Your statement that the 650 is ****-poor smacks of ignorance, your ignorance. I'm won't argue that some wheelers aren't better than others in certain situations, some are. But you painted a picture of anyone attempting to climb something with a Prairie is in big trouble, and that is simply not true. I've climbed a lot of stuff without incident, including rocks. The task falls squarely on the shoulders of the person riding to know what he or she can do. As for people getting hurt on wheelers, I find that most are injured just putting around in their yard of riding down the street. Safety is always of paramount importance when we ride here. We've been in groups of 20 to 30 wheelers without anyone ever being seriously injured. A few small things, but we're for the most part pretty safe. I try things that I know I shouldn't and wouldn't recommend someone else to try, but I know that if a problem arises I'll let the quad go. Plastic is a lot cheaper than a spinal-cord.

 

>Your statement that the 650 is ****-poor smacks of ignorance, your ignorance.

dude....i have clearly stated that this applies to rock climbing. you are suggesting that the 650 is a good rock crawler?

> But you painted a picture of anyone attempting to climb something with a Prairie is in big trouble

no.....i didnt say anything about climbing something. i said climbing/crawling rocks, especially rocks on inclines. its not quite the same as running over a downed sapling on a hill.


> I've climbed a lot of stuff without incident, including rocks.

slick rock at tellico? little sluice at the rubicon? any rocks as large and larger than your atv tires that sit loosely on even a 60 degree incline? just what _do_ you call "rocks"?

>The task falls squarely on the shoulders of the person riding to know what he or she can do.

dude......a better driver makes a big difference but that only goes so far when you are riding out of the capabilities of the machine.

> As for people getting hurt on wheelers, I find that most are injured just putting around in their yard of riding down the street.

true, but freak accidents arent comparable to putting yourself in a position that you know is dangerous, and doing it with inferior equipment on purpose.

if youd like to debate this with logic and reason im up to it......i might even learn something new. but if its just another im right, youre wrong, id rather not bother.

 

No we don't have anything around here like the Sledgehammer, Tellico or anything of that nature The lesser known hills around here have some interesting names, however. Motorcycle Hill, numerous fatalities here, I haven't tried that one. They call it Motorcycle Hill because someone supposedly once made it up on one. I don't see how, a couple of hundrd feet with some areas near vertical. Another famous hill, or I should say infamous , is Dead Honda Hill. Yep, you guessed it. A Honda lost it here. We also have some severely steep railway trestles with the big white rocks,about three or four feet dia., piled up to the top. I've done this one, but if given a chance I'd have went back down after I got about halfway up. It was TOO technical. The last hill that the boys and I have tried is more of a washed out red mountain called Brain-Smasher or Skull-Crusher depending on who you talk to. It doesn't have any boulders or such in it. It is just a hard climb, get a little out of shape on it and you're gone. I 've attempted this on the old Quadzilla, as the only way to successfully negotiate this one is to bring a lot of momentum with you from the steep downhill just before it. Incidentally, I didn't make that one. I won't try it again, either. A friend of mine had a Tri-Z in almost perfect condition. He isn't one to back down from a challenge, so he tried it. Oh, it wasn't pretty. He nailed it perfect but spun out half-way up(This is where the hard part begins). I didn't know there were that many pieces to a Yamaha. Anyway he wasn't hurt, but his bike was junk. Before you bring up a safety issue, know that I warned him against trying. He just wasn't gonna listen.
You are correct in your assumption that I primarily ride in mud and sand and creek beds but there are some difficult hill climbs to be had, if you want them.

 

The sway bar looks real easy to take off. Just 4 bolts holding the brackets that attaches it, and 4 more to get the little tie rod things off. I'm going to try it someday, but I don't know when. If I get in the mood, I might do it later in the week. I'm pretty curious to see what it will do. Who knows, the suspension might just squat up into the fenders and I'll have to put it back on.