hey guys, i haven't heard much from the people that either have or have ridin the Kodiak 450... so i am tring to decide between the 2. My dealer has both sitting there, and price wise $1000 between the 2 it doesn't matter which one i take.... So i am trying to find out which is the better buy....

Kodiak:
421cc
10.8" ground clearance
Independant Rear Suspension
Diff lock, 2wd, 4wd
Basically all the features the grizzly has, but with the 421cc engine, and a machine weight of 591 LBs

Grizzly
660cc
11.8" ground clearance
All the options... not going to list them..
600 LBs for weight

I am trying to decide which will have the better ride, fuel economy for mid range speed 20-40 Mph... pulling and towing capacity seems to be rated the same...

What do you guys think?? which one? and why?

 

i would take grizzly myself

 

My 04 Grizz was only $6700 and the Kodiak was $6200.. But get the Grizz.. Bigger frame and nice.. Love mine

Rick-Wi

 

I love my Kodiak 450, and assuming most of the big bore utility quads stay the same next year, I'll own a Griz 660 too.

 

Ride will probably be about the same, fuel economy to the Kodiak easily, and towing to the Grizzly. Tow ratings are based on safety features like braking more than on engine power. Ever notice that the tow rating on a 1988 Honda 300 and a 2005 Honda Rincon are both 850 lbs? Which do you figure will be able to tow more. They are covering their back on that one.

 

I haven't heard much on the Kodi' s regarding problems, but the Grizz has had it's share. A friend of mine has one and he's got major troubles with it. Overheats, burns more oil than gas, etc ... it's probably the exception and not the rule, but still makes you wonder. He's had all his service carried out at yamaha too. They said the valves are adjusted too tight in the tolerance and that's why she's knocking and burning oil. In one trip of 400 or 500km he burned 3 litres of oil!!! My father's polaris transport 440 wouldn't burn that much!! Not to mention snapping axels and such ...

My vote goes to the Kodiak.

 

Andy,
I've owned a Rincon, and I would bet my money on the 1988 Honda 300, LOL.


MiseryMachine,
The Kodiak rides every bit as nice as the Grizzly, but handles better because of its smaller size and lower seat height. It is torquey, and has a snappy feel to it off the line, but does not have the stong mid to top end pull that a Grizzly has. We have not had our Kodiak long enough to say how reliable it will be, but our Grizzlys have been perfect with the exception of one broken front axle CV joint on my '04 camo Grizz. My Grizzly has 27" tires, and I had gotten badly wedged under an overhanging rock ledge while rock crawling in a canyon bottom. I put the Grizzly in low range, locked the front diff, and started applying throttle. When I got to wide open throttle without the wedged tire turning at all I started thinking, "dang, this Grizzly is mighty tough to be able to handle wide open throttle in low range without breaking". No sooner did I think that though, than did I hear a very loud BANG!, as the front axle CV joint let go. I figure I deserved that one, and other than that, no problems with any of the three Grizzlys we have owned. Overall though, if you were to take a thousand Kodiak 450s, and compare them to a thousand Grizzly 660s, I would bet the Kodiaks would be more reliable than the Grizzlys. People that "have to have" the biggest and baddest 4-wheeler they can find are the kind of people that break stuff. I know people that could break a sledge hammer with a pillow.

OuterLimit

 

OK FINE!!! I break one lousy sledgehammer with a pillow and you gotta get all upity??!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] I own the Grizz and am getting (probably) the Kodi for the wife. I like the way the Kodi looks like a mini-Grizz. I might even get my oldest daughter the Grizz125. Sorta like a mini-mini-Grizz. It really depends on how fast you want to go, tow, etc. etc. Basically, would a bigger bore be what you are looking for or is it just some really light trail riding, hunting smaller (Southern whitetail vs. Northern muleys) game, etc. that is the kinda stuff I would be looking at.