This is a post i'm going to enjoy.
2000 Green Grizz with 1800km's. The top end i have had it too is 100-102kms. You can get 100 easy but it is scary. The performance will kill other 4*4 quads i know i have never been beaten by any, the new Polaris HO i hear will keep up with me now but i haven't seen one yet. As for reliable it is great no problems yet except for a minor light bulb problem. The tranny does vibrate a bit but that is all the 99-2001 have heat shields and you don't feel any heat.
I went through a trail yesterday flying and hit a few jumps and it landed perfectly and is not tippy either. It rides decent, 7.5 inches travel is nice.
In the mud it performs well with all that massive power it has, i've never ridden such a powerful machine yet. The Auto tranny is really responsive and in LOW the torque is wild and you get really moven in the mud holes. I pulled out a 500 AC yesterday because he could not get enough speed and power before he reved out. And the Grizz has a 2*4 option. Oh ya and the best thing is it is reliable and has low maintenance.
Like they said in ATV Magazine. ITS A MAN'S MACHINE. Get the OCT. that is the one.
Hope this helps.

Like a rock BABY.

 

You are correct. Mine was a 98 and I am sure there have been some improvements made; however, I ride with people that have 2000 model Grizzlys and they are having the same results. Not all run hot but all have leaky drums. My light did come on, and did so even when riding in the mountains(No Mud). You are also correct in stating that I had a lift with over sized tires. A stock grizzly that crosses one river a week probably will not give you any problems. The people I ride with ride a little different from alot of you on the forum. We may get into mud 2 feet deep and be in it for a couple hundreds yards or cross a pond 3 feet deep that is over a hundred yards across. AND do this over and over looking for the really bad stuff. If you ride like this, unless there was a drastic change from 2000 to 2001, you will have problems. Your rear differential will also leak and before long, your starter cylinoid(SP) will start to act up. I did repack my bearings in the front but the unsealed stock bearings required too much maintenance. That is why I went to the sealed bearings (At $9 compared to $25 Yamaha)

Also to the guy that talked about the Grzzly jumping, do yourself a favor and never get on a SP500. That is what did me in and before long I sold it and bought a SP500. Their trail manners are unbeleivable, and jump better that any full size utility I have ever been on.

Something else I forgot to point out. After one weekend of hard riding on the Grizzly even when the hot light remained off, the oil turned black from the temperature. The SP500 oil looks new after 3 months of hard riding.

Also the steering components on the Grizz are much better quality. The paint on the Grizzly is terrible though. The SP500 frame is powder coated and is much more durable.

One more thing and I will quit. The Grizz switches on the handle bars are sealed better. I had my grizz 6 months and never had to work on these. I have had the SP500 4 months and had to clean the switches this week. The start switch stuck one time so I took it apart, cleaned and greased it.

Greg

 

The Sportsman and the Grizz should not be compared to one another in my opionion.The Sportsman is far superiour in most catagories except top speed,and now,the new HO Sportsman will take care of that.

Instead,it would be a better comparison between the Xplorer 400cc and the Grizz,and I allready know the outcome of that,
Bill

 

yam8...

Maybe we should have a friendly shoot-out between my Xplorer400 and your Grizzly one of these days? Just a good day of riding and having a blast while having fun competitions in speed, mud, whatever else there is!

I know for a fact that Bill would love to see the results!

Brian

 

Greg,
Thanx for the honest answer to my questions, I appreciate that. I was almost ready to accuse you of being one of those people who were blindly loyal to the quad that they ride! But I wasn't ready to call you ignorant. Would it be safe to assume that the area that you ride in is flat land, or near farmland? Most of the area that I ride in is mountanous. Lots of real steep hills, some of them are fairly long also. Lots of ruts! Both water made and full size 4x4 made. Plus the old skidder trail down the side of the hill that goes way off camber, while you are trying to avoid the low rut that will flip you for sure if you fall in! Thats one of the reasons why I would never lift my Griz! That high center of gravity would be a death sentence for the kind of riding that I do. There ain't nothing like a 200 yard mud run! Or any ponds that are only 3 feet deep while being 100 yds long! The only time I have ever seen anything like that has been when I've gone back to Minnesota to visit my relatives. That low laying flat land will make some hellacious mud pits! Everytime I go back there I see that sh*t and wish I had my quad, or truck. Although to be honest my truck would do better. Its locked up at both ends.
I have a question for you Greg. Do you ride with any Griz riders that have a locked up front end? I've pretty much made up my mind about locking the Griz. I have made a few calls and talked to a few people and have found someone who will weld the spider gears in my quad. The dealership that I bought it from would'nt do it! For liability reasons they said. Anyway, once I get that done I can't wait to meet up with the guy I met on the 99 SP and see how good that IRS really is. Once traction isn't an issue any longer, I guess we'll have to see who can take the trails better.

 

I couldn't agree more. The first run should be rider and machine only! The next run should be rider, machine, and a 1000lb trailer. In a drag race of course. Then we could truely see what comparing apples and oranges really means.

 

" far superior in most catagories, except top speed" How many catagories were you thinking of? Lets see..... theres engine braking to all 4 wheels in 4WD......there is the torque factor.....then there is that old reliability issue.....Oh and one more thing, you can ride a Griz in Hi range all day and not burn up the belt.......one more thing the water tightness of the tranny.....Thats a pretty bold statement for someone who has never owned a Griz

 

I would have to say that you could much easier comapare the Grizz to the sportsman rather then the xplorer 400, I had the xplorer 400, vsry fast machine but I hated screwing w/ the chain and I didn't like the 2stroke.

 

01Grizzly,August 14th in New York at a ATV pull,it was the belt driven Polaris quads [that you have to drive in low all the time,according to you]that won 9 out of 11 pulling events.They pulled a weighted sled to,just like you earlier mentioned. So much for all that torque you mentioned the Grizz had.

I had ONE problem from a Polaris belt in 3 yrs of riding them,and it was my fault.

As for 4 wheel braking while decending steep downhills?You can also acheive that on a Polaris 4x4.I've not been in ONE incidence where my rear axle slid around because of 2wd braking.I've been on some very nasty/loose packed hills too.

Water tightness of the tranny?I had ONE problem with that on my 99 Sportsman.It was due to dealership error.They installed a clutch kit and did'nt get the cover seal on right,it leaked water.I bitched them out,they installed a new seal,everything was fine again.I have never had a water seal problem from my Xplorer.

Reliabilty?Dont try selling that to me,especially when it comes to a Grizz.I had alot of problems from my 99 Sportsman,most of them were dealership inflicted,some were user abuse.I took the quad to another dealership and did'nt have the quad back in for repair again.Hows your rear drum brake after a afternoon of mudding?Hows the heat on your legs on a hot afternoon of riding?What about the suspension?Hows the viberation?Do you enjoy that limited slip front end in the serious mud/snow vs the true AWD system?

Both the Grizz and the HO Sportsman are very close in cost.And you get more for your $$ with a Sportsman.

1.Superiour ride
2.IRS
3.Liquid cooling
4.True AWD
5.Disk brakes

Even the lower priced Xplorer 400cc 4x4 [5k vs 6500]]will out perform a Grizz in every catagorie.Why pay so much extra money for a Grizz and get less?

In closing,I will admit that I did look at the Grizz[Grizz even cost more] when concidering a 4x4 quad,it fell short of my expectations when comparing it to a Sportsman.To me,it was,why pay more $$ and get something less?Thats what you get when you compare the Grizz to the Sportsman,
Bill

 

01Grizzly,

First thing you need to know is that if intend on doing any hill climbing, do not lock that front end. It will be very very dangerous while going down hill.

Also, the Grizzly, while better on straight hill climbs, is not near as stable on off camber trails. I had to learn this the hard way. I was behind a buddy on a SP going around Lake Greeson in Arkansas (Serious mountain trails) and we were on a drit bike trail. He and his girlfrieand could just go right down the trail with no problems. I had to put my foot up on a tree trunk to force the bike down. Now that I have a SP, I have seen this same thing happen over and over with others we ride with. The SP is very stable on off camber trails.

1/2 my riding is mudding and competing, and the other 1/2 is mountains in arkansas.

If you ever get to put a SP to the test, do some jumping, and hit some rough trails at a moderate speed. It is unbeleivable compared to the Grizzly. Tazgrizz swapped with me the last time we went to wolf Pen Gap and he felt the same way I did the first time I rode one on trails like that.
I have read on different post about the lack of guts of the Grizzly. This has to be from people with no knowledge of the bike, or an owner of a Grizzly with problems. I think the Grizzly is at least as powerful as the SP if not more powerful. It is the strongest utilty I have ever been on including the Rubi. Both bikes have their stenghts and weaknesses. If the SP holds up and has no reliabilty problems I would certainly take it, if my 2000SP500 ends up having as many problems as my 98SP500, I would take the Grizzly. Fortunately, I have had no problems yet with my new bike and it has about 300 hard miles on it. Only time will tell.

Greg