I just read the ride review of the Prarie 650 in Dirt Wheels. It blows everything out of the water. It has awesome power, suspension, braking, and mudding capabilities. Nothing compares to it. Kawasaki really has one heck of a quad with this. Also, they have spy pics of the new Yamaha sport/utility and pics of the VOR 530 sport quad.

 

ATV MAGAZINE QUOTE:"Bottom Line: our main concern about the new prairie- and about the future of big-bore utility quads from japanese manufacturers-is its focus on weight reduction. kawasaki designed an excellent engine and a new chassis to hold it, then cut back all around to stay under the magic 275-kilogram mass. the prairie even uses thinner body plastic in an effort to save ounces. the hardware that holds on the small plastic fenders is also weight-reduction CHEAP, and does not appear strong enough to withstand the abuse dished out by NORMAL riding.and the fact that a trailer hitch must be added after the sale to keep the weight down........dadadada"
i'm quite happy to keep my quality built,'heavy', polaris sportsman.- no shortcuts, just one TOUGH MACHINE!

'01 sp500h.o. red
free 2000lb warn winch
25" outlaws on alloy rims
the rest is stock and lov'in it!

 

Mtpockets this is all I have to say: HERE HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

True...I saw one at an ATV show a month or so ago, and it had cracked plastic on the rear left fender.....very cheap looking...and it had never even been ridden before!!

 

Just wait a year or two and everyone else in the industry will have quads that will out perform and outlast the Prarie. Yamaha's new 4x4 looks mean and I'm sure Polaris will blow everyone out of the water with the new SP700. I can't wait!

 

you damn skippy. it may be high tech and it may have a big engine but you cannot cut corners on parts of an atv that have to be flexible and durable just to keep the weight down. it may work on their little rice rocket cars but an atv goes through hell day in and day out. all kawasaki did was raise the bar...and i praise them for that. they were crazy enough to come out with something so radically different first so all the other manufacturers could have something to outdo. i own an arctic cat and i wouldn't trade it for anything, but i see polaris as an innovator and i know the kawi 650 won't be on the throne for very long once the claimed sp700 hits the assembly line. i just hope polaris doesn't try to make theirs a light-weight. aluminum is a great metal but steel just has so much more going for it.

just a thought,

texascat

 

mtpocket, it is one sad day when polaris owners have to stoop to saying its way better than us, except in relibility! hahahahhaha, im mean jeeze! when are people going to admit that polaris really has some MAJOR problems with reliability?

I can almost GUARANTEE you that that kawasaki will out last your polaris any day. No matter how thin they make their bars, your plastic ones wiill always break first if you roll it.

 

mtpocket, it is one sad day when polaris owners have to stoop to saying its way better than us, except in relibility! hahahahhaha, im mean jeeze! when are people going to admit that polaris really has some MAJOR problems with reliability?

I can almost GUARANTEE you that that kawasaki will out last your polaris any day. No matter how thin they make their bars, your plastic ones wiill always break first if you roll it.

 

ATV Action has a test on it in their June issue. There's even a picture of it laying upside down after they rolled it and the rider said "Lucky for me, Kawasaki plastic and controls are tough!". I don't think it's realistic to think that as competitive as the quad market is today that ANY manufacturer is going to put 3 years of development into a quad just to have "cheap" fasteners and thin plastic fall apart and shatter their reputation. I'm not saying that pre prouduction models didn't have these flaws, but I think you can bet that most, if not all the "bugs" were worked out. just my thought.

2001 TrailBoss
2000 Mojave

 

I bet if I rolled my Polaris it would be in the shop for a month. I've already spent too many dollars and time in repairs. Maybe Polaris will listen to us and make the new SP700 tough, and lightweight. Make the Sportsman more sport oriented and keep the Mag 500 the same.