Yea that would be interesting to see. I'm sure the power would drop off some, but I don't have a clue how much.

 

I finally got to actually ride the Sportsman 500/600/700 on actuall trail. I have a friend that is a mechanic at the local polaris dealership. He took me and ther 04 demos out for a ride last night. I am sold, so far. I first got on the 700. The power on it was great. Fast top end. It handled like i expected it to. The ride was the most comfortable ride i have felt on a bike ever. I took the 600 and 500 on the same terrain. I climbed several different hill from medium grade to steep. Each bike had enought power to go just about anywhere. I took them across some mud, over rocks and trees, etc. I really took it to them.

I found a dealer that has a man-built testing track behind the sales shop. It was amazing, it looked like something out of the Tough Truck competition. It has mud, it had some small hills, it had rocks, and other obsticles. I rode the the Grizz there. I first took it on the street to see how it performed. The tire hooked up great, awesome power. I felt a little uneasy when it game to turning at high speeds. I then attacked the track. The took a run through with out the diff lock and then a run through with the diff lock. WOW!!! One thing I loved was the diff-lock. It was like a tank and nothing could stop it. Way to go Yamaha.... (sorry, getting excited.) the 660 didnt have the ride like he Sportsman, it felt to hard, not enought suspension. I like the instruments though.

My final analysis:
I am going to get the Sportsman 600 Twin, possibly the 700 Twin. I would like the 03 model (because of the chrome wheels and rack extenders) but the 04 will do. The 700 was a little slow off the start, but the top end cant be beat. The 500 was great, i would like a little bit more towing and torque in a bike. the 600 was a great all round bike. I didnt feel very comfortable on the 660 Grizz. I wish i could have the locking diff in the Sportsman, but i am not worried about it.

The friend who took me said that each bike hasnt had any major problems. Since we are at 3500 feet above sea level, they started re-jetting and re-clutching them before they leave the show room. They were getting alot of the bikes back, people complaining the throttle response wasnt that great when ridding in the mountains. He reccommended the 500, he seems to think this bike is bullet-proof. I must agree with him. But the big factor for me, was the power and i want a big fourwheeler that will last several years without having to upgrade.

I am not a big fan of the whole weight thing, like some people are. Regardless of what situation you are in (stuck in the mud, rolled over, etc) any bike is going to be heavier that sh*t!!!! I really dont think 60-100 pounds is going to matter that much. Just my .02..

So now i have to find a dealer who has the best deal and will treat me like i am expecting. Now adays that is hard to find.

Well happy trails to you all. I will post here again and let you know what Sportsman i ended up with. Ride safe and responsibly and see yall later

Mark

 

I realize you have more than enough info to make your decision, but in case you are unfamiliar with how polaris 4wd works, it too is "locked" when engaged. The grizzlie's system works much like a 4wd truck with lockers in both differentials in that it has 2wd, 4wd (limited slip), and the ability to lock the front differential so that all 4 wheels pull with the same amount of power to them. The polaris system works a little differently. You still have 2wd, but the 4wd is more like an "all-wheel drive" in that the fronts wheels do not get power to the ground until the rear wheels "out-run" the front ones. The front-end is geared higher than the rear-end and that is where the advertised 20% rear wheelspin is needed to engage the front wheels. When the rear wheels outrun the front ones, they are mechanically engaged and locked by a mechanism that works much like a ratchet. Once the rear wheels stop spinning, the awd is gone (even if for a few seconds). With this system, you will always have the ease of steering of 2wd and when you need (for most instances) the 4wd, it kicks in and all 4 wheels are pulling equally (back wheels actually turning faster b/c of higher gear). For 90% of the riding I do, this systems works best for me; however, there is that other 10% that I wished the polaris system had at least part of the features that the grizz system has. As mentioned with the polaris, rear wheel spin is needed to get pulling power to front wheels and to keep it there. It is very rocky where I ride and sometimes on the off-camber, rocky areas where I really need to ease over some rough spots, I would like for the front end to actually be able to "pull" the quad with the ease of the throttle instead of having the rear wheels push it first, but that cannot be done b/c of the way the system works. Sometimes, it would be nice to have a 4wd system that actually helps prevent rear wheel spin, rather than have one that must have it to operate. The other thing that I would like from the grizz is 4wheel engine braking ability. The way the polaris system works, it cannot provide engine braking to the front wheels. I know that some people use the back it up in 4wd and keep the hubs locked to get it, but that has not been a reliable method in my experience on the 500 b/c sometimes one hub would stay locked and one would not. It may be a little more reliable on 600/700 b/c there is only one "hub" to lock. Anyway, that is probably much more info than you need, but I just thought that I would add it to your list of things to consider b/c I had no idea how it worked when I bought my first polaris in 01. I just knew that it had "true 4wd" and the others didn't at that time. I have an 01 HO that I put over 3,000 miles on and ended up buying an 03 700 back in Dec. I considered the grizz, but the 700 is better suited for 90% of situations that I get into.

 

pest44,

thanks for one of the best unbiased posts I've seen in a while.
Yes, the polaris will not fit the bill 100 percent of the time and
it does only have 2wd braking, but as u said, it fits my driving
most of the time..Being able to lock in the 4wd with all pulling
regardless of what's slipping is an advantage but something I wouldn't
need to use very often as I find the polaris system the best
all around plus it doesn't give the huge increase in steering
when 4wd is engaged like the jap bikes...but, whenever I would
need the locked diff to get me out of a jam, only once would
make me wish I had it..it would be great if polaris could
offer both .. that would be killer...

Thanks again for an excellent post.

 

Then there is the weight difference in the rider too. All in all, you'll have fun on either ATV.

 

I try to be as objective as possible when someone asks for this type of info. I sure know that's what I'd want when making a decision such as this. When I bought my first one two years ago, I had no idea that forums such as this even existed. They are an extremely valuable source of information. I have the polaris service manuals for both the 500 & 700, but I have learned more useful info from these boards than anywhere else regarding the quads. Usually if I have a question or problem, someone else has too. I ride with many people who ride every make of atv and they are all good machines (especially the newer ones). I ride with at least 3 people w/ grizzlies and I have seen them perform flawlessly. The same for all the other brands. Unless someone just gets hold of a lemon, most of the "failures" that I have witnessed are usually due to abuse or neglect in some way or another. Someone who contantly rides their belt driven atv in high range during conditions that clearly demand low range really shouldn't complain or degrade the quad when the belt or clutch becomes prematurely shot. There are so many great atv's available to satisfy many different riders. The perfect quad (for me anyway) doesn't exist yet. Of course, the perfect anything that we want probably doesn't exist, but you just do your homework and pick the one that is best suited to your needs and wants and I think you should be happy. Different strokes for different flolks as they say.

 

Yes, it is easy to just get on here and say My quad is the best because blah blah blah and your quad sucks. Doesnt help anyone though. My buddy that has the grizz has a pretty big problem with his quad but he didnt respect the break in period so this is why I didnt mention it before. Had he taken care of the quad it probably would run great. Only 30 hours on it and hes just about beat it in the ground already. I havent heard of any problems with others I ride with that have them.