I just noticed the two new KTM powered Polaris Outlaws are both SRA......

The 525-S and the 450 are both solid axle machines....

I guess the IRS is not catching on with the sport riders the way Polaris thought it would. My local Polaris dealer still has 5 of the Outlaw 500 old machines they can't get rid of, and they said they have only sold two of the 525 IRS.

 

Local dealer is advertising 06 500 Outlaws for $3999

 

Yeah, our dealer here has a 500 still, but they are still trying to get $4999 out of it. They have an 07 left, but don't have any 08's yet. I think I might try for that '07 when the '08 comes in if its still there.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: LotusPosition

Local dealer is advertising 06 500 Outlaws for $3999</end quote></div>

Wow!!!..... is the IRS that bad?... or just percieved as that bad and not selling as a result?

 

It seems like the Outlaw is a typical Polaris.... the guys who love them, totally LOVE them and won't ride anything again.....

The people who don't like them, are not going to switch over.......

I rode an Outlaw 500 and did not like it at all. I hate IRS for aggressive riding, my riding style does not get along with it AT ALL....

At first I figured IRS would catch on for the comfort factor, and that a lot of average riders like myself would like it. As usual I figured I'd be in the minority. But apparently not, it seems that most people I talk to that have ridden them all say the same things that I didn't like either......

I think it's probably like anything else.... if you jump on an Outlaw at 16 and start the learning curve, by the time you are 20 you'll be as uncomfortable on a SRA machine as I am on an IRS machine....

But the fact that Polaris is now offering the Outlaw with a solid axle, makes me think that they themselves realize that the IRS is not perfected to work in a sport machine chassis...... at least not in the way they dreamed it up...

 

It's funny... it doesn't seem like it would be a big deal really.

I mean it would seem the automotive world already took the lumps and made the progress milestones.
So it would seem they could get it done as far as an IRS sport quad is concerned.

To me (with no knowlege/experience w/IRS) I would have to guess they still have a body-roll/chassis-roll issue that unnerves sport riders?

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: duster

It's funny... it doesn't seem like it would be a big deal really.



I mean it would seem the automotive world already took the lumps and made the progress milestones.

So it would seem they could get it done as far as an IRS sport quad is concerned.



To me (with no knowlege/experience w/IRS) I would have to guess they still have a body-roll/chassis-roll issue that unnerves sport riders?</end quote></div>

I think the difference with cars and IRS, compared with ATVs and IRS, is HUGE....

In a car, your body is not the controlling factor. Your position and weight shifting are not directly related to how a car reacts to uneven terrain....

On an ATV, your body position and the feedback from the chassis is the controlling factor. The ATV is more an extension of your body than a car will ever be, and so the suspension is vital....

For me personally, the IRS provides a strange "floaty" feeling when pushed hard. The feedback to make corrections comes too late at high speeds for me. I always seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time on the machine. Maybe I'm too slow in my body movements or something I don't know.... I missed the predictable stability of a solid rear axle. I simply could not get used to the machine moving on all 4-axis as opposed to just 3.....

 

It's funny that manufacturer's put IRS on a machine, then have to add a sway bar to counter the body roll and get it half way back to handling like an SRA.

I have not ridden the Polaris sport quads, but I have ridden my friend's big utes with IRS and they are all nothing but huge mush boxes!

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: reconranger

It's funny that manufacturer's put IRS on a machine, then have to add a sway bar to counter the body roll and get it half way back to handling like an SRA.



I have not ridden the Polaris sport quads, but I have ridden my friend's big utes with IRS and they are all nothing but huge mush boxes!</end quote></div>

there suppose to be Mush boxes,on a Utility ATV who wants to ride over fallen logs or
rocks and actually have to feel them. Plus Ground clearance is a advantage on trails but not on Race tracks.

Irs less favorable on for serious racing,more weight and body roll and comfort is not a big deal. I,m sure there are people who would buy the 525 just for trail riding and would still want IRS on a Outlaw.

There are more 660,700 Raptors being sold & ridden for recreational reasons on trails by average people,then being sold for hard core racing I bet.

 

New Honda TRX700XX with IRS: http://www.hondanews.com/categories/3/releases/4169