Alright. Let's get the story from the other side.

I spend more time on the Polaris board than over here, and have heard all the SP500 vs. Grizz stories over there. Now I want to hear it here.

Let's don't even talk about reliability. I'm aware of all that. What I'm most concerned with is performance. Mud, hills, trails. Have you ever gotten stuck in a hole that a SP500 just went thru ?

I really do believe in the Polaris AWD system. Can you HONESTLY say that the Grizz does just as well in mud ?

I know that the ride of the SP is better than any ATV I've ever ridden, and will be a factor, as will the lower maintenance of the Grizz.

So give me all the stories. I'm getting a utility, just haven't decided which one yet.

Got something you want to trade for a 500 Scrambler 4x4 ? No....wait... Don't answer that.

Dave

 

Here's one for ya', I've told it here before. Me and a buddy and his wife went riding. I was on my Sport, buddy on his Grizz, buddies wife on my Kodiak. She was first, we get to a major mud-bog. She looks at me and says "should I try it?" I'm thinking she's nuts, but why not? I gave her the go ahead nod. She gets half way through it, doing well I might add, she stops, looks at me, and says "how am I doing?" I start screaming "hit it, hit it" she's done, pudding up over the seat. We pull her out. My buddy then tries it on his Grizz. He gets to about the same point, spins and he's done. As we're pulling him out, here comes a guy on an SP500, riding two kids about 4-5 yrs old. He goes straight through, no problem, backs up, goes through in reverse, hits it forward again. Starts laughing, and says "not bad for two wheel drive" I go over and look, sure enuff, its in two wheel drive. Now Grizz owner is pissed and disgusted. After towing my Kodiak home, six hours of surgery to get six lbs of mud out of clutch system, I still had a great time.

 

I have a 99 grizzly with 27 inch mud bugs. My brother has a 2000 sportsman with 27 inch blackwater xt tires. When he gets stuck I can walk right through it no problem with my big bad grizzly. The blackwater xt's suck in the mud.

99 grizzly with 27 inch mud bugs.

 

Well, I don't really ride all that fast. Speed is not that important now. I've found that with the Scrambler (and all my buddies on Sportsmans), that being fastest just makes me the first one to get stuck.

I want mud performance. I've learned to love the mud. Hate cleaning it, but love playing in it.

I have spent alot of time on a Sportsman, but have never ridden a Grizz. My Dad has a 2000 Kodiak, which I like alot, but I like the feeling of a bigger quad. Also, the Kodiak ride is kinda rough after a Polaris. And like I said earlier, I can't get over the AWD thing. I wish someone could convince me that limited slip was just as good. But I've seen in other posts where Grizz owners admit that the SP is better in mud.

Dave

 

The SP will out mud a Grizz even with the stock tires , mostly due to the 4x4 system on the SP it is hard to beat, even a Grizz with 27 inch Vamps will not out mud my stock tires with 1700 miles on them, the Grizz is louder and rides allot rougher. not that the Grizz is a bad machine it isn't , now it probably isn't even faster with the HO in the 2001 SP.

 

This is my take on the machines, I have a grizz, my buddy has 2 sp500, one is the new ho, and he also has a kodiak for his wife. This is like a ford vs chevy discussion. I am an avid offroad enthusiest, a jeep guy. Been to the rubicon and many jamborees. Just for instance go pick up a consumer reports guide and look at jeeps, the reviews are not good, after reading one you start to think geez what a piece of junk. But take it for what it is, the ultimate off road vehichle, period. Some of those features I love I find on my Grizz. Solid rear axle. Now you dont get that cadillac ride the sp 500 gets, but I dont want a cadilac ride, im not 75 years old and its a four wheeler. Now IRS independant rear suspension, has a high groundclearance at normal stance, 1/2 inch higher than grizz, but the minimum ground clearance never changes on the grizz, 7.5. because axle travels with suspension, on polaris you can sink it down to 2.5". and no real stability with irs. Maintanence on a solid rear is less and more reliable. Another drawback to me on the plush suspension is the lack of feel and control over the terrain, sure you can drive fast over rough terrain with the sp, but you get in a harry situation and its not as easy to feel the machine, how its reacting. Now the big one, limited slip diffs in the front. Get ome good tires, cause the stock grizz ones suck, and you will go anywhere you want, I have 27 inch titan 589, killer tires, have not been stuck yet. If you do, you probably shouldnt be there anyway. Add some limited slip gm oil to the front diff, works alot better, REMEMBER THIS IS LIMITED SLIP NOT OPEN DIFFERENTIAL. Careful use of your front breaks will alow you to control which tire spins. remember they work off each other and naturally try to spin together. The grizz has alot more power through the mid range, and no hesitation. Alot more torque, which we all know is more important than horsepower. unless you drive a race car. remeber simple sacrifices for others, comfortable ride is expensed for control and stability, plus sturdiness. Its a no win situation, its a preferance. I wouldnt buy a toyota rav4 but someone else would. Oh and that loud noise, its the grizz growling, you will take a liking to it afterawhile. Happy wheeling and i HOPE you get what suites you best. SOLID AXLES FOR REAL 4X4's. Oh one last thing as far as cluch systems, yamaha is under constant tension, no snomobile stuff, no breaking belts on the trail, and the mud and water levels? they are at the same hight, intakes and exhaust are as high as they can get, thats the only way mud and water gets in.

 

o.k., let me start out by saying that i love my '00 grizzly to death and honestly would not trade it straight out for a '01 sportsman ho. it has done everything that i have asked of it and has definitely exceeded my expectations. but there is one thing that i keep seeing appear in posts that kind of bothers me. over and over i see people comparing the grizzly and the sportsman and one point that grizzly owners bring up is that the ground clearance on the grizzly doesn't change under weight while the sportsman's does. well i think greg sims posted one time that he measured ground clearance on his sp without a rider then again with a rider and the change was minimal (somewhere under an inch or even half an inch i believe). well, i hate to say it, but the gc on the grizzly changes under weight as well. not at the rear dif or axle, but in the center of the bike (if you measured at the floorboards) and this is where i have always been high centered if it happened. many time i have gone through mud with ruts and made it through with out any problem only to look back and see where the skid plate under my rear dif was dragging, yet i never high centered. i have always high centered with the floorboard and frame of the bike right in the center bottoming out and sticking me, and the ground clearance at this point DOES change under rider weight. i am a fairly big guy at 240 lbs, so it might not be as noticeable with other riders and its not very noticeable with me, but its still there. i hate to sound so disloyal to the grizzly clan, but thats the facts.

 

My Griz has taken me everywhere I've wanted to go for the most part. But I do have to admit that the limited slip front dif sucks! I have never ridden on a SP500 down any trails, just in a parking lot, but I've ridden with them before. So I can't say how much smoother a SP500 rides then my Griz. But I've never considered the ride on my bike to be harsh at all. When I have ridden with a SP500 at high speed down trails I was always in front, so I don't know how he was doing. Not entirely because I was faster, but because I was leading the other guy down trails he hadn't been on before. My experience with the Griz is that if you want it to ride smoother just go faster. Steering is easier, and I have a tighter turn radius then the SP. The SP is superior in the mud, or any situation where you are lifting alternate wheels off the ground. Having the ability to drive both front wheels when needed is an asset! On the other hand, when it came to scrambling up steep hills, the SP didn't seem to have any advantage at all! When you come around a corner and you have a short run to get up a long steep hill, I was able to do it faster, and with alittle more confidence then the SP. I can't say why, but I would guess the added weight and lower power output of the SP was the reason. When it came to straight line performance the SP wasn't even in the same class! I soundly trounced him in all aspects. But I hear that if you give it a couple of miles the SP will catch up.
In my opinion the IRS is a liability. Its overweight, over complicated, and high maintainence. It will have greater ground clearence at times, and at other times it will have less. I prefer the rugged dependability of a straight axle.
Something else to consider is the water tightness of the tranny, as well as the apparent poor performance of the belt drive on the SP. I've gone through water deep enough to float my griz, and I haven't slipped the belt yet! Plus I ride in hi range most of the time, and again, I've never slipped or burned my belt. I guess you have to be careful on the SP about what range you are in, so you don't burn up the belt. I also don't have a radiator to get clogged up with mud or whatever else(I read once where a guy got his plugged with grass seed from riding through a field at high speed) so that I will over heat. I have the 27" Titan 589's on my bike. The low point for ground clearence is 8 1/4" at the rear differential cover. The high point is 11 1/8" at the skid plate.
Finally, I know you weren't interested in hearing about the reliability issue. But its worth mentioning and noting if your planning to buy a quad. That is one of the Grizzlys strong points when compared to the SP.
Another point to consider is the engine braking. I know the SP has the EBS. But from what I've read about it, it isn't as tight as the Griz. Also the SP is not in 4WD when you engage 4WD. It continues to operate as a 2WD untill you slip the rear wheels, then it locks both front wheels. Which brings up another point. It does not have engine braking to all 4 wheels when descending a steep hill, only the rear wheels. I don't know about where you ride, but where I ride going down steep, and at times muddy hills is the norm. Not having engine braking to all 4 tires doesn't inspire alot of confidence when going down a steep hill. In fact, it can be alittle unnerving! The Griz has outstanding engine braking to all 4 wheels when in 4WD.

 

IndyDave,

As you may know, I have owned a Grizzly and 2 Sportsmans so I am talking from experience.

You say you intend on mudding. The SP500 is superior in almost all cases with comparable tires. I have found coming out of steep inclines where you can hit the incline straight on, the Grizz is just as good if not better. Any other situation in the Mud, the SP500 rules. Don't get caught up in this "crazy talk" about the SP500 only having an extra 1/2 in of ground clearance and don't worry about it losing ground clearance when you sit on it. I weigh about 215 and my bike sinks less than 1/2 inch when I sit on it.

I also think the grizz is better suited for straight hill climbing. The front end of the SP500 is too light. An experienced rider can more than make up the difference though.

I can't really think of any other instances where the Grizzly is comparable.

Also, you say you already know about reliabilty? I broke CVs on my grizz and my 98SP500 and if that is what you were using to draw a comparison, I would take the Grizz. But the new bikes have many improvements, and I have not broke anything on my new bike that was not my fault (FLIPPED IT).

I had the following problems with my 98 Grizz.

Front Bearings
CV Joint Broke
Cables Sticking
Over heating
Water in rear hub
Rear brakes would not last 1 month in mud and water.

The SP500 of course has Hydrolic breaks and disk front and back which is superior for mud. The front bearings are completely sealed so you don't have bearing problems. These are things that did not concern me when I bought the grizz. I quickly found out how annoying that back drum was and got rid of it.

You really need to ride a grizzly on rough trails and in mud to get a feel for it. It feels solid but it beats the heck out of you compared to the SP500. I wouldn't take anyone else's advice on this. Just find someone that has one and try it out. Some of the things I have read in this thread alone, I almost have to laugh at. You get too much brand loyalty or ignorance. I am not sure which one.

Greg

 

Greg,
Your problems were with a 98. Not to much is the same on a 2001. I have a sealed rear drum, no water gets in. As a matter of fact last weekend I did the "motor boat" thing accrossed a river, and still had a very tight and effective rear brake! Mine is just over 3 months old with 400 miles and I have not replaced the rear brake. With respect to overheating, how could you tell? Did the light come on that indicates the oil is too hot? Or did it just feel to hot? I've ridden the hell out of mine all summer, in some 90+ degree temps. My oil temp light has never come on. The fan kicks on and does its job very nicely. As far as breaking CV's. Were you lifted when this happened? I assume you were running oversized tires at least. If this is going to be a problem for me I'd appreciate any feedback. So far so good. Try alittle LPS#1 on your cables, it works really well. Thats what I'm using, and I haven't had any sticking problems yet. For someone who is riding a quad with what is it, 28 grease zerks? And all the maintainence thats goes with that. You didn't think to repack your front wheel bearings? I'm assuming those are the bearings your speaking of in your post. From what I've read about the kind of riding you do, that is something I would certainly have had in mind as far as maintainence goes. I know I do.