i hosted a 4 wheeler rider this weekend, and was excited not only to ride, but to get to try out some buddies' wheelers. i rode a few polaris sportsman 500's and honda's 700xx racer. the sportsmans were super comfortable, soft seat and felt comfy (suspension), but i was not used to the SLOW take-off. the tranny takes forever to actually launch from a stop. and in high gear, you had to redline the engine to get it to go up a hill. to polaris' defense, the engine stayed hi-revving all the way through the mud we were playing in, so that was advantageous. one polaris' belt got wet and it took over an hour to get it dry enough to ride again.

anyways, the reason this is in the yamaha section: one buddy brought his 2009 grizzly 550...wow. what an eye-opener. i absolutely LOVE this machine!! it just felt right to me when riding. had good power from takeoff, never hesitated, cornered good. just had a blast on this machine! this is coming from a die-hard honda fan. my next machine could very well be a grizzly. i will test a suzuki as well, but damn...grizzly moved up in the world in my book this weekend! (oh, and it was by far the fastest of the sportsman and my rubicon as well)

 

Thats great to hear. I'm seriosly looking into buying a Grizzly 550 for next year.