I think I may finally be ready for a new quad next spring, and if that's the case I will probably go back to Yamaha. I once owned the old school Wolverine 350 4x4 and I loved it. I'd like something similar, only better - and the new Wolverine and Big Bear both seem to fit the bill. The trouble is deciding between the two.

I've got plenty of time to research this, so I'd like some feedback. I do a lot of mud riding, but at the same time I like to ride pretty aggressively on dry stuff. I like to powerslide, jump through whoops, etc. and would like to be able to keep up with my buddies on their Z400's and fuel injected King Quads. Here's how the debate shakes down for me so far....

Mud Capability - ADVANTAGE: BIG BEAR Cant beat those mudlites and the locking differential. The Wolvy's differential is open, right? If so, does anyone make a locker for it?

Trail Capability - ADVANTAGE: WOLVERINE Whereas it looks like the Big bear would dominate in the mud, I'm thinking the Wolverine would dominate every where else. I'm guessing it corners and slides much better and should be less tippy with the lower center of gravity.

Ease of repair/reliability - ADVANTAGE: BIG BEAR I think? Theres less stuff to break, and it looks pretty easy to work on by myself, a factor since I'm gonna keep my next quad for at least 5 years. I've heard that the Big Bear is pretty much bulletproof. Haven't heard much about the Wolvy's reliability - any feedback?

Transmission - ADVANTAGE: BIG BEAR I love being able to shift. Not a big fan of CVTs. Im guessing that like most, the wolvy's belt slips when it gets wet. The only thing I wont like is that Granny gear in 1st that the Big Bear has.

Speed/acceleration - ADVANTAGE: WOLVERINE I don't know this for a fact, but it seems obvious that it should have a faster top speed and be quicker off the line. I've heard things like the big bear doesn't even reach 40 MPH - yuck! Is that true?

Price - ADVANTAGE: BIG BEAR You get quite a bit for the price tag. I'd be pretty happy with it bone stock I think, whereas right away I'd want to change some things on the Wolvy and it already costs more to start with.

Weight - ADVANTAGE: WOLVERINE This is a factor, not only when it comes to handling, but for the simple fact that it would be nice to know that in a pinch if my truck wasn't running, I could use my car as a backup to haul it.

Styling - ADVANTAGE: WOLVERINE Yes, its a factor. It's one mean looking quad. By comparison the Big Bear looks a little archaic.

Suspension - ADVANTAGE: ????? I love IRS, but i'm thinking a straight axle is better for aggressive trail riding. It's a toss up. Any thoughts?

Fun Factor - ADVANTAGE:????? When it comes down to it, this is the most important factor of all, and you can't look at a spec sheet and see a clear winner here. I simply have no clue on which would be the better of the two this area. I really need feedback here most of all.

So far its a tie. So what do you guys think? Remember - I absolutely loved my old 1999 Wolverine 350, so using that as the baseline, which of these quads would be the same only better? I currently ride an Outlander Max 400, so I'm hoping either would be faster than that quad is (?)

Thanks!

 

Y0u can budgie strap 4 cases of beer on the on the front and back rack of the Big Bear, the only cargo place on the Wolverine is what you can fit in you pockets.

 

Personal Opinion after spending the weekend at the rabbit creek with a wolfy and never having driven a big bear:

Mud Capability - Not sure about the locker but the wolfy being lite is a big advantage imo over a cumbersome utility.

Trail Capability - Hands down wolfy

Ease of repair/reliability - with having NO knowledge of repairing or maintaining a wheeler I would say that the wolfy is very easy to maintain

Transmission - got alot of warning about belt slippage but it never happened to me once and i went thru some pretty good mud/water. so unless your one of those guys that likes to float your s@#$ across a lake I think ur good.

Speed/acceleration - once again I dont know about the BB but the wolfy can get up to 60mph with me being 6'0-200lbs

Price - I got a brand new 07 wolfy with 27'' mudlites and black/chrome SS rims all for 7165.00 from Broadway Yamaha in Tyler. Texas

Weight - really lite. I high centered once and I was able to life the back and right it.

Styling - wolfy like u said

Suspension - i know very little about the inner working of machines so ill leave this to someone else to call

Fun Factor - I would say the wolfy. You get the best of both worlds. A trail quad that can climb very well and u can also engage 4x4 and get dirty

Like I said I havent ever driven a BB but I used to have a utility and im in love and was greatly impressed about the way the wolfy handled mud and water.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Not sure about the locker but the wolfy being lite is a big advantage imo over a cumbersome utility. </end quote></div>

Utilities have the advantage in mud when was the last time a sport bike won or even entered a mud run event. The 25" tires of the BB vs the 23" tires of the Wolverine and the 10.5 " ground clearance of the BB vs the Wolverine's 8.7 is to much to over come in a mud run situation.

 

I havent ran it with stock wheels. But it performed very well this weekend. Only time I got stuck bad enough to need to get winched is when I went into sum deep clay

 

Here is my view on it:

Right now, I have a bruin 350 (which is kinda like a low budget big bear) and a wolverine 450. The bruin doesn't have the front locker of the big bear, or the IRS.....but other than that, they are pretty similar.

I wont even ride the bruin for fun anymore....it is just for work. I plow my driveway with it, pull my trailer for working around the house, and use it to drag trees around. The ride of the utility quad just isn't fun like a sport quad is...Im not saying the wolverine is a pure sport quad, but it is much more nimble than most utilities, and will walk away from them in tight trails. It wont keep up with most 450+ cc sport quads in the trails or track, but it will go places they wont even think about. My girl does ride the bruin at the dunes and on the trails, but thats mostly because she doesn't have much experience and is a little too brave with them for her own good....the utility quad is better for her because it is slower, heavier, and doesn't have as much power.

The utility quads have larger tires that will roll over easier, so you cant take turns as tight. Plus they seem a lot softer, so you feel much less stable on them. The IRS on the big bear isn't good for sporty riding...I know some new sport quads are coming out with IRS, but you wont see me buying one. They lean too much, and you cant kick them out as easy on the corners.

My wolverine is great for what I use it for (dunes, trails, and light mud). If you want an all out mudder...the big bear will be better because of the ground clearance and the locker. But if you want a sporty fun machine you can still hit the mud in, then the wolvy will be perfect. I have taken the wolverine through some nasty mud too, and it has impressed me. A front locker and bigger tires would have been nice, but even those wouldn't have been enough for some of the holes I got buried in.

Just for an example....whenever we get a group of people up at my parents property, and somebody wants to hit the trails that doesn't have a machine of their own, 99% of the time they jump on my wolverine. They pick that over my dads foreman 500, my moms rancher 350, my 440 EX, or my bruin 350. It is so much more fun to ride than the others (besides the 440 EX, but that thing is a lot to handle)....the utilities are just too cumbersome to have as much fun on.

As for reliability on the wolverine....mine has been through hell and has been fine. I ride my machines hard, and Im not afraid to jump it either. I had a pretty nasty wreck on my wolverine early this summer at the dunes while going about 55mph, and all that happened was broken fenders. It fared better than I did (knocked unconscious, and broken bones in my hand). I was really impressed with how it held up.


You are really just going to have to decide what you will use your machine for more often. If you are a mud bogger at heart, then the wolverine isn't for you...the big bear will probably be better. But if you are a trail head, and like to get in some mud....the wolvy will be perfect.


Just to throw another idea out there....check out the renegade 800. Pretty much the wolverine on steroids, and it has a front locker. The only downside is the price tag, you can get two wolverines or big bears for the price of one renegade 800 (just under 10k)

 

Personally I would take the Big Bear if those were the only two choices. But if not, it's hands down the Kodiak 450 after the 700 EPS Grizz. It has the front locker and the full independent suspension (after 10 hours of trails it makes a difference). So it's more utility then a Wolfy, but more capable and more confortable than a Big Bear. In either case they must both have a winch.

As for styling: Everyone has their own opinion.

 

You sound like me about a year ago. It sounds like you ride just like me and wanted the same things i did. And i think it's pretty funny u want a quad to keep up with a z400 and FI king quads cause i have one of each of them as well.
But anyhow, i had an 05 big bear, and to be honest, for the most part, i really liked it. It's definetely more of a work horse than the wolvy would be. And i used it for that bc of the incredibly low first gear, but i also wanted something i could fly through the trails on and to try and keep up with the z400 and the KQ and the big bear just couldn't do it. It's probably one of the slowest if not the slowest 400cc on the market. So i started doing my research and ended up buying an 07 eiger semi auto and i couldn't have made a better choice. No belt to slip in deep mud. It's got a high and low range so i still have my super low 1st gear, but in high 5th i've had it gps 57mph. It'll flat smoke my buddies foreman 450es stock for stock and now that i've added a few goodies and 26's i can still bust him as well as my other buddies foreman 500ES on 27's. It's got the SRA so i can slide it through the turns. It's not near as fast as the KQ700 but u can't really tell it in the trails. It don't have the locking front, but with a lil' pull of the front brake it'll spin all 4 whenever u need it to. It's still a fairly small quad (stock, i've lifted mine and put bigger tires, so it looks kinda huge now) so it's extremely easy to move around in the woods. And as far as ur outlander 400 goes and the speed, i think it may be the fastest 400 utility out right now, but i'm fairly confident with my piped, filtered, jetted eiger on my stock 25's that i could keep up if not out run one. Oh and the price, stock it's cheaper than both the big bear and wolvy. Reliability- i've got over 350 VERY HARD miles on mine so far. Hard miles as in being completely sunk in a river still running but able to get out and make it home with no issues. I've been in deep mud, climbed steep ROCKY hills. Doing all this right along side just as easy as the $7200 KQ and $7100 foreman 500ES. Don't try to just pick between 2 four-wheelers, don't be brand loyal because u miss out on a lot of good atvs.

 

I love the wolverine myself cause I do like to slide the rear and it is almost as fast as I would want it to be.

 

Say- I have a question about SRA vs IRS, and this looks like a good place. I'm in the market for a Grizz 450 and then I thought about it- SRA has absolutely NO differentiation, which is great, but what about IRS? Also- is there a yamaha model that's 400cc with SRA and locking front diff.............
Thanks