Polcat: If you tell us more about the sp700, will you have to kill us?

 

I have to chuckle a bit at all of the Kawa "hipe". I have no reason at this point to praise or condem the 650 because all I have seen are a few pics and write ups. Is the 650 going to be a Sport/Utility or a Utility/Sport ( my own seperate catagories, I think everyone will understand that ). As a potential buyer what are you looking for, a trail machine only that will not be used for work or a work machine that will see very little trail time. I think when anyone labels anything as the "new king" especially without actually getting to touch it first is a bit of a reach. In my opinion the Scrambler is the best sport/utility available but that is my own opinion and not meant to take anything away from a Sportsman or a Rubicon or Grizzly or whatever. I can do everything I want to do with my Scrambler. I have no need to plow snow or haul heavy loads and if I did I probably would have chosen another ATV. Lets wait and see what Kawas new 650 is and does and then determine its value as a sport/utility or utility/sport.

 

Scram500, your attitude is way to practical for this thread

We saw months of hype and bickering prior to the Ruby’s release too, and it was just as ridiculous as those who want to “crown a new king” here. Sure, as die-hard ATVers we’re all interested in innovations that the manufactures might offer, but to suggest one machine is going to seriously diminish the popularity of another before it even hits the streets (trails) is a bit premature don’t you think?

As has been said, anytime a manufacturer offers new features THAT SELL it wakes up the others to follow suit or out-do the competition. As consumers we benefit from this process. But Kawasaki hasn’t sold a single one of these machines yet. Of course they will, but right now consumer “response” is as unknown as this machine’s trail characteristics.

On paper it has some interesting attributes. The new power plant, of course, is the first to catch everyone’s attention. How will it perform through the power band? I’d like to know. And the locking – unlocking front diff system? I’m curious. The internal oil-bathed rear brake disk sounds like a great idea. How well will it work? I’d like to know about all these things but I’m not going to stand in line to buy one just to be the first to find out. That’s just me.

Some of us are on either side of the weight issue (as in every other issue). Personally I’m not real enthusiastic about aluminum as I ride in some rocky areas. A-arms (lower control arms) suffer some abuse here. The “hit” factor has to be taken into account. The new 650 (633) has a decent power to weight ratio but at what expense? No hitch? Reduced rack capacity? More fragile in rocks? I’m asking because I don’t know. And we won’t know until it’s actually available and test ridden. And then the information in the rags we read will have serious credibility “gaps.”

I will say, in my opinion, that has to be one of the ugliest quads I’ve ever seen. Maybe it looks better in green, I’ve never been partial to red quads. And who names these things for Kaw? The “Prairie”! Wow, the mere mention of its name makes me want to…………yawn.

This may be a machine that changes our world, and it may be a machine that sees only limited production. When I’m not riding I like to talk about riding so it’s fun to speculate on what its different features may be like. But any suggestion that this machine’s popularity will have the engineers at other manufacturers franticly burning the midnight oil to keep their jobs is very premature.