Battlegun,

From a fellow OIF Vet - Thanks and keep up the great work over there! I was up in Bayji (Summerall) about 30 miles north of Tikrit from Nov 04-Nov 05.

I rode a sportmans 400 over there to get around the FOB... it was an ok machine... when I got home I wound up wanting a Grizzly 660, but my nephew sold his quad and got a dirtbike... so since I was a dirtbike guy from the past.. I bought another dirtbike.. after a year on that and hard to find decent places to go.. I sold it and started to research quads... I settled on a Yamaha Grizzy 450. I love it.. it has the best 4x4 setup out there! I am 5'11 / 210 and it suits me just fine... is it fast NOPE.. but I bought it for its size and manuvaribility. Oh and it fits in the bed of my '06 F150 and I can close the tailgate!

Stay Safe over there! Come home soon!! Tell the Boys (your fellow soldiers) I said Hello!


Oh yea.. the only beatings that should be happening is you Beating the SNOT out of the Haji's over there!

SFC UZI
"To Conquer is to Live!"
Field Artillery All the Way
King of Battle!

 

Hey SFC Uzi, great to hear from you! I can't tell you how much the hoj is is under my skin...I can't understand their way of thinking no matter how hard I try! Believe me I try to understand them and I feel bad for the Iraqi's caught in the middle of this SOBin "war". I don't care what the government or press says. This is war.

As a Junior NCO over here, it is hard. It is hard to keep the troops motivated. Well, if we were going to discuss this it should be in a private message. It isn't for everyone.

But back to reason for the post. I invite you to join the conversation brewing in the polaris section. I posted another topic in there titled "Polaris Sportsman 500 H.O. vs Yamaha Grizzly 450". There is some bashing going on in there and there isn't a y fan there to defend the name. Right now there is an AC fan who has given me some excellent feed back on the AC product. As you know, NCO's aren't rich so I have to be very careful with my investments. Come on over, seems as if that's where the "fire fight" is.

Oh yeah, I forgot. We have UTV's here. GATORS and Rangers mostly. There are a couple of Yamaha Rhinos floating around. Dang those things look tough. Thanks for the post either way and thanks for doing what you do and have done. From one NCO to the other.

SGT Battle Out

 

I have had the best luck with Arctic Cat so i stick with them. Steer clear of Polaris if you are going to use the wheeler for 4WD applications. Arctic Cat and Yamaha the driver chooses when the wheeler is fully locked or in limited slip 4WD, where as on te Polaris the rear tires have to slip enough before the front will lock in, so you have to lose before you gain, plus the machine chooses when you should have 4WD not the driver. Also the most you will EVER get out of a Honda is 3WD because a 4th tire never locks in. Arctic Cat has the most ground clearance, the most rack capacity and versatility. They also can pull more than any in these classes. Out of personal experience i have ridden the 08 Grizzly / power steering and EFI, still like my 06 Arctic Cat 650 better. My inlaws get brand new Polaris Sportsman EFI 500s every year, they will never hold a candle to any other 4wheeler. And my uncle and friend are both loyal Honda fans with Rubicons and Rincons and Arctic Cat still always comes out on top when we ride. In the mud, on the hard pack, over the obstacles, hauling the load, whatever you need the 400 or 500 Arctic Cat can do it and then some. Good luck on your pick, need anymore knowledge let me know.

 

BTW the Arctic Cat and Yamaha feature a mechanical 4WD and Diff Lock so YOU are in control, thats the most important thing to remember, that you and not the machine is in control.

Also Arctic Cat is made here in the great state of MN in out own country. yes i know polaris also is but i dont even consider them a formidable competitor.

 

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

BTW the Arctic Cat and Yamaha feature a mechanical 4WD and Diff Lock so YOU are in control, thats the most important thing to remember, that you and not the machine is in control.



Also Arctic Cat is made here in the great state of MN in out own country. yes i know polaris also is but i dont even consider them a formidable competitor.</end quote></div>

Actually it is an electro-mechanical setup.... there is a small motor that engages the front drive shaft as well as the front locker...

I know Suzuki uses the same 4WD setup as AC and Yami as well.. I think Kawasaki has it too.. not 100% sure..

But you are right.. Polaris's AWD is lacking for sure... I love being able to select my 4WD with my '07 Grizzly 450... Just like with my buddies 4x4 pickup truck.. ARB's front and back! When he flips that switch it locked the diffs! no limited slip Bullsh!t True 4x4 baby!

 

the Kawasaki does have full lock but you have to hold this lever in the entire time and if you let off of it the diff lock shuts off. Definately wouldnt buy a Kawi until they improve on that. Also the cable could loosen and not even engage its similair to a bike brake lever. Junk.

 

Interesting to know about that 4WD vs AWD. That is a REAL turn off for Polaris. And btw, I checked out both acpower's and crzysteves pictures. Great looking machines and I will admit that I'm impressed with how well the griz stood up to the roll over. I know it had to suck, but hey, it handled the blow well...right?

And another question. acpower mentioned built in the USA. Isn't Yamaha built down south somewhere? I know they are owned by Japan or China or somewhere like that, but think I read somewhere that they manufacture them in like GA or something?

I always buy USA when given half a chance.

 

i know that yamaha UTVs are built in GA but i believe that the ATVs are built overseas somewhere. i have also rolled my 4wheeler several times and as you can see there is no noticable damage, and actually no damage whatsoever. dont quote me though. i have saw 2 arctic cat videos that are supposed to be true. on one they pick the 4wheeler up with a crane, wreck a building with it, drop it and a guy drives off on it. another a stunt man drives it off a cliff and bails onto a big blow up safety thing and the 4wheeler hits the ground and tumbles and then someone gets on it and drives it off. mine took one hell of a beating when i rolled it and nothing happened to it and it runs like the day i bought it so i know they are built tough. good luck in your decision and either Yamaha or Arctic Cat will do you good.

 

btw if you want to see the damage of my rollover let me know and i can post it. just one side of my rack is about 1/4 inch lower than the other and a crack in the plastic in a corner of the footwell that is not noticable at all but is where the force of the blow caused a small crack. 1/4-1/2" maybe. no biggy.

 

Well my Grizzly rolled about 3-4 times down a 50 degree slope.. probably too steep to be trying to climb but whatever... I did try.. and didn't make it.. hahaha.. Thank god for insurance! Mechanically the quad is fine there wasn't anything like that damaged.. it was all racks/fenders that took the damage.

Yamaha is a Japenese company...