I would recommend a ride on the Prairie before you settle on the V. I have a V and I love it. One of my friends has a Prairie. We went out together to ride and I tried the prairie and I really liked it.

I found the Prairie to be a very plush ride. The exhaust did not seem nearly as loud and I found it easier to "sightsee" on. Oh, and it will climb some wicked steep stuff also.

My friend is a former Pro IMSA racecar driver and he flat out flys on that Prairie. For a utility machine that thing just flat moves!

I have no regrets on my V but that Prairie is one fine & impressive machine.

 

I agree with enigma. I'm 49, 6'2" @240 lbs. I don't blast around all the time. I like to get spunky now and again and love tricky or technical trails. But no type of riding, such as jumping and flat out over whoops and such, that could leave me out of work with a family to feed. In my early 20's however things were different.
Then there is the fact the V has no racks or storage to speak of. If you just want to noodle around and blast down a straight once and a while, or slide around corners with all that torqe. The P is the one. But just noodling around on a V is a waste of a great race horse to me.
To each his own.

 

V has a small gas tank too and is a gas hog if you start likeing that above idle stuff. No Storage, no racks. The prairies ride better.
Whattayagonnado? practical? or 'Mean'?

 

If you want a V-Force, I'll sell you mine, it has three rides on it and runs perfect. Never crashed or raced. I'm 49 and bought it new because I was going to ride it exactly like you described. Within 4 months I went and purchased a new Prairie 700, the ride is waaaaay better on the Prairie 700 than the V-Force, the power is not there but I have found that on the logging roads ( I live in the Pacific Northwest) the ride on the V is still too stiff and the front end is a touch to wide to get thru some of the trails in some of the areas we ride.

I know there are going to be a few guys out there that are going to say I have no fricken idea what I'm talking about because they own this and have owned this that and they are experts. Well I'm no expert but I have been riding off road for about 40 years and I can tell you the Prairie is that much better for the average trail rider and cruising down logging roads than the V will ever be.

The V is fast and it likes to go when you really get on it, it will climb all over the P models real quick, the brakes are awesome and the suspension is good for fast riding on wider trails that will allow you to go fast on.

The Prairie will go stupid fast on trals and logging roads too it just don't get there as quick. What the Prarie does so much better is it turns better with less body input, even my wife will cruise logging roads with me on her P650 at 50mph with no problem. The Prairie's front end will not come up as easily while going up steep hills. The V is light on the front end and comes right up with any throttle input going up rutted out hill climbs. The V requires more rider input over technical trails that are severly rutted and damaged. The P just goes over them without much work at all. My wife is 40+ and she just sits on her P650 and gives it a little gas and gets over the rutted stuff without any trouble.

The V will get you there much quicker, the P will get you there less tired with just as much fun. The V is for sale, the P is off limits. If I lived in the open desert the V would be the machine to have, but where we ride it's slick mud, rutted out trails that are narrow and rocky, rutted slim covered downed trees and the Prairie is hands down a way better machine.

My wife and I went up to the Gifford Pinchot National Forest late this summer with a group of about 30 other atv owners and a couple friends rode both, the V700 and my wifes Prarie650. They said the V has no place in the tight trails and the it had too much power and too much work to get thru the narrow trails but the Prairie was perfect, I agree, two weeks later I bought the P700. I took a friend of mine out to do a little scouting for deer in July this year and he rode the P650, I rode the V. We only rode on the logging roads as this area has no trails to ride on. We had scouted for about 6 hours and returned to the truck to load up. This guy had never ridden an ATV in his life and I offered to let him take the V down the road for a comparison ride. I asked him to stay out of the throttle for it was way more powerful than the P650. He returned and about 5 minutes and immeadiatly said the Prairie was a better ride, much smoother and easier to get a feel for.

Bottom line, the V-Force is fast, like a funny car, handles like a go cart, quick steering and bumpy ride, a bit wide in the front for narrow trails, like a full sized Dodge Ram on a jeep trail.
The Prarie is fast, not quick but will get you there in a hurry, handles logging roads like a Corvette, rides like a Lexus and goes over stuff like a Humvee, carries stuff like a pickup and will get you back without being tired plus for 69 bucks you can get a WARN winch that will get you out of the sticky jams if you ever need it.

 

Bushwacked,

Excellent post. I own a V-Force and I agree with your opinion.

Fast aggressive riding 80% of the time and 20% cruzing / putting about = V-Force

Fast aggressive riding 20% of the time and 80% cruzing / putting about = Prairie

Also, if you don't think a Prairie can go as fast as a V do a thread search on author ALLTOYS.
Sounds like the Prairie he crafted could hold its own against a Sparks 770 alcohol burning Raptor !!

 

I found the V to be awsome in handling AND comfort. I run mine fairly easy, quick mid range aceleration, hill climb ect. I don't drag or jump as I am 45, 6'4" 275 lbs. I go riding with Alltoys on his prairie 700. It is very confortable but no where near as nimble as the V. If you runs are over 100 miles a day then get the V700. For fun and easy crusing, get the V Force

 

Hey guys I need to ask about this from a different view point. I have a P700 and I really like it, I am addicted to going too fast and like to jump some and love slidding around, wheelies, and various other demonstrations of my maturity. I am considering giving the prairie to my wife and buying me a V-Force. My concern is will the V-Force go most the places the Prairie can go. I don't go looking for mud only what happens to be on the trails. We do ride some rocky areas and some rutted trails mostly mountain areas but occassionally go to the St.Anthony dunes. The Prairie has a winch so if I stuck it in mud thats not a big concern but worried about rocky trails and rutted dirt trails. Anyone have experience ridding a V-Force in difficult terrain. I am liking the idea of the lighter weight better jumping easier to slide etc. But I still want to be able to go most the places we have gone in the past. So what do you guys think, or should I just mod the prairie.

 

i have had my v force for about three months. like any sport atv they can go most places a 4x4 can. for a sport atv you might have to be more aggressive. i have had many atvs over the years, 2 and 4x4. on steep hills you have to hit it harder, instead of putting up them. two weeks ago i rode with 5 4x4s and 2 2x4s we came to a very muddy spot, a couple of the 4x4s went throgh but had a hard time. there was no way around it the v made it throgh slowly but better than the other sport atvs. not naming any brands but i think the taller rear tires helped. the other two had stock 20s. mine had the stock 22s. the 22s make a diffrence for ground clearence compared to the other sport atvs.

 

The V does very well on rutted or rocky trails. If you need to get by an obstacle you can gas it and it goes NOW. The sealed rear end is a plus over rocky areas.

 

Bush,
Excellent assessment of both machines. Like you I agree that each machine fills a different mission, but there is a lot of overlap area. I bought them both. Some days I want "go fast" other days I want "go anywhere" . So of course it is the V or the Prairie. Then there are the days that I have to carry wood or tools or the g/f for a ride, then I take the mule.

Bob