In my opinion my sportsman 600 is way too heavy. Once you get into the weight of Polaris ATV's, I feel the weight acts destructively on the machine....The only real advantage of the extra bulk I found is plowing snow. Other than that, i don't like lugging around and extra 150 lbs. As for the Grizzly I feel it is too light. Several factors have been compromised. I hope the new 800 weighs about 640-660 pounds. In my opinion, good heavy duty stock bumpers, better tires and wheels, thicker plastic, heavier duty floorboards, and maybe a bigger battery would be in order. I think a sacrifice of 40- 60 lbs would greatly enhance the overall durablility. I draw these conclusions since my cousin has the grizzly and I have ridden both. Please offer your opinion on my thoughts.

 

Just a couple thoughts. Run your Grizz (or KQ, BF, etc, for that matter) over some feed scales. You will find that they weigh quite a bit more than 600, even allowing for fluid weight. If you get the opportuntiy, weigh your bike, just for fun.

There are a lot of pros and cons on the weight issue. As you mentioned, weight can be an advantage in certain pure utility applications. Polaris diehards will insist that their bikes are better, heavier built (although I have seen several cracked frames on Sportsmans).

FOR MY OWN OPINION, weight is the enemy. Every extra pound means less performance. For every pound of extra weight, compensations need to be made as concerns beefier suspension, higher braking power, bigger motors, and so on. It becomes like a snowball rolling down hill, gathering weight as it goes. Each individual system is a function of another, when one aspect is overweight, the others have to be made heavier to compensate. Ask a sport quad rider whether they would rather have a light quad, or a heavier quad with a bigger motor. In most instances (with the possible exception of pure drag racing) the lighter bike will do most thing better.

As a longtime afficionado of performance sports cars, give me something simpler and lighter in weight.

The atv market is pretty diverse, so you can find whatever suits you own personal tastes.

 

Lotus, I know what your talking about the cracked frames...already experienced that one! As for weighing my quad I was just talking about dry weight. Although it would be interesting to scale it up with everything on it.