Well there really is no comparison agains the two in the speed catorogy. The 650 left the sportsman and had about 3-4 bikes on him at the end of about a 150 yard stright away. I even went on to out run him with a passanger on with me. I know that racing is not the most important thing on these bikes and in other places the sportsman still shines. The 650 suspincion is not quite as soft as the sportsman but it is close the 650 has less ground clearance those are important too but there was no place the sportsman went that I couldn't. The 4x4 on the bikes I would rate as dead even. There is no way you can say any diffrent about thim either 4 wheels spinning are 4 wheels spinning and both bikes have those 4 wheels spinning. Pulling power has to go to the 650 the trans comes on faster and and the 650 has power all the way through the RPM range. When ridding I never had to put it in low like on my ole explorer high range on the 650 is all you need unless you are really in a bind or working it really hard. There are a few things i dont like about the 650 but they mostly small things like some of the welds on the racks dont look very good and I ripped one of the bolt holes out on the fender flares when I stood stright up on a wheeley. It will stand stright up on you I did that less than 3 hours after I got the thing. The only real big thing I dont like is there is no where to hook a strap too but the few times i did mannage to get stuck you can just get off and push it out one good thing about it being lite. As of now I am satisfied with the 650 and the wait was worth it I well let you all know how it holds up as I will put it through some good testing before the Warentee is up.

 

DID YOU GET THROUGH THE MUD LIKE THE HO? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img]

 

What are you Sportsman owner scared to reply on this. The Sportsman has been dethrowned and its crowm washed down the toilet. Ha and Yamaha bring it on with your 660 who cares about it. The 650 is the best Quad ever made and I dont see how any quad can beat it, everything else is just a copy . Sportsman HAHA what a joke now it cant even live up to its name. Let them bring the 700 out and lets just see how many years it takes to get the thing right. What was it 4 years before they got the 500 right it will be that long or loner on the 700. I cant stand Polaris I think the only good one they make is the 250 Explorer but it has no power so you cant mess that up. Polaris get your crap stright and polaris owners wake up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Prairie 650!!! King of the Hill- for about 3 months. Damn, they had the king daddy quad built, and didn't even have time to let it win a shootout before the stakes were raised. Now, instead of a Sportsman slaughter, the new Prairie is going to have to go head to head with the 02 Griz, and if history serves, it will likely lose that shootout, because Kawi dropped the ball on IRS- the one factor that has been the pivot point for shootouts for the last 5 years.

What do you think kept the SP500 on top for so long? IRS!! The only sad thing is it took everyone else this long to come around. And another thing that makes polaris a smart company, they also offer that Mag500 for those that don't want IRS. I don't prefer their quads, but they know what they are doing from a marketing standpoint.

 

Andy, if your logic is correct, then the grizzly will be "king of the hill" for a month, when the new sportsman is coming out. I'll have to disagree with your logic. If everyone keeps waiting until something better comes out, then they'll never have a vehicle. You really shouldn't be concerned about what everyone else thinks is best. You should be concerned with what is best for you. Apparantly, the most important factor is irs for you. The only place the grizz beats the prairie is with the irs in the rear. For some people, it is a must have. For others, it isn't a neccesity. The prairie has better front brakes, 6000 mile service life on rear, thicker frame, lower center of gravity, more efficient motor (a v-twin is more efficient than a single big bore), rear piggyback shock,.... and if it is the same engineers that built the raptor as those that built the new grizz, then reliability will be a concern. Sorry to upset anyone, but I'm just fed up with all these people thinking that what's best for them is best for everyone.

 

"If everyone keeps waiting until something better comes out, then they'll never have a vehicle."

Excellent post - couldn't have said it better myself.

 

<< &quot;If everyone keeps waiting until something better comes out, then they'll never have a vehicle.&quot;

Excellent post - couldn't have said it better myself. >>



Well said, now... what type of gas mileage does the 650 get?

 

After 16hrs = 92 miles I have put 6.3 gal of gas in for a total of 14.6mpg. This is slightly better than I get with my 1998 extended cab 4 door 4x4 pick-up.

 

The way every one keeps talking about waiting for the next &quot; bigger/better&quot; product I would sware we were having a chat about a new computer and not a new ATV.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

 

Guys,the more riding partners you have the more fun you will have.It all comes down to the rider anyway.The new praire will be an excellent quad as will the new grizz.Lets just enjoy the selection that is available today.
Bearman