Thanks for the advice. I am not brand loyal " I can't change the way I ride, just what I ride"
Of all quads that I have ridden, Yammie just interests me. I have much respect for Kawi dirtbikes but thats another show. Anyway, Guess the best thing to do is go to the dealer and force them to let me ride them. This from a guy riding a 1982 Husqvarna hee hee Don,t care for I.R.S. it don,t matter about a plush ride. I just don't trust dealers and wanted to hear from people who spent their own money to ride these machines thanks guys.

 

I have a Grizzly (since July of 2001) and a Brute Force (for several months now), and on a tight, rough, twisty woods trail I think if I wanted to get between point A and point B as fast as possible with either of these machines at my disposal I’d go with my Grizzly, which is nearly 4” wider than stock with ITP C-Series wheels and Dirt Devil tires (larger than stock) that spin easily which allow for easy power sliding, over the Brute Force (which is stock except for a Dynatek ignition and Gator tires on stock wheels, about 3” narrower than my Grizzly).

However if the trail is even just a little bit more open or if you take away one or more of the 3 trail adjectives that I mentioned (tight, rough or twisty) or add some jumpable erosion barriers or long steep hills, I could take the Brute Force through faster. The Brute is definitely not as cushy as the Grizzly (you said comfort was not a high priority) but because of the performance difference I think you’d like the Brute better. The Brute has more power than the Grizzly and it is a difference you can feel. It also has stiffer suspension than the Grizzly.

If the IRS is not important then you should consider the Prairie 700 / Suzuki Twin Peaks for maximum performance (not quite as strong as the Brute) and high speed handling capabilities (better than the Brute).

If you ride in an area that involves a lot of elevation change (in thousands of feet), then check out the single cylinder King Quad too (because of the EFI advantage)...

 

Id still take the Prairie 700 / Suzuki Twin Peaks for maximum performance It won just about every Big bore shotout last year. Now thats in Stock form, if you really want to make it come alive, go to NYROC's for some free performace tips. And dont ask me, just look at who wins all the utility stock class of the GNCC race's

 

I think that I would regretfully have to agree with the many mosts that recommend the Prarie for the type of riding you are describing. I am true to my Grizz and will not knock it's performance and all around stats however, If you looking for something that has great responce in the corners with out roll, you are likely not going to find it in an IRS system. Myself, I like the ability to ride all day and not have my body aching from bouncing around on the machine.

 

I ride with my front suspension on the third from the highset setting and I have ITP c-series wheels and dirt devil tires. The ITPs widen the front and back by about 3 inches. The tires have stiffer side walls, so they aren't as squishy. I run the rear at the next to stiffest setting to eliminate squating due to its awesome bottom end. It will wheelie from a standstill without effort in high gear. My friend commented that he didn't think that the bottom end was that great, so I let 2 psi (I run 5 psi) out of the rear tires and he almost flipped it backwards. It used to close the front suspension a little on hard, quick turns on the trails, but it doesn't anymore, now that I am running this setup. If I am fast trail riding I air up the fronts to 6 psi to help keep the front stiff.
It will corner with a little attention to detail, and it will still out perform almost anything on steep hills and in the mud. I highly recommend it for very aggresive trail riding. I can keep up with my friend raptor on most trail situations, but their is a big difference in the amount of stopping time. Quick responsive cornering is a must.

 

Were you coming from? I have done 360's in gravel and not felt uncomfortabale on my '04 Grizz, stock all the way, Trail road in the Black Hills in South Dakota in two wheel drive up + 45 deg slopes with a rider on back.. Gone flat out on a paved hyway at 60.. You buy a machine for the what you want it to do.. You will , ( like a wife) never have every thing perfect.. But if you know your limitations, and the machines limitations.. YOU CAN GO ANY WHERE.

 

Hey man, this is the kind of stuff I'm looking for! See I wasn't able to fiddle with the suspension or tire psi on my buddies kodiak, but did ask him why he ran them at 4 psi when you could feel the f$$kers fold over on tight turns. I am not asking for the perfect quad, just for the tuning possablities of the Grizzly. I've heard alot of good about the Grizzly and thats what has my interest. Yammie makes good stuff. I ride in the Blueridge Mountains of Virginia and most of it is tight woods trails. if you have a straight, it's only a couple hundred feet before a corner and plenty of trees. The fastest way around a corner is to brake hard and then once you get the ***-end drifting, get on the throttle. With a sloppy front end you get under-steer and kiss a tree. We have mud to but fast-paced trails is more fun for me.
If I get stuck oh well, I know a dude with a polaris 1-ton, I mean 700 [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] with anough of a winch to be a skidder. It's good to know that you can tighten up the front-end. I am looking at January for buying one. We have a Yammie/Kawi dealer in town and a Honda/Suzuki. Anyway, it's not that I can't deal with the body-roll, I just like the front to stiffer. The way I see it is this. I am 6' 2" and 240lbs. and when I sit on my inside heel and the back of my outside knee is on the seat, (and get on the gas) she ought to slide on around the corner. This didn't happen with the 450. It would dive like a bastard. The front suspension looks to be the same on a 660 as a 450. And the 450 has a S.R.A. Soooooo... It's good to know that you can fix this without a pro bankroll. Thanks for the help guys.

 

I have a Griz with c-series wheels and 27" 589's. I run with the shocks on the highest setting and 6psi and I like the way the Griz handles aggressive riding. It feels very predictable and feels good at wide open throttle. Stock wheels and tires and the next to the lowest setting feels very different, I did not like it. I only weigh 180lbs and the shocks work great for me. I think they might be a little soft with 60lbs more. You might have to get some stiffer ones.

 

Just remember that you will still have the massive ground clearance of the IRS with the ability to corner. I really love to come into a corner and power slide the rear right around and then launch out of the corner. The stock tires suck bad. The side walls are way too soft. When I am riding really aggressive, I push my self back and forth accros the seat with my knees. I use a huge amount of body english. If I am on a off camber that is really hairy, I stand up on the foot rest to lower the center of gravity, and I still lean more pressure on the uphill side. I think that you will really like it.

 

I bought the 05 Grizz and it's still running stocker tires, so this is of interest to me also.

did you all loose much "felt" power going to the 27" ITP 589's ? I'm thinking I need to get some big nasty tires [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] I'll still ride the KTM 380 mxc for going fast and I still have the Blaster for dinking around on. The Grizz is good stock form and I hang with my friends, one drives a Banshee and one drives the Raptor and I can hang with them until they really reeeaaly juce it up, but then we going so damm fast it's scary and they'll back out of it heheheh im aggressive as hell and if I was on a Rappy hmmmmmm I need one of those too [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]