my 1998 454 is comparable to a rubicon as mine seems to out run them slightly on low end up till about 50 then most rubicons can inch away slowly. I'd imagine the 500 has a better lowend power curve and slightly more powerful than a rubicon.

 

Although I am an old motorcycle rider and used to the heel toe shifter, I had problems with the Arctic Cat shifter. To solve the problem, I added a square rubber shim to the top of the heel shifter with cable ties. I have no problems upshifting now! This might be a problem only I have encountered because of ankle flexibility or some such thing but perhaps it will help others.

 

Good point, you can always rig up the shifter to suit your needs. For some reason I liked the heel toe shifter. I think cause I didn't have to shift my weight as much downshifting in a tight spot- like when you have the gas tank in the death clamp with your knees and you are hoping things dont get worse. A lot of people hate it though. I guess you can get the regular shift lever for like 20 bucks, but I don't know how it sets up, whether it would feel awkward or not have much space or whatever.

 

I love the heeltoe, doe's take a little getting used to. I bent the toe arm in a little, it alows you to ride with your feet much closer to the centre of the bike.

 

How does the hanling/ride compare to the other IRS bikes?

 

Mine is an 02, so I can't comment on the power difference. It isn't slow, it just isn't scary fast. It pulls a trailer load of cut oak (600+ pounds) up and down my hilly farm, without a problem.

I tried two other IRS quads: SP500 and grizzly. Ride was quite good on those two, though the Cat felt a bit more stable, and a little less tippy. I didn't get a chance to take the other two into some serious rough stuff. Steering on the cat was definitely lighter. I really liked the grizz, but it was $1200 more. It was nicer, but not that much nicer, and when I was buying (last spring) the new 660 grizz was having a few teething problems.

 

Heya, I was down looking at the 03 500 manual, damn that thing is a good size. Lots of ground clearance, and with 589s not much stopping it. Anyway it was 8300, they may budge on it as well... Stones in New Glasgow

Mark

 

You should call Eugene at G.E. Johnson in Windsor, best prices and by far far the best service around.

Cheers Jim

 

8300 is more than a sp500!!

What do they want for them in Windsor? (if you know)

 

Rincon, you thinking of trading the Kodiak in on a 500i? Believe it or not I am thinking about the same thing. I always did like to mud ride and the P650 is more for my wife than me. I am not going to put big tires on it because its not going to see any mud to start with. Now that she has her own ride I can mud at will with the Kodiak and she dont have to get muddy. But, ever since I seen and rode a 500i I new it would be hard to keep up with in the mud. "even without a locker"

If I get a 500i it will be set up for mud riding and mud riding only. I am looking for problems people are having. I hope to find little to none. The problems I am looking for are tire related. CV joints busting, axles breaking, wheel bearing and steering bushing wearing out prematurely and things of that nature. I love going to High Lifter and looking at that 500i with the lift and 28" Outlaws.

If anyone reads this let me know about CV, axle or other problems that were related to 26" and larger tires.