My friend has a Grizzly 700 that he uses for work around his place and although it is a good overall workhorse.

It's just about the most boring vehicle I've ever ridden.

Heavy, high off the ground, rough riding and LOUD < these are the words I'd use to describe the grizzly 700. The handle bars are awful and the design/size and placement of the handlebars, gas tank and seat make it feel like I'm riding a Harley. It's certianly no powerhouse either and the transmission sounds like it's about to bomb at any speed over 10mph.

I currently am trying to sell my KFX (which I am very unhappy with) but my other friend has a 2013 brute that is 10 times the machine that the Grizzly is. It's faster, handles better and just feels like it's properly engineered. I actually think it handles better than my KFX (I have about 2 hours of ride time on it) and it nearly as fast. If I was looking for a fun Utility quad, I'd probably either look at the brute or a Can Am.

Now I am a sport quad rider so I may be a little bit biased when it comes to this topic but based on my experiences with each atv < brute was very sporty for such a big 4x4 quad while the grizzly was not.

 

Sorry, but your description sounds extremely biased. I'm not going to sit here and tell the OP that for his wants, the Grizzly blows away the rest of the competition. There are things the competition does better than the Grizzly, but your description borderlines complete BS.

My take away from your description is one of...your friend has a very poorly maintained and setup Grizzly or you have an agenda against the Yamaha Grizzly.

 

There could very well be a problem that I was unknowning of but the grizzly itself is taken care of fairly good from what I see. I'm not there to change the oil or adjust the valves with him so I can't speak on how long It goes between services but the Grizzly is mostly used to plow his driveway and walking paths in the wintertime and to pull a trailer full of logs and other stuff around his place. It sees trails only a handful of times a year.

We (my riding buds and I) are a group of guys who love speed, hill climbs, roosting corners, small jumps and just all around aggressive riding. Just about everyone of use has a seriously modified sport quad but every once in a while, the guys who also own "working quads" will leave the sporty's at home and take the "fat boys" out on the trail with us.

when I was "atv-less", I had the chance to take both the grizzly and bruteforce on back to back trail rides of about 60-70 miles and the grizzly was just not my cup of tea for the reasons I already mentioned. In comparison to my other friends brute, there would be no way I'd choose the grizz.

I promise > no conspiracy theories, smear campaigns or bogus testimonials here. I just saw that someone was referencing 2 Utility atvs that I ACTUALLY had a fair amount of time to compare so I figured I'd chime in. Sorry if I diminished your machine.

 

Let me just say this, I am a bit biased toward Grizzlys myself but the Brute has it beat slightly in power. The new 708cc most likely closes this gap a bit and the numbers indicate that its close but a v-twin of comparable size will always be snappier than a single of the same size. The Outlander 650 makes 62 hp vs 48 for the Grizzly 700 and about 50 for the Brute Force 750. That's a pretty sizable difference. Reliabily of all 3 machines is pretty close. So If the OP wants the most powerful quad for the money, Outlander 650 is the way to go. I believe handling on the Can-Am is probably better than the Brute Force as well. The only disadvantage to most Can-Ams is price but since the 2016's are out, now is the time to get a 2015 model and get a deal before they're all gone. You might even be able to get a 2015 Outlander 800 for the same price as a 2016 Grizzly for instance and it has 20+hp more than either the Grizzly or Brute Force, it has 71 hp I believe. Basically the Grizzly and Brute are 65 mph quads with the Brute being a little quicker. The Outlander 650 is a 70 mph quad and the Outlander 800 is a 75-80 mph quad in the top speed department.

 

I wouldn't get too hung up on HP numbers. It's only one third the equation of what you actually feel in the seat of your pants. The other thirds are clutching and weight. Sure, the Cannies have big HP numbers, but they also are very heavy compared to the Brute or the Grizz. That robs a bit of their dazzle they could have if they shed a couple hundred pounds.
Clutching is a biggie. Some atv's are set up to hit low, some mid, some high. The Brute is clutched perfectly in my opinion. It hits low and pulls like crazy. That combined with a lighter weight give them the edge off the line often times. I have not ridden any of the smaller Cannies, but the 650, 800, and even the 1000 seem to hit just a tad higher than the Brute, but then the huge HP numbers pull it and keep pulling it to a higher top speed over time. The Grizz to me seems to hit lower than a KQ, but still won't pull anywhere near as hard as a Brute.
ANother thing to note is the HP numbers themselves are "ballpark" and I don't think they should be viewed as the determining factor of real world results. For instance, my Prairie 700 is rated to be nearly the same HP as the 700 Grizz. But in stock form, my 700 killed my buddies Grizz off the line, and top speed. And when we get in the big rocks, I can pull up over them at barely more than an idle whereas he has to give it half or more throttle to get over the same rock.
Also, there is a pretty big difference in HP ratings from Can Am between the 650 and the 800. Yet, on the trails, from zero to 40, the 650 hardly felt like it gave up anything to the 800. Top speed was also closer than I thought it would be. Perhaps it takes a better tire and better ground for traction to actually attain the difference the numbers say there should be? In other words, half worn out Bighorns on gravel roads won't give the traction the 800 or 1000 Outties need to show their power advantage.
But I will say this, the Outtie 1000 hooked up on a hard surface is downright amazing..

 

Generally the lower hp machines like the Grizzly need stronger clutching to make up for the lack of hp compared to the v-twin competition. The new 2016 Grizzly 708cc claims more aggressive clutching than the old 686cc Grizzly. The Can-Ams are a bit heavier, even the 450L is heavier than a Grizzly 700. Still lighter than Polaris and Arctic Cat. But an extra 100 lbs or so only eats up a few hp, if you have 15-20hp or even a bigger difference, the extra weight won't affect acceleration. It will affect braking somewhat and make the machine a little harder to muscle around but power steering makes this extra weight much easier to handle than if they don't have it. Its not like any of them are light. 650 lbs or 750 lbs, they're still heavy beasts. The Outlander 1000 most likely weighs even more than that as does a Sportsman 1000. But when you have 80+hp, 800 lbs doesn't even phase it. The problem is quads like Hondas that weigh in the 650 lb range with less than half that much power. The weight is only a problem if the quad is underpowered.

 

if $ was no object, and I wanted a fast 4 wheel drive that is at the top of the heap, or close to it in every class, I`d look at the 750 king quad. I bought a new 700 k.q. in 06, after riding a grizzley and a brute force, the k.q. had them both beat on asphalt in handling (dealers parking lot), it shifted better, turned better. was smoother feeling. wish I had kept it, but all my friends at that time quit riding. sold it to a fellow city employee, he beats the krap out of it, and has never had any trouble w/ it, not even a belt. I tried to buy it back from him and he wouldn`t sell it. a 750 would probly be even better. --jmo.

 

The BF 750 and 700 Grizzly are the same weight. 2016 Kawasaki Brute ForceŽ 750 4x4i EPS White ATVs Name a light weight big bore Utility 4x4 ATV? There is ho such thing.

Don't. worry about speed the fun trails do not allow any ATV to go over 20 mph. If you can hit 50mph your on a road a truck can go down not a ATV trail.

I only unload the ATV from the truck because the truck can not go any further. If I wanted to go down a logging road at 50 mph I would just stay in the truck.

Here is a ATV trail, good luck hitting that at 50mph.



I do not consider any place where you can run into a car or truck a ATV trail.

 

I think he would the 750 to be a bit underpowered. It basically has the same power as the Grizzly. To me the Grizzly is the best 4x4 utility except that it doesn't have as much power as the twin cylinder machines. I think the other guy that keeps bashing the Grizzly simply hates 4x4 quads in general. They're all similar, big, heavy, slightly cumbersome in handling if compared to smaller and lighter sport quads. Its kinda like finding the best handling 4x4 truck. None of them are great but some are better than others and all have great power. But if you compare a Chevy Silverado to a Corvette, yeah its not going to handle as well. But a 4x4 truck will go places a sports car can't dream of going and haul and tow things as well. And they are quite comfortable to drive now. A sport quad can never be used to get any work done, just like a sports car, they are a toy only. A utility quad can be used to work and still has a lot of play in it. Around here, you see very few sport quads. Dealers carry very few new ones because nobody buys them. They don't hold their value like utility quads do so they're a much better buy when you get them used. Why buy a new $7000 sport quad when you can buy that same quad used for a fraction of the price? In 5 years it has lost half its value but is still in great shape.

 

In the first pic, I can see being able to take that trail at a decent pace if you're not in a 20 quad convoy as is shown in the pic. You can only go as fast as the slowest quad in the group and thats usually a slow Honda Recon or some youth quads with inexperienced riders so the whole group must go slow. We have oil field lease roads nearby similar to the 2nd pic but they're all dirt or gravel and are not nearly as nice. On the weekends, there are nobody on them. There are a few trails that these roads connect. Granted not the best place to ride but they're less than 10 miles from where I live. Technically they're private roads but they don't care if you ride on them as long as you stay on the roads and trails. Unfortunately I saw a lot of trash and beer cans alongside yesterday as I was riding there. That kind of thing will change their mind about giving free access. There is a lot of expensive equipment sitting around too so as long as people keep hands off all will be good as well. Get a few idiots who steal or try to break stuff and fences will be put up to keep people out.