I am wondering if the grizzly is worth the extra money or is the kodiak a better buy? what are some of the problems with both of these quads?

 

I was wondering the same thing. I decided to go with the Griz because I have a farm and wanted the extra power for pulling a small disc. I'm also going to put a front end bucket on it.
I didn't ride the Kodiak, but I can tell you that riding the Griz is more comfortable than driving my wifes new Ford Ranger. If you get into the rough stuff, there are so many options for getting out. The locking front differential with the RPM override is awsome. If I didn't have as much heavy work for it, I would have gone with the Kodiak 450. It has all the same features except for the independant rear suspension. 67 is the top speed on my Griz, but I am still on the break-in settings.
I think either way you will be happy.

 

For $400-500 difference I would get the Grizzly. For $1000 difference I would get the kodiak. Grizzly is a fast quad if you want that to go along with it, and also has the IRS which I wanted for a long time. Other than that, the 450 Kodiak is a good bike and still has the differential lock which in my mind puts the Grizzly out in front of any other choice that doesn't have it. I personally think Yamaha dropped a bomb on Honda and the rest (polaris not included) by putting the diff lock feature on a quad in this class. Thats enough to sway me from a Vinson or Rubicon if I'm in the market for that size quad.

 

GTO - This was the same decision I had to make in the last few weeks. I ultimately decided on the Kodiak because:

a - The Kodiak is less expensive.
b - It has the same 4wd system
c - I don't think I need the power of a 660 (and I'm 6-4, 225#)
d - It sounds like a redesign of the Griz may be in the near future, why buy a model that'll be outdated this Fall?

So far I have no complaints about the Kodiak - I hauls me around the trails, across the creeks and through the mud with ease. Whatever your decision, I hope you're as happy with what you buy as I am with mine. Good Luck.

 

Yamaha will only have the outlander to compete with if it introduces IRS on the kodiak 450. Then it would be a lot harder to find out if the outlander is really the top of its class. I feel the 450 needs to bump up the displacement to an actual 450 or just call it a 425.