I'm just not all that comfortable on a big top heavy utility ATV with low pressure flotation tires and soft suspension and a solid rear differential section flying down a trail, gravel road or pavement at top speed. The handling, well, it's just not a confidence inspiring. Come on. Compared to vehicles designed for such activities the things ride like pregnant whales.

I find that I rarely find myself hitting 40 mph on my ATV. That is on the gravel go to and from certain parts of my farm. On the trails around my farm I don't think I hit 10 very often. It's just too tight and curvy through the woods to go very fast. Most of the times a very fast runner could go as fast or faster than I'm going. Heck many times someone could nearly walk faster.

I don't really care about top speed. I care about usable power. I care about handling. I care about comfortable ride. I care about durability. I care about build quality. I care about manufacturer support after the sale.

 

The handling, well, it's just not a confidence inspiring. Come on. Compared to vehicles designed for such activities the things ride like pregnant whales.

>>>>>>>>>>>>&g t;>>>>>>>>>>>> >>

I seem to be able to keep up with most on the trails. The only area of trouble would be sharp high speed corners.

 

lol. i think that most utes have come far enough. that they dont handle like pregnant whales.. both mine have done well. the 03 used to be quite the hare scramble machine. till i put on the 28 zillas. and we go a bit faster then 10 mph thru our trail system. unless its the very tight rocky technical stuff. my yfz 450 is the railing machine. but the big utes can do the job. not a sport quad by no means. but u can go fast enough to make ur hair stand up at times.. just dont let one get away from u.. he he

 

Just the thought of tearing up that beautifully comfortable seat makes me cringe. This is not a race quad. I think you need to give yourself a little time to adjust to the best seat of all time. You may regret modifying the seat. And I have modified the seat on darn near everything I have ever owned, but just not this one.

 

I suppose that comparing either the Griz or the King to a good sport quad at speed may seem like riding a pregnant whale. However, there is major difference between various sport utilities. While test riding the Polaris 500 EFI, I did think that this feels just like riding a boat. Then on the King Quad it felt much more like a sport quad.

 

You're right, you can't tell when you are in four wheel drive with the new Grizzly, based on steering anyway. We rode last weekend, and there was two feet of fresh snow at our house when we loaded up in the morning, so I put the Grizzly 700 in 4x4 to get it up on the trailer, and my son used the speed is my friend technique to get the YFZ 450 on the trailer. We went riding someplace 50 miles south, and 3000 feet lower elevation than where we live, and there was no snow at all. I unloaded the Grizzly and didn't even think about the fact that I had put it in four wheel drive earlier that morning. I ended up riding for 15 miles before I figured out it was in four wheel drive. And the only reason I discovered it was in four wheel drive was because my son on the YFZ started challenging me in the turns, and I noticed that I could not do the drift king routine in the turns with the Grizzly like I normally can. The Grizzly just wanted to hook up and go around the turn instead of letting the rear end drift out. I looked at the dash display and noticed it was in four wheel drive, but would have never noticed it based on steering effort. As soon as I dissengaged four wheel drive it was back to full throttle power slides again. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

The Grizzly is no sport quad, but it does real good for a utility ATV (better than any other I have ridden).

DV

 

yep thats why they call them sport utilitys. ive got my new 26" swamp lites and 7 series itp,s coming too. im staying with a smaller tire. i dont want to turn this one into godzilla, like my 03. i got one to bog. and one to trail ride. and the 450 just to flat out rail. i feel now i have the best of all worlds. work my butt off for them. but i like all my toys.. now that im single. its quite nice. the difference between men and boyz are the price of there toyzzzzzzzz[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] and the seat has still got to go. i ride very agressive thru the woods. and some of my friends are the same way. my old grizz's seat was just fine. and still is. the new grizz does have a very plush seat. but i dont really care about a softest seat. i like to ride. and ride hard alot. so i rather set a bit lower on it. may be a ute. but they still handle well for what they are. there not just made to putt along. although, its nice sometimes to do that. but i like to keep the old throttle on. man i wish it would snow here. even though i hate winter. id like to go hit the road. and do some snow rideing. but as of now. i just luvvvvvvvv my new grizzo.. and i cant wait to go bogggg my old grizzo some more[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

oh by the way. i did see in dirt wheels that the new grizzo won the shootout. was a toss up between the rincon, grizzly, and sportsman?? eeekkk. at the end. i thought they would say the honda. but all seemed to round it out. and picked the grizz. and i also read another article. where the honda rincon won a shootout. so guess its just who is rideing them. and who is judgeing them. but ill stick with my grizzo.. yamaha has been very good to me. since i was the age of 7. but i still like the king quad too..

 

I have no complaints about the new Grizz seat either, but then again I was used to a Brute Force 750 (if you think the new Grizz sits high, you should try a Brute Force!). I ride quite agressively at times myself and actually I find myself standing more than sitting down anyway (after over 20 years of dirt bike riding standing feels more natural plus you have better control of the machine and a better sight distance when rapidly traversing terrain). I can be just cruising along with my riding buddies right behind me, but then when I stand up I actually speed up without realizing it sometimes and the next thing I know I'm riding by myself...

 

And If you think a BF sits high, you should try a new Arctic Cat!![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Speaking about how high these utility quads are, ... Yamaha actually kept the Grizzly 700 reasonably low, considering how much ground clearance it has. We have had my Dad's Brute Force 650i parked right alongside my Grizzly 700 on the trailer, and it surprised me that the front rack of his Brute Force 650i with 25" tires was actually an inch higher than the front rack of my Grizzly 700 with 27" tires. And his 25" tires had 3 psi in them, whereas my 27" tires had 6 psi in them. And I believe the Brute Force 750i is a bit higher than the 650i.

V2Rider,
any chance you can measure the distance to the top of the front rack on your Arctic Cat? My Grizzly 700 measures 38 1/2"

DV