So Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki and Can-Am (sort of) all have sport quads in the 700cc range. And Arctic Cat has a 950 ute. How far off is a true 1000cc quad? Imagine a Raptor 1000!? Or a huge utility machine with a true 1000... how likely is it that this will happen in the near future? It can't be that much longer...can it?

 

I think at that point, its a little overkill lol. I would love to see a true 1000cc quad though. Im sure we will see them in the next 2 years.

 

I think I like the direction Yamaha is headed, Take the Grizz 700 they tried to build the quad around the motor instead of a motor around the quad [can am] what they seem to have come up w/ is complete pkg. Yes it might not be great in one paticular area but it shure doesn't fail at anything. Point beeing I'd rather see technology in quads that beeing handling [yfz450/Raptor] EfI [Raptor/Grizz] weight [Raptor 250] all which will make all quads faster than just shoving a bigger engine into a existing quad. Heck it will need to come sooner than later as by the sounds of it most states have a cap on what class a certain size cc motors can be in!

 

i dont think we will see like a raptor 1000 ever. or atleast for a long time. people who want to go super fast can build there 700 to the tranny limit (about 100hp). also i think it whould hurt the handling of the quad because of the weight.

 

And as long as the 1000 high out put as well. I bet the 450r Honda can hold its own against there new 700xx. its not just about displacement.

 

your right about that ^^^^^^^^^^^^^.

just like they can hold there own with the raptor untill you start to get into the engine. then the 450s have a real hard time keeping up.

 

I don't see this as much a pure displacement issue, as a total size/weight/horespower package issue:

Power/weight ratio of what really counts. I really like the trend in sport quads to do more with less! Like the 450's, which are all around 350 pounds and go faster than any sane person would ever want to go.....and now the new Raptor 250 which is an ultra lightweight.

From day one starting with the Honda 300, I always felt that the utilities were way way to heavy. Of course if you are going to put 4wd on a machine it is going to require extra metal, but at least the Japaneese manufacturers have kept the weight in the 600 pound range. I was sure disapointed to find that my Rancher 420 got heavier (instead of lighter), compared to my (fairly light for a ute) Rancher 350.

The North American manfacturers seem to think the sky is the limit!!! They keep building bigger heavier "feature laden" machines, and of course you are going to have to bump up the displacement just to haul that huge pig around!

The worst accidents I have seen have been utility rollovers!!! There is a notion out there that "speed kills", but that isn't what I am seeing out on the trail. It isn't the testosterone crazed teenagers on sport quads who are fit and have good reflexes that are getting hurt, it is rather the mom and pop senior citizens on the monster utes! I am hoping for a backlash in utility design, and a move to make these machines lighter and safer.

If it isn't heavy, you don't need huge displacement to haul it around!

 

Amen Recon Ranger I agree 100%

 

This brings up a GREAT point. If you aren't that experienced ride to your ability! I have been hit twice on trail rides. Once by an 11 year old kid on Honda 450 ute and once by a 90lb girl riding a Polaris 800! Wtf are these people doing riding in the front of a riding group on quads way to big and powerful for them? Its all about fun, but when I got started, it was on a 250cc and I was always in the middle of the group.

 

I just feel like all the manufacturers are trying to out do each other. Now that Honda has a 700, Yamaha may look to the be first to the 1000cc club