I currently own a new Kawasaki 650 and was called by my local polaris dealer( a friend of mine) to race his first new 700 sportsman. In low range the kawasaki easily beat the polaris because of the different gearing. The polaris revs out at about 23mph in low and the kawasaki does about 33mph. However in high range the polaris surprised me. We raced only twice in high range but both times he beat me by about one length. It really depended on who got the holeshot but they were quite close. The polaris had stock tires on it and I had 26" mudrunners which is a dis-advantage for me but remember my machine weighs over one hundred pounds lighter. I have owned several sportmans including 500 HO's and was impressed by the polaris. The ride is exceptional and steering is very light. The motor on the polaris wasn't nearly as smooth as the kawasaki and the low ranfe..in my opinion is too low.
Both machines are great...The polaris rides better and has more ground clearance and the kawasaki is more stable for high speed sport riding with better brakes and engine braking. I still wonder why polaris can't get they're fit and finish better. The plastic on the new 700 still doesn't line up very good( I guess I am being over criticle.)

 

Low range will be perfect for those of you wanting to put 28" tires on for mudding.

My current HO will do 30mph in Low.

 

lyle 1,

I'll second the motion that the 700 Sportsman vibrates. Granted it doesn't vibrate as much as the old Yamaha XS 650 Special 2, but it vibrates about the same the Suzuki Savage 650 I used to have. The drag performance is a shock, though. I would put it down to the heavier and larger diameter tires you have on yours. I imagine the steering would be a lot lighter on yours if the stock tires were on it too.

 

My friend's SC500 gives me a good run so I don't doubt that the 700 flies. Put the stock tires back on and you lose 50# and a ton of reciprocating weight. Then race again and let us know the result. I'm sure the 650 will win mainly because it's 140# lighter, and the hp of those two machines is probably real close.

 

I've only seen 3 of the 700 SP so far and havent ridden any of the 3 but I have noticed that the fit and finish of the 3 were all different. The 1st was very nice tight seams and straight lines. The 2nd seemed to be a bit lopsided almost but the seams looked good. The 3rd which I just seen this week had a terrible fit at the seams, it wasnt even close on some of the seams by the tank. I didnt have time to look very long and maybe it just wasnt put together properly.

 

Jeff, we both have the new 650 kawasaki and I see you have a 400ex. I am considering buying a sport quad 400ex or Raptor. I will be trail riding and some mud riding. Is there that much difference in riding the two different quads you have? Is it worth it to give up the automatic transmission and four wheel drive for the fun of the 400ex/raptor?

 

To me the whole thing is rider specific. Last Winter I couldn't do much with the 400ex and I really like to ride in the Winter. I like the feel of the bigger quads personally. Ten years ago when I raced I wanted pure sport. I get the best of both worlds with the Kawi. As you know it can get some good air and is quite sporty. The 400ex and raptor are like Dodge Vipers. They are the ultimate in sport performance, but not everyone can or wants to make use of their potential. On the trail, for normal riding, there's no benefit to the 400ex over the kawi unless you are riding very very aggressive. In reality it's nice to get on whichever quad suits your mood. Were you going to buy another quad to replace the Kawi, or have in addition to the kawi. BTW, the 650 beats the 400ex in a drag.

 

it amazes me that most people asume that an atv with the same power and more weight than another will be slower or sluggish but that is not true at all. those of us in the snowmobile world see this theory fall apart at every lake race .the weight of a vehical effects its accelleration only to a point. the key is clutching efficiency. you only have what power you can put to the ground.
a good example is my friend who just got back from the dyno. his sled with all the mods from bender made 141hp at the crank. the clutching specs that they recomended gave him 80hp at the track (this is comon for a sled to only get 60-70%to the track). after a couple hours and a bunch of tweeking of the weights springs and helix he was able to get 91hp to the track .
thats why bigger can be faster
with cvt tranys its all in the setup
from what ive seen i will probly be buying a new grizz in the spring
sorry polaris its been nice riding ya
betheviper
scott

 

I have never understood why the "lo" range in so many quads is so low. I can do 40+MPH in lo range. Thats indicated miles with 27" tires. Inspite of that, I have never once needed more power then I had on tap.

Rick

 

The low range is low because it is made for towing and slow crawling. The lower the gearing the better it will be to haul that hay trailer or boat out of the lake. In all reality, if you are doing much more then 20 mph, you don't really need low range at that particular time anyway.