Hey guys, it is time for me to consider making a new purchase and I need your help. I dearly love my V Force 700, but earlier in the week I did about a 100 miles worth of riding at the Hatfield McCoy trails in the mud and muck and I am just tired of wearing all the mud that comes of my tires. Yes, I am a sissy that is tired of getting a mud bath and having to wallow in it the whole day. My buddy has a Grizzly and loves it and does not get a tenth of the mud on him that I do on the V. So now I am actually considering going with a "Sport Utility", something that will be softer on my butt for long rides, but will not sacrifice the incredible performance and fun I have with my V, i.e., wheelies, powerslides, and raw torque and excelleration at the flick of a finger. And gosh I hate to give up the sweet music that comes out of those Alien pipes.......geez this is gonna be tough.

Does such a machine exist that can keep a V force 700 owner happy? The BF seems to have gotten mixed reviews in the Jan. Dirt Wheels shootout. I would like to hear what the BF owners have to say. King Quad seems to rock, but I am not how the power and torque compare the the V. Then there is the Prarie 700 which seems to still holds its own. I don't know much about the Rincon, but if it is typical of most Hondas it will sacrafices the raw power for reliability. My friend has a Grizzly, and it is very nice and plush, and has pretty good midrange power but I am just not sure it is a wheelie or powerslider. That IRS feels wierd to me with it leaning in the turns and stuff. Maybe that is something you get used to and compensate for?

I am a trail rider 90% of the time, but I like to jump with the sport quads too. What quad will do all I am asking of it?

HELP, I am sure I am not alone!!

 

prairie 700
imo
sra great for powerslides
and a great jumper
and it can wheelie
oh yeah and it is a kawi......

 

The Prairie 700 / Brute Force 650 / Twinpeaks 700 are all the same basic machines, and really these three choices are the only three that based on what you are wanting will fit the bill. IRS is a big henderence on being able to power slide and doing doughnuts. Most all the large bore utes can pull wheelies but all the IRS get kinda scary in hard high speed cornnering. I have had a grizz and a V-force, I spent several hours on my dads BF750i last summer, I think dads new KQ feels allot like a Grizz to me. Only one of them can even come close to handeling like a V-force and thats Praire chassis quads. The V-force uses allot of the Prairies components. The weight and the front suspension are really the main differences. But for that extra weight you get 4 wheel drive and lots more fender protection.


We had our 2 original P650's at the Hatfield McCoy trails 2 years ago and had a blast carving up those tight trails at very high speeds. It was just a little damp out that day and we were chasing each other through those trees power sliding around the curves, running them as hard as they would go. It was a blast!!!!

 

I have ridden both brute and prarie IMO there are not near as quick or as fun as my V. Some say they are close to the same but that is not the case they were designed for two different things. The V is snapier and handles much better. The 750 did not make up for the power compared to the V either. I must say both the bikes I rode had 26 or 27 inch tires that will slow it down some. I will just deal with the mud. If it bothers you that much just make some mud flaps some ones else did it and it looked pretty good.

 

I have to think you should ride one with stock tires before you condim the Prairie as slow or the BF750 for that matter. I had a chance to drag a few different BF750 last year. The BF750i's that had 26 and 27" tires, I was killing them. It was the other way around with ones that had stock tires. I have seen as much as a 20% drop in power from the use of large heavy tires. Some of those oversized mud tires actualy double the unsprung weight of stock. I know the V-force is faster than a prairie but when I had my v-force I didn't think it was all that noticable. I didn't even mention the BF750i because the one we have is a little faster than a P700 but it is just plain scarry in the twistys.

 

P700, by the fact that you're comming off of a V- force. You can still uncork it if ya want more power.

 

Thanks for all the info guys.

cc1999, of all those big bore quads that you have rode, was there one that has a better ride quality or are all of them about the same? Specifically do you think there is a noticable ride quality difference between the IRS models vs those without it? How is the Prarie's ride compared to the KQ and the Griz?

I just picked up a copy of Dirt Wheels today and they have a shoot out of the new Suzuki KQ and the Prairie 700. I have not read the whole article yet but the summary said that the P700 was still King.

Ckill, I have thought long and hard about mud flaps, but it would also take welding aluminum plates to the bottom of my nerfs as well as fender extentions rivited or screwed in. I wish there was some type of aftermarket accesory kit that would do this for me! Cuz I love that V! Getting as muddy as I get, it makes it impossible to go into a any business while riding for food or anything. I am usually covered head to toe, and that is my only issue.

 

If by ride quality you you mean the smothest that has still got to go to Polaris. However you get that smoothness at a price. Both sportsmans that I have owned handle like you are riding a tank. They are plush though. I have not road a Japan designed IRS yet that was not setup so stiff in order to try and gain some stability that I felt the ride was actualy more harsh compared to the likes of the Praire and other SRAs. The only SUT ATV that will have the hit of the V-twin is one with a V-twin. The SRA is really the only choice you can make if you are wanting a sporty feel. here is a test to help prove what I am talking about. Just look at the IRS quads from japan and jump up on the back racks and do the same to the front and see how much give there is when you do that an and then do the same to a prairie or twin peaks. I think you will see right away why I say they are just to stiff. IMO and that of others the Prairie chassis quads with the v-twins are still the one to beat. Between my dad and I we both go out and try new models every year, its just somthing we like to do. We are always searching for something better. He bought the BF750 and the KQ last year and I went with the Twin peaks and a Polaris 800, and the Prairie/twin peaks is still the best overall, Its the most fun by far when it comes to playing.

 

It sounds like you should go with the P700.
I have the Brute Force750 & love it but in the stock form it needs a liitle help to make it perform the way it should of when it rolled off of the showroom floor & into my hands.
The P700 is a great/fun 4wheeler in the stock form, except for the tires. I had 2 of the P650s, you won't be dissapointed in the P700 & you will still have that great VTwin engine.

 

From what kind of riding you say you like the p700 is the answer.One thing to keep in mind,we have had guys get better deals on the twin peaks. I think it's mainly people just don't know what it is and it does not get the press the Prairie does.I too ride at H/M alot and I have loved the Prairie when riding there.If a plush ride is not important then stay away from the IRS machines.I almost bought a Rincon and changed my mind at the last minute.IMO it is by far the best cornering IRS but the lack of features and power was a turn off.We have Grizzs in our group and the tippyness is a standard complaint.
Good Luck
02 650 camo