it just takes more body English. Overall the Eiger is the better handling quad but I can live with the 450 and bet that with different springs and damping that the 450 would handle just as well or better.

<u>Ride quality</u>
IMO the Eiger rides very well for a utility quad. The front is a bit soft, especally when ridden fast with a winch hanging off the front, but it is acceptable for what it is. I ran a few of my favorite trails and the 450 was amazed with the way it soaked up all the side to side bumps. It is sprung pretty soft but the shock damping felt stiffer than the Eiger. I have not spent enough time on the 450 to compare it to my Eiger in every situation but the 450 is more comfortable at low speeds through rough terrian. At high speeds the Eiger seems more predictable since it doesn't have the 450's weird side to side roll/sway that makes it feel disconnected from the trail.

Overall I am very pleased with my 450. It was a more expensive quad than my Eiger and doesn't really compete in the same class. I upgraded primarily because I wanted an automatic, IRS and a locker. I also like the 450's other features like the hydro rear disc and multi-function gauge. I have not ridden an auto equipped Eiger so I'd be curoius to see and feel how much power the auto tranny sucks out. The auto is definitly a different feel than gears but overall I'm still impressed when the quad is being work. The auto's don't feel impressive on flat ground acelleration.

 

well the eiger has 380cc and urs has 421 cc so not much difference. u should have waited till 08 though efi is intruduced.

 

I'm happy with having a carb. I kind of doubt that the 450 will get EFI for '08. I'd think they would come out with a completely different motor. EFI is nice but I don't need it and would be a little nervous about what happens to an EFI quad when you drown it out or completely sink your quad.

 

I looked at both when I bought my Kodiak. The thing worth the difference to has been the locker just due to the fact I like to go where I shouldn't. The downside is the cost of repaires to an IRS. Oh well, we can't have everything.
Buck

 

Yep, the locker was one of the main reasons I wanted to upgrade from my Eiger. That and the auto tranny, IRS & rear disc, plus my Yamaha dealer is very helpful and supports me for snowmobile racing.

What issues did you run into with the IRS?

 

I had to replace a CV joint which cost $250 (at the dealer). It also seems to me that compared to my solid rear axle 01 Kodiak I had, the wheel bearings seems to go more often. Not sure whether that's due to my larger tires though. Also the CV boots seem to tear depending on type of riding you do.
Buck

 

Yup, those cheap, cheesy plastic A-Arm guards a junk.. if a stick gets in there, the plastic just says "Wait, let me bend over so you can Jam it to the CV Boot!" [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img] I tore one of my boots today.... GRRRR.... [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img] jerry fix for now... but I hope someone makes a replacement splitboot! I am also going to buy the CV boot guards


I took my Grizz 450 for a nice beat today... Love that Quad.. it is a Tractor! I climbed some good stuff today.. had to use my winch twice.... once stuck in mud.... the other to "right" my quad.. it went onto its side.. I am going to put some pictures on my profile showing that recover - winch Rookies take note!

-Steve

 

The c/v boot guards are great from Yamaha I am sure there are some other companies that offer them too.

 

I was wondering how susceptible the CV boots were to damage. I tore two front ones on my '96 Wolverine and they were a pain in the butt to replace. I plan to purchase aluminum belly skids and I'll have to check out different CV boot guards.

I just got back from a ride tonight and I was impressed with the ground clearance while I rode through a rocky river bed. Seems like the quad has been gaining more power as it breaks in. Tonight I ran from a stop to full throttle and it seemed to pull pretty well. Top speed was about 48 which is slower than the Eiger (at least according to the speedo). The 450 seems to use the gas. I'm under 40 miles and the guage is already on the red.

 

I own a 2006 Eiger 5 speed- I ride with a friend that owns a 2006 Yamaha Kodiack 450. He has more top speed than my Eiger, but my Eiger will exceed him in steep hill climbs and running thru deep water and mud. I had to tow him outta mud holes at least 2 times and the Yamaha is dangerous to hill climb with because its automatic. The later Eigers has a front limited slip differential that works just as good as any locker, my Eiger will go over rocks and over tree's and mud with the wheels off the ground just the same as a locker. I can control the gear im in to climb any steep hill and use the lower gearing to hold me back decending a hill. No offence but the Yamaha you own is a cvt belt drive and it don't work and the belt slipps either when it gets wet or if your stalling and running the machine hard, but I agree with some people that own belt drives that its less expensive to replace the belt than replacing a gear drive clutch, but the only people that have clutch problems on gear drives are the ones that install the heavy, oversize tires.