The 489's were probably the best stock tires you could get in my opinion until the 700sp tires came out. That doesn't count the XT Blackwaters found on the Traxter XT. Thats a cosmetic attachment to try and sell a quad. Just like the stock winch.

I looked over my uncle's 489s today and they are so much better than the Dunlops on my 660. They even have more tread with 1350 miles than mine do with 550miles.

 

TG1~

I would never hesitate to reccomend a Cat. Not until I actually see a Cat that happens to be a POS, and to date that hasn't happened. My family rides the heck outta them, and beats the living crud out of their Cat's too. They just keep on ticking. If I had the money, I would go get me a 500i to have with my 660.

Andy~

Ya the tire comment really blew me away. Those Titan 489's were an excellent OEM tire. Hell, I tried getting my dealer to take the dunlops off and put 489's on the Grizz. I can honestly say if the Grizz had come with those instead of the Dunlops, I would not have been looking into aftermarket tires right after my purchase of the 660.

SilverBear

 

Yeah, before I got riding good today, I pulled out a sliver of steel from the left rear and plugged it. Not even a nail, just a small piece of flat steel about the length of a nail. Basically, it didn't take much to puncture the crappy dunlops. Still, they are better than the Ohtsu tires that came stock on the 300 Honda, and way better than the old Cheng Shens that came on my 80's yamahas. Of course, that was then, this is now.

MaxRules!

 

Andy Bassham & SilverBear
Just wondering what your thought are after owning the Grizz for a while. I know the ASRP of a 500i is only a couple of hundred bucks less than a Grizz. Personally the biggest reason I bought my Cat was due to its price. Afterwards I truly feel I get a hell of a machine (for only being a 250 my "baby Grizz&quot. Oh yea, if I do trade up any time soon the Dunlops are coming off maybe a stock size 489XT (the 6 ply version... hope I got the name right) or 589s.

 

I have nothing but praise to sing for the titans. They have to be THE BEST stock tires available with exception to the Goodyear Rawhide on the 700 Sportsman. My Kawi 650 came with Dunlops and they had to be the Worst tires I have ever had on a quad. I priced out titan 489's to replace the KAWI tires and the Dirt Devils won out only because they were 30.00 a tire cheaper. These people don't ride in the real world. If they would check the forms, they would realize that most operators are replacing their Dunlops for a better performing tire.

 

Well, Guys I just got back from a ride in WVA with several people I have never ridden with before. Now I can tell you why our ACs get such bad reviews. From where we unloaded to where we would actually get on "trails" was about 10 miles of mining roads. These roads were somewhat paved in the past and were full of potholes but mostly hard packed gravel and dirt. The short and sweet of this story is" I could not keep up with any of the other quads while running this stuff." My 500 tops out at 41 mph on the GPS. I have 26" 589s on the bike. At that 41 mph it is like riding on ice. You cannot make any serious movments or the bike will get "wierd" on you. I have done a lot of work on my machine. Tranny pully mod. (this makes for the lower top speed) rejetted and played with the carb for days trying to optimize low to mid range power. 1/2 inch spacers in the suspension, etc. I took a pretty good ribbing from the group when we stopped right before we got on the "trails". So I asked them " how about letting me up front for awhile so I want get left behind?" They agreed. So off I went up the old washed out logging road. Bouncing this "overweight pig" from one side to the other, blasting up the middle of the washouts and then launching out the top as the wash out ended. after about 2 miles of this I stopped to look back. Noone was there. I had not seen any other trails turn off so I new I was going the right direction. I turned my motor off to listen and I heard them coming in the distance. They were not half way up the mountain. I sat there for a good 10 mins waiting on the group to catch up. Needless to say I did not have to hear any more about my "slow cat".
The whole point of this story is: If these guys who write the mag articles would actually try some real "trail" riding they might have a different opinon of our "farm cats". Sorry for the ramble but I had to make the point. JXP

 

JXP, I think you make a very good point, and not just about Cats, but about quads and quads accessories, and life in general as far as that goes.
There are lots of people who get miffed when a magazine doesn't agree that their quad is the best on the market. They'll go on to the forums and talk about how their quad can do everything they want it to do, and how much they love it, and that it should be the best.

However, very few people do nothing but drive back and forth across a mud hole all day long. Most of us have to ride on dirt roads in order to get to the "real" trails.

When the magazines do the reviews they try to take into account the full range of uses that quads will see, and the full range of people that will use them.

That's why a quad that excels in one area only will not win a shoot-out. It's more important to do well in all areas.

If you know that one aspect is more important for you, then great, you can choose which quad you want based on that.

Personally, I do mudding, trail riding, sand pits, and lots of dirt roads. I would not want a quad that was very good for one type of riding and poor for all the others.

 

JXP
Great story, it’s nice to hear positive comments.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] As for getting blown away during the high speed road portion who cares? ATVs were designed to operate off the road. Generally, this means at speeds least than that of a car traveling down the interstate. Sorry if I'm being an a$$ but a quad that is able to run faster any other quad does make for the best quad. Thenewfiebullet makes a good point that quads should do a lot of things well just not one (top speed/high speed trail riding is just one). Guess we're starting to beat a dead horse, hope things aren't boring anyone.

 

I've been happy with my 660 in most aspects. It does have its downfalls, but I pretty much knew of them and had to compromise to get the speed and diff-lock.

The thing is fast and powerful. I love it. The IRS is a dissapointment, but removing the anti sway bar made it 5 times better. Its narrow and not as stable as my AC was, but adding aftermarket rims and tires squared that away real quick. Differential lock has become something I won't be without ever again. Steering is excellent.

Yesterday I had it vapor lock on me, and that was not good. One strike against the grizz. I'm looking at ways to cut down on the heat on the carb as of now. Also, after riding it stock, I really think that its kind of squirrelly in the woods. Basically, the aftermarket stuff makes that go away completely and its as good as the AC with the rims and tires, but still, stock for stock, the AC was more stable. I also hate the belt drive, but I hate all belt drives so thats basically a strike against automatics rather than the Grizzly.

I have no brand loyalty, and if Arctic Cat could match the Grizzly in speed and with a differential lock, I would really go for an independant AC. Still, thats the reason I got the Grizzly so until something can match it, I will be content.

After it vapor locked, I thought of what I could trade it for for a few minutes. After thinking, I basically came up with nothing. I don't want a heavy sportsman, I don't want a swingarm Prairie, I don't want a slower 500i, and I don't want a Rincon with a drum brake and no differential lock. So basically, I'm happy with the grizz as long as I can figure a way to keep the heat away from the carb.

 

TG1~

The 660 has been more then I could have ever hoped for. Every quad will have it's problems, and quirks. On my Grizzly, it was the front left axle sliding out, which has been fixed. Other then that, it's outperformed my wildest expectations. I don't think I could ever go back to a quad that didn't have a front locker, now that I've tasted 4 wheelin with it.
As things sit right now, I'd make the same purchase again.

SilverBear