Stopped by my dealer today and he let me spy the fact sheet complete with picture on the new 700. That does it for me. The quad will come out in Sept. and is identical to the photo that the Tenn. dealer had on their website. Another tip that this is for real, my dealer has all 500HO's on sale for $6400. That must mean they are clearing some room for the new 700's.

Now the question I have is this. If the only difference between the HO and 700 is displacement, is it worth it to buy the larger quad? I have been keeping an eye on these larger quads since the Kawai was confirmed. The Griz caught me off guard. So now my choices are three, but I'm not convinced that maybe the 500 HO is still the best bang for the buck. I really could care less about bragging rights on the block. Which one is going to get me through the trails? With the best options, standard equipment, and performance? I'll have to wait until the 700 arrives, but right now I'm leaning towards the 500HO.

 

OK, I'm finally going to discuss this subject. I spoke personnally with our rep today and asked the question what about the 500. I stated like snowmobiling who will build the first 1000cc and cause the government to step in and say that's enough. His reply was we will probably never see it for one reason, it isn't practical. He went on to say the big cc quads are basically novelty items because the 500's and 600's are the most practical and as far as utility work I have to agree. My HO has towing traction problems now because it has almost too much power. When I tow something I have to be careful because it breaks free too easy. So they do not plan on dropping the 500 at all. The reason you see the super low price on the 500's is they have rebates going on to bring the price down so it is not so close to the 700 when it hits showrooms. Not to lie I want a 700 myself but then again cc's aren't everything. To prove my point what would you rather ride a DS 650, Raptor 660, OR TRX250R?

By the way I would choose the 250R.