You can’t disagree that IRS might be of some advantage in certain situations but I can’t disagree more that it is a must have on an ATV. I’ve logged over 15hrs now on my Kaw 650 and it rides extremely nice and it jumps better than any other atv I’ve ever ridden (excluding the true sport bikes) and I’ve rode most all of the popular models, we are now up to 17 ATV’s owned by family members that are kept at our farm. All of these machines are available for my use if I would happen to want to take them for a ride. If you ride the way I do the IRS scares me because of all the extra moving parts and weight, I’ve owned two Polaris’s and I will not buy another one until they loose 90-100lbs of weight. I don’t care what they put under them if it weighs 700 –800 lbs. I don’t want it. One final thought on IRS if it’s the best way to go why is it NEVER in the winner circle at any type of MX or cross country/hair scramble race. In fact I think most serious competitors gave up riding any of the Polaris models because they don’t make it to the end of the race without mechanical failure. Now in defense of Polaris I have owned two of them and recently sold my 400 4x4 Scrambler and I had a ball riding it. The problem was the way I ride for every 10 hours of riding I had to work on it for two hours to prepare it for the next ride. Even my dealer admits Polaris still has a problem with reliability for hard core riding like we do. Who knows may be this new Kaw 650 will have all the same problems I had with my Scrambler but, I have 15 flawless hours on it now and when I first bought my Scrambler it had been in the dealer 7 times by the time it had 15 hours on it. I finally wrote a letter to Polaris and told them of my problems and they in turn contacted my dealer and told him what to look for and it was finally fixed. Polaris soon after that posted a tech update to all their dealers reporting the problem, but this ruined the first two weekends I owned the bike.

 

In my post, I said "For a machine that sees mostly trails and uneven terrain, IRS is the way to go. On the other hand, if you prefer to ride fast and hard, or even jumps and the like, stay away from the IRS machines."

I will say it again, if you are a casual trail rider, then IRS has many advantages. If you ride hard and fast, then stay away from it. When I say hard and fast, I think "MX or cross country/hair scramble race" would be included.

Of course this is MY opinion only.

 

<< ...I will say it again, if you are a casual trail rider, then IRS has many advantages. If you ride hard and fast, then stay away from it. When I say hard and fast, I think &quot;MX or cross country/hair scramble race&quot; would be included. Of course this is MY opinion only. >>



I know what you are talking about Lurch. My riding pals own Magnums, Sportsman 500s, Kodiaks and various other straight axled models from Polaris and other manufacturers.

When we are on the fast curving logging roads the straight axled machines are the undisputed champions of dirt tracking, sliding and drifting around corners.

When we are on the uneven backwoods trails the Sportsman 500 is the king and the Magnums and Kodiaks are not far behind. But if the pace on these bumpy trails quickens, there is no way for a Kodiak or Magnum or a 650 V-Twin to comfortably keep up with a Sportsman 500.

On rutted out trails, the Magnums and Kodiaks (650s)will be dragging their differentials in the mud while the IRS Sportsman will sometimes go through without dragging any suspension or drive parts.

Rider style is so varied as you know it is unbelievable. The conditions under which some neophyte riders consider driving their quads on the edge and really haulin' a-- is nothing to some veteran riders on more capable machines. Not long ago I witnessed one newbie on an Arctic Cat (could have been any quad) throwing his body weight around and hanging it out on the sides while cornering. In his mind he was driving as fast as humanly possible. He didn't realize that he had 15 riders behind him that couldn't wait to pass him and leave him in the dust. (which they did at the next rest stop)

What some riders consider great is only considered acceptable or adequate by others, and vice versa.

What a great sport [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

I agree with both your comments ( Lurch77 &amp; Thor) I don't mean to come off sounding like the way I do it is the best, but it is the best for me. I feel this renewed innovation by the manufacturers is awesome and it gives us all something to talk about. My biggest problem is I grew up riding a tricked out 350X Honda three wheeler that would pull the front wheel up at 60+mph. I look back at that now and think I must have been crazy to ride like that. I still keep longing for that perfect machine that mixes sport and utility riding. What I really need to do is just buy a second machine like a 400ex or 660 raptor but my wife don't think that's such a good idea.
I will say that I do now have a new most favorite bike ever owned my Prairie 650(unless it starts to fail mechanically) and my Polaris Scrambler is now 2nd followed by the old faithful 350x.
As you say &quot; What a great sport&quot;
BE Safe, all

 

<< IRS is over rated, and it starts losing alot of its advantages,when the machine is loaded down. Other manufacturers have stayed away from it for several reasons. First,Irs makes the machine heavier,Irs is higher maintenance and more prone to break down and last Irs doesn't provide that much real world performance,if it did it would have been used in jeeps and other off road vehicles as standard equipment already,but it isn't >>



99griz,

If IRS is so over rated, then why does the 2002 model Grizzly have it? Or is it just a selling point?

 

99griz in 1946 this thing called the ****** jeep they put IRS on it also the 2001 ford explorer has can you belive IRS, the Hummer has you guessed it IRS I think I'm alittle afraid aren't you.

 

&quot;IRS has kept the sportsman unbeaten for years&quot; Blah Blah Blah. That's funny in the one issue (like september) of ATV Action I have the Rubicon won the shoot out. There for it must be better! Right?[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img] The magazines never lie!