Hi guys;
went riding today with a few buddies,2 wolverines,hon350,suzuki quad 500,kawi 300... what a blast!!! No mud riding today,just mostly trails.Went to our local sand and gravel pit and met up with more bikes...a young fellow on a polaris 500ho. came immediately over to me and wanted to drag.Of course i being a very immature 32 years of age had to show this teenager who was boss!!! We lined off and raced in 2wd first, it was a short run maybe 500ft.( i won by about a couple lengths,i spun alot at the start) He wanted to go again in 4wd... we went further, 1000ft approx. this time i smoked him!!! Along came another guy with a suzuki z400, I wanted to try him so we lined up....he beat me by about 4 or so lengths...about the same as a banshee did to me at the same place. It's a fast bike, and i would say he could possibly beat the banshee on this terrain...it would be too close to call. It(z400) is a beautifull bike, it simply looks awsome in person. Anyhow we all had a great time went through a few water crossings and mostly blasted through the woods roads....can't wait to go again...


ROB.

 

The most amazing part of that story is that Suzuki is getting this out of a 400 4-stroke. It can hang with quads with a lot more going. The EX is in need of some help right now I think. You know that the Kawasaki clone is going to be just as good as the Z400 too. Honda is about to have the slowest flagship sport quad on the market.


I still say yamaha needs to upgrade the warrior to a 426 though.

 

Hey Andy;
You are right about the 400ex...not enough power these days. The warior with a 426 would be interesting indeed! A guy in our local pit has the Yami426 dirtbike and it is crazy fast! A kx250 wasn't as fast! I've been reading about the Kawi650 v-twin being dropped in a sport frame! that would be incredible! I think it will happen eventualy(not soon enough) I might add as well, regarding my race with the POL.500ho and SUZ z400 i easily outweighed each rider by about 100lbs. The POL 500ho never stood a chance regardless of bodyweight. The kid on the z400 beat me fair and square but the difference probably would'nt have been as much if he was heavier...( i still think he would have beat me though) The statement i made about thez400 giving a banshee a good run for it in a drag was regarding the two riders i ran against, the guy on the banshee was closer to my bodyweight ( he beat me by about the same as the z400 ) Part of me want's a racer, i can't deny that... but in reality it's just not practical for 95% of my riding ( but in the pit it would be a blast!) The Prairie650 (KVF in CAN.) is not a pure sport quad but it's not made to be. It is very quick and a blast to ride and I will dust the sport quads offroad,mud,snow,rocks,bog,water etc. so there is a trade off for lightning reflexes and speed. I will do some airbox mods as well as pipe and jet my bike eventually so I can beat some of the racers in a drag. Some of you probably wonder why someone who has a sport-ute talks about speed and drag racing...well ride a KAWI650 and you will see why. The 650 my friends, is a very versatile quad and having owned one for about 6 weeks now I can't see myself owning anything else!

PS; my rear tires are quickly fading... my own fault though. Alot of wheelspin will do that...but powersliding around corners at 70kms.per hour is is too much fun!!!

ROB

 

The 650 and 660 and other super size 4x4's seem to fill that void for a guy wanting both a sport bike and a brute it seems. I've always kind of wanted a Banshee, but never would ride it enough to warrant paying for it. With the Grizzly, I can still get some pretty good speed and acceleration, but also with a quad that I can take into some nasty places. The 650 beating a 400ex is the one that I love the most though. It really is a sad sight for honda. I wonder if the Rincon will eventually be their fastest quad, including their sport quads. If so, its a pretty bad sign for their sport division, and it just goes to show that Honda needs to make something new.