Whoever is going to buy a quad and wants one or the other i would say go for the Grizz.
200CC more for a few hundred more. My bud has a 2001 kodiak and learnt that the belt intake is in the back under the fender well not good because we both went over the back fenders and he sucked in water and the belt slipped. My grizz was fine. Because i'm higher and my air intakes are right under my seat where the tank joins. I can float it before water sucks in.
I went with the grizz because of the CC and because of the power and towing capacity and the grizz looked more durable. I have 2000km's on it now and have had no problems except a light bulb. I have torture tested it and it has passed with flying colours. This heat thing is a joke. They don't heat up that much unless your in a desert climate.
I have had it in really hot weather and the fan came on but thats it, the heat shields work great.
So far so good in the dureable and power department. No one can keep up with me. I even managed to get a traxter XT stuck on the weekend after went through. Anyhow you can't go wrong with a Grizzly, that is an honest statement.
Hope this can help anyone who is thinking about a bike.

 

3 yrs ago,I came EXTREMELY close to buying a Grizz.However,when I found out that the Yam Dealer lied to me about the front diff being a posi unit,I went looking elsewhere.

I have to admit,the Grizz is a fine 4x4 even without a locker in the front,
Bill

 

The Grizz has a lot of power I'll give you that but it also feels tank like. With the Kodiak you can move it around on the trails and feel more in controll. Also I am almost positive the intake for clutch and carb are under the front fenter on the 2000 and 2001 machines.

 

The air intake for the carb is under the gas tank for the Kodiak. The intake/exhaust for the belt is under both the front and rear racks. Which is the intake and which is the exhaust, I do not know.

 

For the Kodiak the intake is inder the black hood in front. The exhaust is behind the tail light up in the plastic. I havent looked on the Grizz for the Intake but the exhaust is under the tank it blows on the cylinder head.

 

The grizz, I'm sure has a lot of power, but it looks like a bunch of different ideas bolted together!

 

Yamaha had something going when it designed the new Kodiak. We would have never had this dilemna over the old 99 model Kodiak and the Grizzly. I think they should offer a manual shift version of it though. At least one of those two. The big bear is the biggest manual you can get from team Blue. (no Raptor wisecracks please). I think it makes sense. Polaris hasn't caught on either though. Nor has Kawasaki.

 

Bill,
The Yamaha dealer that you are refering to was not lying to you. A posi and a limited slip are one and the same. If you buy a car with a "posi" rear end, its a limited slip. A locker is a locker. Its not refered to as a "posi", its refered to as a locker.
If your question to him was "is the front end locked"? And he said yes, then he was lying. If your question to him was "is the front end a posi"? And the answer was yes, then he was telling you the truth. Later

Rick

 

I couldn't agree more Yam8! I've only had mine for alittle over 3 months, but in that time I've ridden the hell out of it and it just keeps asking for more! I've got just over 400 miles on mine and in that time I haven't even heard a noise coming from my Griz that got my attention concerning a problem. The quality of its construction and durability is second to none. In my experience anyway.

 

I'm with you Andy. While the auto may be easier to operate, it falls way short on the over all performance. Both the Griz and the Kodiak would be far superior if they were manual shift. Much more positive power transfer, and water tight.