i have been reading articles on these fourwheelers, and i know they can be full of BS. i wanted to know how they really go. powerwise, top speed. and how well the limited slip works for most conditions. thanks for any replies.

 

My son's wovy is a good bike. He is a little over 5 feet tall and probably weighs in at 125lbs. His wolvy has a good holeshot and he can run with the bigger bikes out of the hole but loses in the top end. His speedo says 51-52 mph when we run the main corridor trails up in Hurley Wisconsin. The bike does well in the deep slop for the most part. I want to add a set of mudders to it to give it a little more bite in the mud but am afraid of the impact it will have on the speed. When we do more than 100 miles in a day and hit the rough trails, he feels a little beat up and says it's because of the solid rear axle which I believe is true. He has put over 1100 miles on it since he picked it up new on memorial day weekend and we have only had one problem with it. The problem was a small fire on the rear break line where the breakline hooks into the caliper. Yamaha took their sweet time in getting approval for the warranty work but conversely offered me a loaner bike while it was in the shop. Before I bought him the bike, I read all the reviews on it and they were pretty complimentary. The one thing that sticks in my head is one review where they said, "we tried to get it stuck but just couldn't do it." All I can say is they don't ride where we do. My son is capable of sticking that bike a couple times a day in the deep stuff. My overall rating for the bike would be a b+. I think irs would go along way for moving that grade to an a. Good luck.

 

I love mine, and have not had any problems yet. I have only gotten stuck once(in a deep creek high centered on a rock) I got out by myself but I didnt want to get wet(work boots on)

 

My wife loves her wolfy. We replaced our Scrambler with it and it is a better ride. More nimble, easier to steer, jumps better. That said, here are the low points. Brakes will squeak all the time, Brakes feel like mush, acceleration is better than most similar sized UTEs but not as good as a sport ATV, Shocks are poor (too soft, no real adjustments), nose dives into turns.

If you compare it to a UTE, it feels pretty good. If you compare it to a sport quad, it's not.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Mud Hog

My son's wovy is a good bike.... Before I bought him the bike, I read all the reviews on it and they were pretty complimentary. The one thing that sticks in my head is one review where they said, "we tried to get it stuck but just couldn't do it." All I can say is they don't ride where we do. My son is capable of sticking that bike a couple times a day in the deep stuff. My overall rating for the bike would be a b+. I think irs would go along way for moving that grade to an a. Good luck.</end quote></div>

I can get, and have gotten my Kodiak450 (Grizzly 450) with front diff locked stuck in the goop or hung up. We've even had to winch out my buddy with mud tires out of the slop. So obviously they weren't trying hard enough in the review.

If I was in the market for a sporty quad which still has some real offroad capabilities, the Wolverine would be my choice hands down. IRS would of course make a world of difference.

And to think I was almost talked into buying a TRX420 (no offence to those of you that own one). I am glad I bought the Yami.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: skramblr

...here are the low points. Brakes will squeak all the time, Brakes feel like mush, acceleration is better than most similar sized UTEs but not as good as a sport ATV, Shocks are poor (too soft, no real adjustments), nose dives into turns. </end quote></div>

X2
on the squeaky, mushy brakes. Applies to my Kodiak as well. Rear brake is poor, but I will see after some adjustment. The shocks seem soft but I haven't cranked them up yet on the preload adjusters plus I've got them on all four corners. You could always consider upgrades.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: headpressure

on the squeaky, mushy brakes. Applies to my Kodiak as well. Rear brake is poor, but I will see after some adjustment. The shocks seem soft but I haven't cranked them up yet on the preload adjusters plus I've got them on all four corners. You could always consider upgrades.</end quote></div>

Upgrades is the plan. The rear shock has got to be upgraded. The preload adjustment doesn't do it. The rear end wants to buck you off going over bumps. It's on my shopping list for Xmas. I've also just seen the first people offering a braided brakeline kit for the Wolfy, so those are on my list too. I'm also watching a few threads where folks have replaced the stock brake pads with aftermarket (that seems to fix the squeaks).

I just don't like having to spend $$ to fix issues on a $6000 quad. Yamaha should really spend some engineering time and fix these. It can't be that hard. I mean really, squeaky brakes? It doesn't get more basic than that.

 

Go into the dealer and complain about the squeak(yamaha is usually giving people a set of pads to pacify them, or atleast a discount for the trouble)

 

I love my wolverine, I would love it even more if I had it right now. It has been at the shop getting jetted for the past 3 weeks, the shop cant seem to get it to run right after the pipe and filter, they have gave it back to me 4 times with it not running correctly, it wont go over 45.

Anyway, for hardcore offroad....it isn't the right machine, the open diff doesn't cut it for the extreme stuff. Plus the tires are a little small from the factory. I have had mine stuck a few times, but I pushed it where pretty much any machine would have got buried (there was a jeep on 38" tires stuck right next to me in one hole) Like mentioned above, the brakes are a little annoying, but aftermarket brake pads will get rid of that.


For trails and dunes, its awesome....light and nimble enough to be able to throw around, jump and enough power and traction to be able to climb most hills that a sport quad wouldn't.

Its no top end monster (52-53 stock), but it gets there in a respectable time and is quick off the line.
Its actually faster out of the hole than my 440 ex, but launching that thing is damn near impossible. I can take my buddy on his grizz 700 up until about 20, then he flies by me.

If money wasn't an issue, I would recommend the renegade 800 over the wolvy, If I would have known about the can-am when I was looking to buy, I would have waited. But back in early 06, the wolvy was the best machine on the market in this category. I don't regret buying it though, it has done everything I have ever needed and is a damn fun machine to ride.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: ctateusa1

Go into the dealer and complain about the squeak(yamaha is usually giving people a set of pads to pacify them, or atleast a discount for the trouble)</end quote></div>

Hey, thanks for the tip. I'll give it a try. I have a free service coming up next month, so I'll complain about the brakes.