I want to upgrade to a big bore quad with IRS. I've had quite a few Yamaha's and 1 Prairie 650. I currently own a 01 Wolverine. I like the Grizzly but the gas boiling problem that I hear about on your site makes me nervous. I also hear that it takes a while for the 4 wheel drive to kick in. My friend has a new Sportsman 600 and it is pretty sweet. I tend to think that the Yamaha would be a better built machine. The arctic cat 650 seems nice with the Kawasaki drive train but it's the rest of the quad that I would be worried about. The Rincon is nice also but I hear its not geared low enough to turn mud tires. It also lacks a locking front diff. Please help me decide. Also, if I decide on a Grizzly and I look for a used one, is there a year I should stay away from? Any input would be appreciated!

 

I would really consider a Grizzly. I have had ZERO problems with my 03 Grizzly. The ride is great, it looks good and has good power. Right now I have 900kms on the bike and have not experienced boiling gas or sputtering. I have driven it through almost everything. I was considering a Kawa 650 but they spend too much time in the shop. This info comes from a Honda/Kawasaki dealer employee (He did although recommend buying a Honda)

 

Go for the Polaris Sportsman 600. Rated best in class in big bore sport utility by atvmag.com. My buddy has a grizz 660. In a flat out drag, he gets about 2 bike lengths ahead, but he can't touch me in tug of war and mud. Plus, the Grizz feels very top heavy and is easy to tip if your not careful. Here's the link to the shootout. Sportsman 600, Best in Class [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

I would recomend the Grizzly, front and rear disc brakes, 2, 3, and 4 wheel drive. tons of power , engine breaking can be touched by no others. Good luck in your decision.

 

I currently have a '00 sportsman 500, and looking to get a new grizzly. What are the major differences between the '03 and '04? the dealer offered to take a few hundred off the '03, does anything on the '04 make it worth spending the extra couple hundred?

 

Extra shielding and venting for heat. plus an override on the quadlock so you can give it in 4wheeldrive.

 

I would chose a Rincon. Well,they did win the Baja 1000. And for the Rincon that got 4th or 5th that is really good also. I'm also a diehard Honda fan.That could be why I like them, maybe.

 

The Polaris may be the best choice if you plan to use it mostly as a farm workhorse because of the towing advantage it has with it’s over 100 lbs of extra weight. The two things I dislike most about these Polaris models is I’ve heard that its all wheel drive feature only engages the front wheels after the rear wheels start to slip. This could become a problem on steep downhills where you’d like to have the assistance of the engine braking effect for better control. Engine braking does not help much unless you are in 4 wheel drive and since the rear wheels would not be slipping going down hill, the front diff will be disengaged so the braking affect is only applied to the back wheels. The other feature I don’t like is one lever for all brakes. There are times in technical riding situations where I want individual control of the front and rear brakes. However its good that your friend has one, perhaps you could try it out in situations that represent your typical riding style and see how it works for you.

The Grizzly is a good compromise for both farm work and trail riding. You have 2 wheel drive mode, 4 wheel limited slip mode (can be engaged while moving) and 4 wheel lock mode (must be stopped to engage). There is no noticeable delay when engaging 4 wheel limited slip mode (at the most maybe ½ of a wheel revolution). When engaging 4 wheel lock mode (you must be stopped to do this) sometimes you have to wiggle the handlebars from side to side (still stopped) to help it engage before you start moving. I have an ’02 model Grizzly that has about 2000 miles on it and the only problem it’s had so far was a sticking throttle. This was caused by a broken throttle cable sheath that was cut at the carburetor end which allowed water & mud to flow through the break in the sheath into the throttle linkage and gumming it up somewhat. I noticed that the break was present after it returned from the shop for it’s first (break-in) servicing. I took it back to the dealer and they replaced the cable free of charge. The only other time it’s been in the shop was to have a winch installed. About the gas boiling, it has been a non-issue for me. It has never happened to me during regular trail riding use. The only time I see it is when pulling a mower for hours at a time or dragging logs for extended periods of time. This type of work involves slow speeds (mostly around 3 mph while mowing) while under load. I have not implemented any of the “fixes” for this that you can find reference to on the forums (such as heat shielding, side panel venting, radiator cooling agents, etc.) simply because it has not been an issue for me. As a trail rider, it can be ridden fast but the handling is a little sloppy (body roll) and it takes getting used to. It seems to be least susceptible to over heating due to mud conditions (mud in the radiator) than either a Honda Rubicon or Prairie 650, as I’ve ridden regularly with both and I’ve never had an overheating issue while the others did. About models to avoid, I’ve heard ‘03s have had problems with axle components breaking (they had a different part source for that model year which has since been changed). I don’t know if it was for the entire model year or not.

The Arctic Cat 650 looks like a very interesting prospect. I might have gotten one of these if they were available when I got my Grizzly. Besides having that nice Kawasaki V-Twin engine it has the best (longest travel) suspension of all at 10” of travel front and rear, has the most ground clearance at 13”, has the largest gas tank at 6.5 gals, and has a nice tow hitch setup (it has a standard 2” receiver like on a truck) and comes standard with 26” tires. From what I’ve seen so far the only question I have is how does it handle at speed on the trails. I’ve heard that previous Arctic Cat models do not handle well at speed but do soak up the bumps. Anyway you might want to do more investigation on this one.

The Rincon is noted for it’s superb handling at speed (better than the others here). It also supposedly has the most comfortable ride of all (don’t know if the Arctic Cat 650 was included in those comparisons though). The only issues of concern that I’m aware of is the 3 speed transmission and lack of effective engine braking (doesn’t have the low end pulling power of the others due to the limited number of gearing ratios provided by the three speed transmission and the engine braking isn’t as efficient as the others).

I’d highly recommend test riding those models that you are seriously considering just to get a feel for the ergonomics, controls, handling and any other factors that are important to you…

 

sorry to get off the subject but can the 03 400 kodiaks go in 4Wheel when moving?

 

hey 2TV I have a AC 500 with the full IFS and i think it handles really well at high speed trail riding, the trick is getting the tire pressure right, the stock dunlops tires werent the greatest, but they now have carlisle badland radials on the 500 and under models and goodyear radials on the 650, you also got to play with your suspension adjustment

as for the other quads, i always have thought the griz was a good machine but didnt want to spend that kind of money plus i really wanted a manual shift, the hondas are always good machines, we have them at the farm I work at and beat the hell oput of em and they just keep on going, though neither of them have working brakes, not sure why. dont know bout the polaris machines, i know of 3 machines that have been nothing but nightmares for there owners, but i know of 2 of the 2 cycle models that have been great machines. and im sure the prairie is a good machine, but if i was thinking bout getting on of them i would probably just get the AC version, for the ground clearance and the fact that i have a 500 and know what they can do

well thats jsut my two since