So I am looking to buy myself an ATV for mostly hunting use and I "think" I have narrowed it down to the 550 or 700 Grizzly. Here is how I will use it.

Most of my hunting is by myself out in Wyoming for Elk, Mule Deer and Speed Goats. Timmins Ontario Canada in the wet boggy woods for Bear and Moose. And finally White Tail Deer in MI. (I don't do all 3 in the same year)

In the past I have driven to the end of the trail and packed in on foot a couple miles to my camp site but at 47 years old I'm starting to feel it a bit more than I should.

I would like to be able to drive the ATV back in 15 to 20 miles with a tent, some gas and about 3 to 4 days of food and water. As you can see some of it is at 8,000 to 10,000 feet in elevation and rocky/hard ground and the rest of the time heavily wooded trails with some soggy stuff.

Will I need the extra power of the 700 or will the 550 be fine? Looking at the specs I see that there is only about 128cc's difference between the 2 motors. I just don't want to pay a bunch more $$ for the big motor if I really don't need it.

One more thing. The tires seem a bit on the conservative side on these machines. If I bought aftermarket tires, what would you all recommend?

Thanks for your time.

BobsArmory
Keeping the forces of evil at bay.

 

I bought a new 550 in July and my Dad has the 700...exactly the same other than the motor. I did not see it worth the extra money to go to the 700. At some point you have to realize that it is not power than is lacking...for what you are doing either will give you more than enough power. Elevation with the Fuel Injection is not an issue either. The choice is yours depending upon the your financial situation obviously, but if I were spending a few extra bucks I would just go with the EPS on the 550. As a side not however, right now you might be able to find a 2011 700 cheaper then you can find a 2012 550...at least here in Ohio you can right now!

 

I'm wishing I had more than a 500. 500 class machines are great for everything until you get into steep inclines that go on and on and you're trying to stay in high gear. In snow it tends to lack the power to move me and my machine and it tops out in the mid 30s. If I had more engine the snow rides and long inclines wouldn't be as much of an issue. The Grizzly IS lighter than my X2 and most riders are probably lighter than I am but these are two situations where the 500 gets me there but not as quickly as I'd like. While fuel injection helps it can't create the oxygen your engine needs to have the power your quad would at sea level. I remember crossing 10,857 ft. Wolf Pass in my GMC with the 6.0 L V8 gas engine. You would have thought it was a 6 cylinder engine. If I had known, at the time I bought it, that Polaris was goind to come out with a 700cc version of the X2 a couple months after I bought mine I would have waited. Better to have the power you need than want more in my book.

 

Extra power is nice for fast open road type riding,less speed bleeding off on fast uphill inclines, but for slow low range work like slow very steep hills,plowing and towing there is no differance.

I tied to a 800 Sportsman with my 500 and we were both in low range and had a tug of war, all that happened is both of us dug 4 deep tire ruts and neither went back or forth a inch.

Even my 350 Big Bear in low range would of snapped all its axles or CVs before it would run out of wheel turning power.

 

I've never been in a situation where I thought I needed more power than my 500 has. Whenever I got stuck all 4 wheels were spinning and I was high centered. To me a bigger engine justs wastes more gas. I would get the 550 and use the leftover money for new tires if it needs them. I know they used to have really crappy tires on the Grizzly.

 

Thanks for the info. I see that the local Yamaha dealer in the Lansing MI (Full Throttle Motor Sports) area is about $500 to $600 above some of the guys out of state. I might have to do some serious long distance shopping or start looking at something like the Honda Rincon.

Anybody in lower Michigan have a good place to buy a Yamaha?

 

One thing to consider with the Honda is the fact that a lot of them still run the solid rear axle...maybe not the rincon, but it seems that Honda is a bit behind on their atv industry and keeping with the trends! Is your heart totally set on buying new? If you are willing to buy used, it seems that around me, you can find used quads that are 1-2 yrs old and have less than 100 miles on them and save thousands!! 100 miles is nothing on a quad...mine will be pushing 1000 before long and it is only six months old!

Ask your dealer if they would meet a competitor's price on a quad...if they won't you probably don't want to deal with them anyway...without fail you will be back there for something and it would be nice to know that they will take care of you and appreciate your business!

 

I gave the local dealership one last call and they ended up matching the lowest price I found so on the way home I stopped off and put $500 down on a Grizzly with EPS. Didn't have any in stock so one is coming from the factory next week with my name on it.

Now I have to tell my wife. Any advice there???

 

The only advice I could come up with involves a jewelry store and a nice dinner out. Usually doesn't go over as well when you take her on a ride and say, "See, I told you we could make it through the mud pit."

 

550 or 700? Ummm...as far as telling the wife...good luck with that!!