Went and drove up some of the steeper hills that I ever took my AC up with the Grizzly today. One in particular made my *** pucker on the 500, and the Grizzly didn't let me down in that regard either. I will say that the lifted AC feels a lot different than the Grizz with claws on it. I went up part way twice to get a feel and backed back down, and I forever DID miss my SINGLE LEVER BRAKES from my Arctic Cat. Its a pain in the *** to hold both levers all the way while keeping your weight forward and trying to keep the bike planted straight while backing down. Whoever said that single lever brakes are worthless obviously never found themselves in this situation much.

I didn't try it, but I would guess that the Grizzly without the diff-lock feature would be dead in the water. Yamaha's 4wd system is just what everyone said. Sub-par. Diff lock makes all the difference in the world so you have the best and the worst at the push of a button. I think it would have been easier if it wasn't so dry as well. The claws like to just till into the loose dirt and dig holes rather than climb, but then again they are mudtires so what should I expect.

Either way, I made it up and got a little more feel for what this thing is capable of and not capable of. Also realized that I may need to go up one notch stiffer on the rear preloads, because they really were sagging with all the weight shoved back and no sway bar. Another thing. I don't care for the automatic transmission at all, just as I suspected I wouldn't. Too jumpy for this type thing. A manual gives you a lot more control, at least in the Grizzly's case. I don't think the wide track is too great for climbing either. Seems to make the thing front end want to veer sideways easier. It was either that or the one tire pulling more when in regular 4wd mode. I figure with 25" Bear Claws, it would probably be a better climber anyways. Lower to the ground and better loose dirt traction rather than running on 4 garden weasels.

All and all, I was impressed. Other than traction, I never could see how you could beat an AC for steep uphill climbing. Hell, they have 100lbs. more over the front tires than the rear. Probably the least likely quad to flip backwards that you will find. The Grizzly did pretty good, though the feel is a lot different. I was kind of scared, but then again it scared the bejesus out of me when I did it on the AC too. Especially the first time with the stock 495's. That was a wild ride!

On a side note, the Grizzly is geared too high in high range to be doing this with 27" tires. It would have that all or nothing power hit and you can't crawl in high. Flipover city when you hit a bump. Low was pretty good, but nothing like the control of the manual AC 500. Also, just in case I gave this impression, the Grizz never did get tippy, I parked it and did the rock test where you rock it to see how far it had before it gave. Stable on that. I couldn't find anything that made me believe that it has a too high center of gravity. Plus, its up there even more with the tires. I'll give it an "A-" because "A" or "A+" would have to go to a manual AC 500 with a "Niteowl locker".

 

I take that back. "A" is a regular Cat. "A+" is the Niteowl locker Cat.

 

Andy,
It seems like you've got a real love/hate relationship going with that Grizzly, and maybe a bad case of buyer's remorse. I can't tell if you like it or want to unload it at the next possible opportunity for an AC. What's the straight poop?

 

No remorse. I wouldn't buy anything else if I was buying again. Its faster than any other utility other than the prairie, it has awesome clearance, steers great, rides unbelievable, and seems to be able to go anywhere I want. I put that post in here for comparison purposes. I'm not writing that because I dislike it, it just gives people an idea of differences between quads. If you look it over, you can also see that it pretty much gives a lot of credit to the AC. I'm not one of those "sold that piece of crap" guys unless I actually had owned a clunker.

The yamaha went up the hill probably easier than the AC did, but it felt a lot different doing it. Thats the main thing there. The cat slipped and slided its way up on account of its limited slip, but was probably less scary than the locked grizz going up.

No, I don't have any buyers regret. Not for missing the AC, or not buying a 650 Prairie or a 700 Sportsman. I've ridden the Sportsman and its awesome, but I would prefer the Grizzly for myself because of the weight and weight distribution. The 650 doesn't even tempt me on account of the straight axle. I swore that the next time I paid money for a quad, I wouldn't be smacking any more rocks on a differential.

The way I look at it, the only real thing I don't like about the Grizzly is the automatic transmission, but there is no way around it with any manufacturer right now. I couldn't get the speed and power I wanted without it being an auto no matter what I got.

No regrets.