Thats funny you brought that up. I test drove the 450 a couple of days after test driving the Polaris at a completely different dealer. At the time without knowing their dimensions I thought to myself this is similar to the Sportsman 500. I even looked at the 550 Grizz that night and in my head felt like it was bigger than the 500HO. Not necessarily weight but overall dimensions.

Turns out the 550 grizz is technically smaller the the 500 HO and the 450 Grizz was significantly smaller then the HO. Funny how when you don't ride them every day and can't seem them next to each other it makes it hard to judge.

 

tell me waterstout, did the 500 feel stronger then the 450 grizz? if not it certainly should

 

Honesty i didnt do any hard core riding on either of the two. The polaris dealer had a little better riding area than the yammy dealer. Its been nearly a month since I rode them but I do remeber the 500 feeling softer and spongier in it's ride. I got to ride it around the building a a small trail. I liked it overall. The yammy testdrive was shorter and hardly any offroad. Seamed to have less roll when cornering. aside from that I really didnt notice either one being particulary strong or weak. Those were the first two quads i drove. Only other one being the older beat up grizz 660.
*

 

blackwaterstout,

Don't know if you've made you mind up yet, but I thought I'd pass this along. It's the video of last weeks Dirt Trak TV show.

About a third of the way into the show, they take 3 stock Grizzlies up the Rubicon Trail (one of the toughest in the country). Pretty impressive how the Grizzlies handled it and held up... and the riders were equally impressed. I don't think any of the quad were 450's, but you'll get the idea of the quads abilities and durability. Not that other ATV's couldn't do the same... they just happen to be Grizzlies.

Anyhow, if you've got some time, and a good internet connect have a look...

Dirt Trax Television // Video Portal

 

Hey BOss. I did catch that episode. Pretty cool stuff. I would imagine they were all 700 grizzlies. That show always like to go big or go home. lol

I've never seen footage of the Rubicon trail until this episode but looks super rocky.

I was about to go get a 4-wheeler on saturday and talked myself out of it but I had a little talk with my wife and she reiterated that it's something that I need and should last me forever as long as I take care of it. See says I need to get what I want and not settle for something just because it'sa few hundred bucks cheaper. I think she's right. I'm definately going to get one.

Honestly now I'm thinking 550 grizzly. I can get one for about $700 more than the 450 and the 440 would come with FI and be a little larger. So we'll see.

 

I got 450 Grizz, 500 sportsman and 400 Can Am.
SP 500 and CA 400 are close but SP wins and Grizz 450 is at least 5-6 lengths behind.

 

Yep, you want to spend the money "once" and get what you want.

 

I drove a Yamaha Grizzly 550 and was impressed with it. I didn't get to spend a whole day on it though. Fuel injection is especially nice in the winter time. A couple chugs of the starter and you're up and running. No fiddling with a choke. It would be worth it to me for $700 to get the bigger engine, quad, and fuel injection. 450 is a nice quad but the 550 is much better in my book.