I was shocked last Saturday when a friend told me the local dealership had the new Yamaha Grizzly 660 in, so I had to go see it. The bike is really nice, and has a lot of nice features. I like the fact that the bottom of the radiator is as high as the top of the front tires, and it has the differential lock. The rear brake rotor is about 1/4" thick, as are the rear brake pads..........should last a long time. What disappointed me was the track width. I had a Grizzly 600 the first year they were out, and it was a very problem prone bike. After it was 14 months old, I traded it in on a Sportsman 500. The Sportsman was a much better bike, however, it would occasionally overheat if ridden in a lot of mud. I sold it to a friend, and bought an Xplorer 400. I'm extremely happy with this bike. Anyway, back to the Grizzly 660...........The salesman at the dealership had a measuring tape handy, so we measured the track width at the rear of the machine. It measured 34". The Polaris Sportsman 500 measured 37.5". I also measured resting ground clearance at the center rear. The Sportsman 500 was a solid 14", while the new grizzly measured in at 12". I also got to test drive the 660. It was kind of impressive, but I've ridden the Sportsman 500 HO, and it didn't seem any more impressive than the Sportsman on acceleration. The other thing I noticed was that it felt tippy. Had I been very impressed, I would have traded in my Xplorer 400 that same day. This post isn't to bash the new Grizzly, but moreso for information to those interested. The other thing I noticed about my '98 Grizzly 600 and the new Grizzly 660 is that the frame already had fine lines of rust at the edges of welds, and this bike just came out of the crate. Yamaha really needs to address that issue. Anyway, this should be enough information for now. Oh yeah........Yamaha kept the pitiful air filter setup that they've been so fond of for the past several years. So, in conclusion, the faults I see (my opinion) are narrow track width, poor quality painting on frame, and bad air box design. Positive attributes are IRS, locking diff., well-designed rear brake, high-mounted radiator, large storage compartment under the seat, and aluminum rims.

 

What do you like better on the Xplorer than the Sportsman? I too like the Xplorer and I am considering purchasing one.

 

walexa, can you go to your Kawasaki dealer and test ride a 650 V-twin Prairie? I would like to know how you think it compares to the new Grizzly and the Sportsman H.O.. I hope you would give a less biased answer than I may get by asking this in the Yamaha forum.

 

walexa,
i don't understand why there would be RUST on the frame of a NEW MACHINE? is this common for Yamaha?

on my '95 magnum, that i park outside most of the time, the only rust i can find is where i've chipped or scratched the paint off on rocks and stuff over the years!
(oh yeah, the exhaust pipe is rusty to!)

Thanks!