Just came back from the dealer.

Again, not "planning" on buying a brand new quad, but I looked at them today.

Looked at the Yamaha's first. The new Kodiak shares the same 700 engine the Grizzly does. The Grizzly had more bells and whistles including power steering and honestly a few other things I would likely not really use. The Kodiak was attractive and priced pretty good brand new at $6500.

Looked at CanAm's next. The Outlanders looked the best out of all of the quads I saw today. They offered the Outlander in 1000 CC motor which was incredible. I sat on it and started it and you could tell it was a beast. I honestly liked this one the most but at a price tag of $12,700 it seemed a bit over my current budget.

The Polaris quads are all ugly in my opinion. Seemed comfortable to sit on though, and also shared the power steering. The Polaris were the best value at $5500 (I think it was a 570 model). That's pretty impressive for a brand new quad.

The sales manager was pretty friendly, and offered to let me ride whatever I wanted. Unfortunately, I did not have time to do so on this visit, but will likely go back.

Probably going to come down to ride quality to me to make up my mind honestly.

 

Been on most brands. Mostly Polaris and Can-Ams. Polaris by far has the smoothest, most comfortable ride.

 

I've owned 1 Polaris Sportsman 400, it rode and handled great. Other than that it was terrible. Love my Arctic Cats, but I hate the new front end look, bring back the Jeep look. So far Arctic Cats have been very tough, excellent in the rough going(lots of clearance) my 2002 with full independent suspension rides better than the 2001, seem to be geared a bit low, the 400 tops out at only 53 mph and the 500 with 30" tires only 56 gps mph. Honestly don't know, between the Kawasaki, CanAm, Yamaha or maybe the Polaris 570. Everything equal, the CanAm, but money is tight, so, now my old AC's look pretty good.

 

Lots of people have chimed in on both Polaris and CanAm. Does anyone have any Yamaha experience with the Grizzly's?

I should probably explore the Kawasaki's also. I did see a used Brute Force at the dealer today, but I don't know anything about them.

 

It sounds like you are open to the idea of buying new, I assume probably because some the new models don't cost a lot more than the used ones you were looking at. The newer Brute Force 750's(2008 and newer) had efi while the older ones were dual carb. The 650's like mine never did get efi, all were dual carb up until they discontinued the model in 2013 I think. Some don't like the mechanical lever for diff-lock but I have yet to need to use it so it is a non-issue for me. In the end, ride several different models and see what you like the best. All of us can make recommendations but every rider is different. Ergonomics is worth a lot too. Its good to find the quad that fits and feels best to you too. The only way to do that is to get seat time.

 

Its been a little while but I finally got to ride a lot of different models today. Here's what I found;

Drove the Yamaha Kodiak 700 first. A bit more power than my 400 Kodiak, but not as much as I would expect given the difference in CC's. Felt decent, but not impressive.

Yamaha Grizzly 700 was next. Same sized engine but different clutch and it felt faster and the power steering was nice, but came with a $10k price tag.

Polaris Sportsman 570 was next. Weak, ugly and felt top heavy. Hated the way it shifted also.

Polaris Sportsman 850 was after that. Finally felt impressive power wise to me, but like the 570, it felt very top heavy like there was no way I could make any turns at anything over a slow speed without it wanting to tip over. I also disliked their deceleration built into the tranny. Really threw you forward letting off the throttle. And it was still ugly and was difficult to shift.

Finally drove the Can Am Outlander 1000. Wow explains it best! Most impressive. Had insane power, did NOT feel as heavy as I thought at all. It handled very well, very good suspension, and they are very attractive. Only complaint was the price. More expensive than the others by a bit (figures).

Money aside, I would gladly buy the Can Am Outlander 1000. I wish they would have had an 850 for me to try so I could compare. I am guessing it was similar power to the Sportsman 850 which was good.

I would have to resort to the used market. Its too much to swallow spending $12,XXX on a quad. I have seen a few 1000 CC models of the Outlander in the $8,XXX range that is somewhat easier to consider.

In the mean time, now I want to do further research on the Outlander. Other than the frames being weaker in the Gen 1 platforms, anyone have any info good or bad on these?

 

If you like the Can-Am Outlander, I'd look at the Outlander 650. More than enough power for just about anyone, about equal in performance to the Brute Force 750 and more than the Grizzly 700. Even the Outlander 570L is equal in power to the Grizzly 700 and has more than the Sportsman 570.

 

The thing that I liked the most about the Outlander I drove was its power. The Grizzly 700 had some, but it wasn't until the Sportsman 850 that I felt like I had enough to really be content. The 1000cc Outlander was just amazing. I don't think the 650 CC Outlander would be enough honestly. The 850 would, but I would enjoy the 1000 even more.

 

Maybe if you can find a leftover 2015 Outlander 800, you might be able to score a good deal. The 800 is a pretty potent engine too. With the 800 being replaced by the slightly more powerful 850, I bet dealers would be willing to make a deal if they have an 800 still in stock.

 

Honestly I would rather look on the used market for a 1000. I don't have the money at the moment anyways, but I found a smoking deal on a 2013 Outlander 1000 a few hours north of me for $7,000. I would rather do this than get a lower powered 800.