Thanks for the info. I found a dealer in Tenn. who sells the polaris sport 500 for $5700. out the door which is
$650. cheaper than i have been able to locate in Va. I have only tested used griz and the dealer wanted $5300 for the 2002 model and $4900 for a 2003 kodiak. I guess the question is are the used yams at a decent price and if not should i check out a dealer who sells new yams.
I think the griz and polaris handle comparable with the kodiak seeming to not have the top heavy feeling in turns. All atvs were driven on hardtop only, so i realize that isn't much of a test as to true handling capabilities.

 

If you are thinking of getting a kodiac I would look at an 05. They came out with IRS

 

go with the grizz...i never have liked any polaris except for the pred.

 

Ridinghard says that yamaha dont have true four wheel drive. That might me true when u dont have the differential lock on. But when u turn the diff lock on then u will have true four wheel drive. If i get stuck with the diff lock on in four wheel drive then all of the tires are spinning although i rarely ever get stuck. I would go with the yamaha.

 

Actually, even though quads dont have diff you can switch the power from the right weel to the left by playing with the front break lever on the handlebar, just play with it like apply the break while the throttle and it sends the power back and forth through the weels, not sure on hondas or anything other brands but thats what my Yami dealer told me when i was thinkn bout a kodiak 400

 

All you have to do is push a button to lock the differential. It is electric actuated.

 

Even on the limited slip models, you will have that 4wheel traction as long as all the tires are on the ground. Thats why the big bear in the post about 7 or 8 spots up didn't spin 3. The limited slip problem is when you get one front tire off the ground or in a position where it can spin freely. At that point, the oposing grounded tire will just sit there. This mainly happens in a spot where one front gets off the ground and the rears break traction and spin out. There is no power to the other front tire to regain any momentum.

The Grizzly and Kodiak have locking differentials as stated above. They won't have that problem and are every bit as good as the Polaris system, with the advantage of 4wd downhill and in reverse. Maybe the polaris can have 4wd in reverse if you push in the override button, I can't remember. But downhill on a polaris, you have to do some back up override and then quickly start descending to trick it into 4wd. There is no other way to do it. The machines with full lock capability are better than the 4wd demand system polaris offers. Polaris used to have the edge here, but everyone else finally came around starting with the Prairie 650 back in late 2000. Before that, the only other answer was a King Quad 300.