I just gave my son my '03 Kawasaki 650 Prairie. It was a great machine, real quick, tons of torque, but a rough rider. I've made the threshold decision to buy a Polaris Sportsman 700 or 600. After reading all the posts for the past couple of months, it seems to me that the 600 is the better of the two choices. I like the 700 because you can buy it in Mossy Oak color. The 600 is not offered in that configuration. A number of 700 owners on this forum have complained about various mechanical and over-heating problems. I have not heard about these types of problems from 600 owners. I'm really in a quandry? Should I buy the 600 or 700? The cost difference of $300 is of no concern. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

i just bought the 600 today, [blue] i test drove both the 600 @ 700 and felt no difference in power for what little time i rode them, after owning a 03 sportsmam 400 -awsome atv, the power of the 600 is no comparising,i only have 1 problem, im leaving for the beach with the famaily thursday and dont have time to ride!i did try to get out of it!!. POLARIS THE ONLY WAY OUT!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I test drove them both the other day and believe it or not, I felt a huge difference in power. I had no idea that 84 CC would make that much of a difference.

 

I prefer the 600. Both are great machines but the 600 seems quicker to me.

 

I own a 600 and i tried a 700 and their isnt any diiference in power, but the 700 is supposed to be 2-3 mph faster

 

I bought the 700 so I could get the Mossy Oak, other than that I could not tell much difference between the two. The 600 might be a little better on gas than the 700. Both are great machines. I have had no problems with mine, 500+ miles.

 

Most of the problems you hear about were with the earlier 02 models. Polaris applied the fixes to both the 600 and 700. They are both basically the same machine with one having just a tad larger engine. I also believe they are geared a little different also.
I have heard people complain about the 700 tranny "clunking" more than the 600. Though it doesn't hurt anything, its normal. My 03 600 will "clunk" occasionally in high, but you can hardly hear it. It is almost unnoticable.
The only reason I would want a 700 over a 600 would be the Mossy Oak. But for the price difference I went with a green 600.

 

The 600 is even a little quicker untill you get close the top end, as Darkhorse mentioned it was the 02' 700's that had problems, by the 03' model year they worked most of those out.
It seems most people agree the 600 is a better value than the 700, so Polaris has "downgraded" the 04' 600's by removing the racks and chrome rims. The 04.5's have a better instrument cluster, but crappy tire's.
Either quad would be a grweat choice, you have to ask yourself one question - DO I WANT ANYONE TO SEE ME WHILE I'M RIDING? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Made my decision today. I ordered a new 2004 1/2 Sportsman 600. Polaris has a promotion that offers a Warn 2500# winch for $49.00. I live fairly close to the Polaris plant and unfortunately, I was told that the 600's will be manufactured sometime after Labor Day. This means that it could be the end of September before I receive the new machine. I'm certain it will be worth the wait. Thanks to all of you who responded.

 

The last review I read on the 700 said it was a great machine but the 600 was the better quad since it was basically the same as the 700 but not quite as stressed by power, weight and possible abuse as the 700.

Good luck on your purchase and have fun......sucks you have to wait on it....