So what do we have hear about 4 or 5 cry baby's that HATE POLARIS SO MUCH THEY SPEND ALL THEIR TIME READING THE POLARIS FORUM.Some claim to have all this offroad experience yet manage to ride thier quads into a deep mud hole with out checking if it is passable(common sense would tell me to check out the path before proceeding).You know your the best when ever people go out of their way to criticise and find fault.Long live the new KING.

 

3tv, obviously we both have experience in the fiel of off-roading. So with that much experience, you'd agree with me that in that, what seems to be a freeking big mud hole, that even a 600lbs machine would have took "10guys" ? If not, than I don't know what to say.

You may fine 4X4s boring, I find them useful and playfull. Around here a sports quad has a though time finding trails fit for them, on a 4X4 you ca ride a hole week without riding the same trail once.. I'd rather have a still very enjoyable comfortable and useful quad than an awsome sports quad(which I would still no mind having to satisfy my need for speed)and ride the same trails over and over again. Whatever trips your trigger, I guess.

 

I agree that the 700 is heavy on my short test drive, it did not feel heavy and was a ride plusher than the kawi. Would like the extra ground clearance & more aggressive tires but then the point was made that the higher clearance gets you stuck better, but it also may give you the extra clearance to not get stuck in the first place. Had my 98 explorer (approx 600#) STUCK,MIRED,etc..(felt like 1000# machine then) in that nice black swamp muck this weekend to the point that it was resting on the undercarrige as the wheels spun mud as it filled back in. Finally after a few hours went and bought a 2000# come-along and pulled right out (the way I went in). I believe no matter what one gets a winch would be most helpful. The Kawi does sound nicer & was snappier but clearance is down 2" which actually looks like more, don't know if that is measures from bottom of rear differential. Grizz seems to not like water, and is down a bit on power/speed from the other 2 possibly from it being a single cylinder.

98 polaris explorer
01 ya-me dlx 700
94 ya-me virago 1100

 

If you add tire and rim weight and thicker plastic polaris is really in the same ball park as the others. Just tires and rims alone weight 70-100 pounds more because they are 4ply and steel. I pick the kawi650 because around here it was almost 2k cheaper than sp700. Its all up to what you like and what you are willing to pay.

 

Rowdy, good point. Many people ignore that issue. I'm not arguing that the sp700 is really a light quad, and the tires and rims make it heavy......rather my point is that many people are going to add heavier tires to their "light" quads and make them heavier........and still think that they have a 600 lb quad.

I think people should just buy what suits them......for many people, especially people who work their quads, the extra 140 lbs will be an asset......however, people that attempt the most challenging terrain may opt for a lighter bike.......it's all a matter of preference.

 

3TV
If weight is such a big issue to you then why did you buy the 01 Bombardier DS 650 anyone who know sports quads knows that this is the heaviest sport quad out of the true sport quads. I have a friend that has the DS 650 and he complains about the weight ever time we load are 4 wheelers to go to the sand dunes that is the heaviest one to move along with my SC. My friends also ride Raptor, Banshee, and 400 EX. When I ride with them I use my SC 400 4X4 which in 99 weight 490 pounds and the DS 650 is 460 pounds. I am not a true sport quad fan not having 4 wheel drive to me sucks.
I just think its interesting that Sport quad arena everyone else is a 100 pounds lighter or close to it then the DS 650 and yet you complain about the same amount of weight on utility quads where it does not matter has much.
I have ridden all the above quads many times and yes you can fill the weight difference between the Raptor and DS 650 or any of the other sport quads.

 

I rode all three of them. The sp700 is a big tank .Its hard to steer and takes along time to get up to speed. And to many grease fittings. polaris didn't change much from the 500sp. The 660 runs all right. But can't do deep water. The 650 runs like a 4wd 400ex . I rode it and traded the 500ho in. I'm happy with it run like a champ. Ive had a couple polaris and wouldn't buy them any more[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img]

Hard to steer??? I tried the 700 and it is not that hard to steer even on asphalt with the bigger tires.

If you think it takes to long to get up to speed it's because you have not tried it yet.I tried one a little bit and it only took a couple of seconds and it was doing 45 mph.This thing is really strong.It depends on the person but i don't mind taking a half hour to grease some fittings ever 3-4 rides.You should check again because it has changed alot from the sp 500.

 

Here are a couple things to consider when deciding which ATV to buy.

The Grizzly sometimes stumbles when water hits the hot engine parts and creates steam. The air intake is in the path of the steam, causing the engine to run rough. Yamaha is hopefully coming up with a fix for this.

The 650 Prairie has a problem where the rear cylinder runs rich due to a choke cable sticking. Kawasaki has sent bulletins to their dealers about this and is supplying kits to fix the problem.

A couple of the ATV mags have already reviewed the Polaris 700. Check out the reviews to help you make up your mind.

Mark

 

Well,
The Prairie has awesome brakes, no IRS (boooh oooh)...and a Twin
The Grizzly feels nimble, has IRS...an almost sporty machine
The SP700 is a beast. Heavy...but it has IRS and a twin.

If I could have a Sportsman with Kawi brakes and Grizzly weight, that`s be awesome.

 

If you are going to play, then you better be ready to pay.
(1) When going out to mud, you have to have a winch, long tow straps that can stretch, true 4 wheel drive, clothing that matches the mission, a lets have fun aattitude, and several friends similary equiped.
This is a recipe for fun.

If you are better at writeing long stretched out boreing stores that boil down to ME ME ME and MINE MINE MINE, go for it. 3TV does.

Personally I prefer to ride then run my mouth.

I try to get into these forums, but when its just battling personalities screeming IM THE LOUDEST SO MY OPINION MUST BE RIGHT
dribble, I just laugh out loud and go for a ride.