This year the KQ dethroned the Prairie, The Prairie 700 did hold on to 2nd place beating out the BF750. Here is a quote from the final conclusion "Last years top 4x4, the Kawasaki Prairie 700, acceleratesand handles just as spectacularly as it did in 2004 and thats enough to earn it second in this shootout. If sporty 4x4 riding is your thing this is your quad."

overall ratings
BF750 ****
P700 *****
KQ700 *****

POLARIS 800 did not make it to the test. and they oppted to omit the grizz and rincon since there were no mechanical chages and the P700 beat them in past years so they took last years winner and put it against the new kids on the block the KQ and the Brute Force 750i. The KQ won not because it was the fastest (it was the slowest) but because it was the most well rounded. I think they liked the EFI feature alot. But I think thats saying somthing for a quad that been on the market for 4 years to still be ranked 2nd and to tie the no. 1 in its 5 star rating.

 

Good post...thanx for the info.

Happy trails...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Thanks mike for the reply I was beginning to wonder if any body was going to coment 150+ views and 0 responces. I thought this was going right along with what I had been telling people in the past that kawi got the motors backwards in the new BF line the 750 should have gone in the SRA chassis and the 650 in the IRS. Had they done it that way or put the 750 in both they might not have lost the title. The Prarrie chassis be it in te BF650 or the Prairie is still the top Sport-utility out there for a fun allaround quad IMO. If you like 4x4 capability and still like to play around doing power slides wheeleees, ect,ect. But I am sure Kawi sees these magazine reviews and I hope they take it into consideration that its clear that IRS is not required to win a shootout and give us a more powerfull SRA next year. I would love to have true factory 800 EFI on the Prarrie chassis BF. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

I agree...Kaw. made a mistake by going backwards and putting the old P650 motor into the Prairie Chassis...They should have made a P750 (or BF750 with SRA or whatever you want to call it). I also agree with you that the Prairie is the best all around quad for sportiness and 4x4 capability. The BF750 has its niche too (great for deep mud holes and slow, technical rock climbing), but I still like the Prairie best for my type of riding. Now an 800cc SRA quad would be nice, but my money is that Kaw. will wake up and smell the coffee and build a BF750 with SRA and EFI. I keep telling myself that the EFI will be the best way to go in the future and thus, avoid the jetting blues/trial and error hassles that plague all of us folks who like to modify their quads' motors.

PS - I kinda have to agree with many folks who often say that magazine reviews are all about what the magazines have to do to keep their ad sponsors happy. It makes sense that if the mags all rated the same quad #1 forever that the other manufacturers would eventually stop buying ads in those magazines...so it seems logical to me that they may skew the outcomes of some of the tests so that someone new takes the spotlight (like the KQ). I'm not saying the KQ is a bad quad or anything like that, I just have a hard time believing that the P700 is not the best sport/ute on the market right now.

Happy trails...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

OH yeah, cc1999 I like the sound of that , but I think they would do something like a BF 750 SRA and then also a BF 800 V EFI IRS then it will be hard to decide which to get,I hope they do something like this before I buy the BF 750 i. Have you logged enough time on your pol 800 efi to give us your run down on it , is it what you thought it would be ?[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

All this is good for is US.Competition is a beautiful thing! The one I look for is Yamaha to one up everyone.There is no way they have been sitting on their hands and watching the world go by.You know they have something up their sleeve.I am curious......how much quicker was the BF than the 700????
02 650 camo

 

Now what would really be the bomb is if Suzuki & Kawi eliminated the timing retard, put an 800EFI V-twin in the KQ and Kawi Upped the ante and Put an 800EFI V-twin in the Prairie SRA Frame with upgraded front I rear adjustable Long travel resevoir shocks & figured out a way to keep them cool. They could name them King Kong and BruteZilla.....Oooooooooooooooooh

I'm starting to drool.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

TuffEnuff

 

I don't know about the 800 going into the IRS chassis, it maybe what they do,but I think the BF750 IRS is a little more motor than that chassis needs, It is kinda twichy and tippy thus the rap it has for being to much of a brute, Thats why I have said they got the motors backwards since I know for fact the SRA can handel more power, a lot more, and still feal stable and comfortable in high speed situations. I think kawi would do better in the rankings by putting there best engines in there already proven higher performance chassis. Penland didn't when all those races because it handeled like crap. Right out of the box the SRA handles pretty darn good and can be improved apon from there with aftermarket suspension components. I hope that in the future Kawi gives the proven SRA chassis its best powertrains and stops trying to make the IRS version look like the top dog. This article helps prove the fact, that they had a better flagship quad last year than they do in 2005.

As far as my Polaris goes, we fond out last weekend at the sand dunes a stock Twin Peaks/ prairie 700 with zero mods except for heavy tires and wheels is stil a little bit faster than the Polaris 800. The polaris 800 is however the smothest riding quad I have ever ridden. I like the EFI feature since I didn't buy it for my play riding around here but more for our big rides out in colorado starting late next spring. I realy wanted to try an EFI quad in the mountains. I like the quad just fine, But I prefer the Twin Peaks, its just more fun to ride.

 

Ok I see what ya mean. What you are saying I can relate to my 02 p650 was very stable even with 26" tires on it . I hope they do any of the above .

 

I knew Kaw wasn't going to fare well when the Mag's started "nit-picking" the 750 to death against the Pol and Suz....even the Pra. 700 was going down.......I said it before and I'll say it again, Kaw has been the shootout winner since '02, and it was time for the other models to "shine" in the shootouts for a while, advertising dollars WILL make any mag become "politically correct" and give the others the top spot........How do you know? well go back to the 02-03 shootouts and remember when they would only down the Pra as not having the plush ride of the Pol and grizz and Rincon, and It doesn't do as good in rocks or Mud as the IRS machine's....Then they said, "But, hit that throttle and open the twin up, and all shortcomings are forgotton".......Well, if they said that about the 650 then opening the throttle on the Brute 750 DARN sure should have gotton the same, "All handling shortcomings are forgotton" comment.....But it didn't, so again, it was time for Kaw to step down for awhile......When Dirt wheels rated the pol 700 ahead of the Brute, I knew the shootouts this year would be biased, and Atv action and others will do the same......In my opinion the Pra. 700 is still the better bike than the king and the brute is also at least for me, it should at least be tied with the king........