Point proven. I find myself doing my own research rather than taking his advice

 

Well having read many of recon's posts, when he refers to the 700xx as a "pig" he means it in the sense of it being a sport quad. His Rancher is a 4x4, his 400ex and 450r are not.

To someone looking for a pure sport machine, something that is 500 pounds is a pig. Because if you are leaping a 40 foot double or blitzing a turn in 3rd gear, you want as little weight below you as possible so as to have a dominating influence over the machine and where it goes.

Riding a 4x4 requires a different riding style, just like an IRS sport machine would require a different riding style then a SRA machine. I have a 4x4 too, and I would not even try to ride it like I ride a sport quad......in fact I don't ride it at all for "riding" only for work, or a slow 2nd gear trail cruise or sight seeing tour.

Point is, to each his own.......what works for me might not work for you. Recon is only giving his opinion, it does not make it a law for everyone to adhere to. I'm sure a lot of people love their 700xx as much as I love my z400, or as much as recon loves his 450r.....

Like the old saying goes "run what'ya brung" ....or in this case buy what you want and ride it.....there are a whole host of aftermarket options out there to fix the small things you don't like....

 

Why does everybody compare the XX to the Raptor 700???? These machines are not even in the same class. Any comparison there is just silly. Sure, they are both 700's, but any similarity ends right there......

The only other machine in this class is the Polaris Outlaw 525 IRS, which is has a dry weight of only 389 pounds (a bit heavy for a sport quad). Add in the fluids, and you are around 400 pounds and change....indeed ~100 pounds ligher than the portly XX. Both to heavy compred to my 450R!

Put 100 pounds of sandbags on a 400 pound wet weight sporty quad, ride around, and see just how much fun that really is!!! On the other hand, those who are use to heavy utilities (and have probably never ever even ridden a real sport quad!!!), will ignorantly imagine that 500 pounds is "lightweight".

2009 Polaris Outlaw 525 IRS ATV : Features

 

81 is flying....... I rode my buddy's HRC equipped 450r and that thing will hit 78 and that is scary fast on any trails out here..... In fact he changed the gearing and now probably tops out at about 75......

I'd like to ride one of those 700xx monsters....

 

Or if you're interested in a foot-shift Rancher.

 

i agree you cant really compare the 700xx and the raptor, the 700xx is a pretty unique bike, the raptor 700 is the best selling sport quad at the moment, hopefully the 700xx does good and becomes more popular it would be a great thing for honda, the 700xx weighs 83 pounds more then the raptor but yet they both have 686cc 4 valve SOHC same bore same stroke 44mm fuel injected engines...and both have pretty similar dimensions besides the ground clearance on the 700xx is like over twice as much lol, theres so just no way the 700xx would "smoke" a raptor 700 its not gonna happen, on a normal drag length of 300ft with the same rider and multiple tests if the 700xx is faster then i gurantee its not by much, but then again who cares? if you love your bike than great but dont defend your purchase to the death and talk like its the best atv in the planet and every elses bikes are obsolete, im getting tired of people talking bad about bikes saying this is junk this bike is blah blah blah, i dont diss any bikes or brands they all have ups and downs, were not here to argue about something stupid like that, i would love to own a 700xx i think there sweet, and if i ever buy an atv from a dealer the 700xx is definitely on my wish list.

 

On paper yes it does. But in reality it's less than that. The last time I weighed a Raptor 700 it was 445 lbs full of all fluids. It's a marketing scheme manufactures use in the ATV world to make their products power to weight ratio seem better than it actually is. I have been working at a Honda/Yamaha/Suzuki/Can AM dealership for almost 12 years so I know from experience what each ones true weight is. The 700xx I have weighed have all been dead on with 510lbs being the heaviest wet weight.





Believe it or not they are in the same class. They are both 2wd, manual shift, 686cc SPORT quads. Weight (and your opinion) does not dictate market segment. If that were the case the only sport quads would be the Raptor 250 and 250X. Yes, one is a SRA one is an IRS. Both are great machines but the 700xx is the better of the two IMO. Yes the xx weighs more, but that does not mean it's inferior. It's DOMINANT in the segment it was designed for. What's the 700R designed for? Not much other than being top heavy. People always compare weight not realizing that after all the crap you add to your ATV (Bumper, skids, nerfs, etc..) you far exceed the original weight by a good margin. They are not lightweight parts and after all is said and done your "lightweight" 450r probably weighs almost as much as a stock 700xx.

I have ridden over 150 different ATV's over the years. The 700xx is an absolutely awesome machine.

 

Well not to nit-pick but generally adding aftermarket parts does not add weight. In fact most of the time you are replacing heavier components of steel with aluminum and actually saving weight.

After market exhausts are generally 2-3 pounds lighter than stock.....tires and wheels are generally lighter aftermarket too, as well as bumpers, handlebars, and other bolt-on parts.

About the only part of a sport ATV that adds in weight that was not there are nerf bars, but beyond that you are not generally bolting on weight. So there is no way adding in bolt on parts is going to make a 450R anywhere near 500-pounds......

Keep in mind I'm not saying anything bad about the 700xx.....but it is heavier than a 450cc sport quad no matter how you spin it.....

 

The xx, are those rims steel? Just looking at them If you swapped them out for some aluminum ones you could save atleast 10-15 pounds.

 

Honda uses rolled aluminum wheels