hey jeff well i used to work at polaris industries and well we are trying to keep this civilized without the brand bashing and my mom said if you dont' have nothing nice to say don't say nothing so i will leave it at that. but on the other hand i had simular situations with my arctic cat and the body roll issue a person gets so used to it that you don't even realize it anymore. but i did put on 6 ply tires and with the stiff side wall it made an incredible difference you can't feel any body roll and beings the stock tires suck most ppl go to aftermarket anyways. i did take off my aftermarket tires and put on the stock ones one day for fun and it wasn't a half an hour and i put the aftermarket ones back on but like i said you get so used to the machine it isn't even an issue it is alot more sturdy then you think.

 

You've already heard a lot of conflicting opinions on this question by now, and my advice it to ride it in before you buy it for sure.

I don't mind it myself, but every AC ever made suffers from a lot of body roll, and I don't care what tires you put on it, you won't eliminate it. It comes from long travel suspension, and independant wheel articulation (achievable also with ACT), and the only way to make the roll in turns better is to stiffen the shocks. Tire roll is a totally different thing.

Believe what you want to of course, but I swear you need to ride it to see if this is what you really want. For me personally, I like AC's but I don't really get bothered by the fact that they lean in hard turns. You may not like this, and I would rather not see you make a $6K mistake.

Tires will not take away the body roll. It will lessen it some because it will take away from the sidewall rolling, but the suspension is still going to dip in the corners.

As far as steering effort, they are a lot better now than they used to be. night and day.

 

Jeffoxer
For my riding I didn't like the Cats 650 steering. I came off of a Prairie 650 for the IRS Cat 650. Their are some +'s for the IRS Cat but negitives too. If you like & want quick response to the rider input on steering & handling do not buy a Cat. I fought the Cat too many times while flying down trails & hitting the corners too hot. The Cat just doesn't want to powerslide, I think some of this is b/c the Cats do not have a sway bar, it keeps the Cat from breaking loose. Instead the tires just stay planted to the ground & you have to turn thru the corners, drop the speeds & just ride thru it.
I also do not care for the one lever brake system, maybe OK for flatlanders but up in the mountains it can get a bit scary. I found the rear brake would lock up too easy during a hard charge & getting on the brakes to slow down & the Foot brake is a joke on the '04 650.
I went back to a Kawasaki but this time the Brute Force. I wanted to stay with the IRS, as for me the IRS is great for mountain riding & everything that the Cat 650 couldn't do, the BF750 shines + more.
Too bad Kawie doesn't offer an 500 IRS!

 

Thanks guys.

I have been trying to find someone in Michigan to ride with that has an AC so I can see how much I like it compared to the Polaris. I haven't found anyone yet and the dealers in my area will break a rib laughing if you ask them to ride it even around the parking lot.

Thanks again for the help.

 

Next time they do that crap to you, ask them if they drove their car before buying it.

 

where are you at in Mi.?

 

Any quad with IRS will have a more difficult time powersliding because the weight shifts different on the back end and the springs keep pressure on both tires. If you want to powerslide get an AC with a straight rear axle. The weight is always shifted toward the outside of the corner and allows the inside tire to break loose giving you a lot more "powersliding" action!

 

As Andy, says, you're not gonna get rid of the roll by changing tires alone. I've been on R.R track grades in the U.P., riding at about 35 degree grade. Never rolled and was very stable on my AC 500i, '02. You've seen my Cat and if you'd like, you can ride it any time we're out. I thought I'd made that offer before Jeff. Come to the Mounds tomorrow and I'll be there. See ya.
Chuck

 

Why are we arguing about this stuff, ATV stands for what? Yeah, if an ATV can't go where you want it, and is best suited to running on smooth, high speed dirt roads and groomed tracks, then they aren't really ATV's at all. Same as a Subaru is 4 by, you don't see it at mud bogs do you? Cats handle like they look. They have a high center of gravity, no sway bars, huge clearance, and are built to go where you point 'em. If ya wanna race, buy a race bike and enjoy the continuous circles that it's suited to.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

 

if you want to throw the back end of a quad around try the rubicon i can get mine to power slide in corners and wheelie with out any problems and its just as fast as the cat and has a manual shift or auto shift.
the best of both worlds.