It is right on the first page it shows long awaited race between the prairie and griz and some flags click that.

 

But not many people trail ride on the pavement.

 

Lsnake68,
I suggest posting this topic also in the Kawasaki forum and Polaris forum. Obviously the kawi owners will suggest the kawi, yami owners suggest yami, and polaris owners will suggest polaris. But owners of each will tell you the good points and bad points of their bike. If you just post this in the yamaha forum, you'll get mostly replies from yamaha owners.




<< the best quad on the market is the Grizzly >>


Maybe for you it is. But certainly not for everyone.

 

I choose the camo grizz. Has all the power you need.

 

As far as rock solid rear ends go, the Kawasaki has the better one. As far as bump absorbing ride goes, I can't say for sure. The IRS set up is supposed to be better, but I couldn't say for certain. I'm not a big IRS fan, so it doesn't really mean much to me. I would much rather have the dependability, then performance. Performance doesn't mean much when your in the middle of nowhere and you break a CV! My bet is that the Kawasaki is probably the best choice, follow closely by the Yamaha. If your into endless repairs and an over all lack of reliable performance, then by all means get the Polaris! Not only that, but you can get a seriously over weight quad for a lot more money! Is there really a choice to be made here?[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Rick

 

If I happened to have an anti-Prairie sound on any post, it was probably right below some quote on the Prairie being so dominant. It would have been the same if you replaced Prairie with Rincon or Sp700 or anything else though. I don't have anything against the Prairie other than I get tired of hearing it bragged on all the time. I get tired of hearing the same crap about a Grizzly though too, because I just hate bragging *** people. Just a pet peeve I guess. I couldn't get over all the negatives I read on the new Suzuki sport either. All because it wasn't a 600+. Hell, be happy they even made a sport I say.

As far as the IRS issue, its a preference thing. Here is one thing that I totally do not understand though. Before the Prairie was even around, the Sportsman 500 stood alone as the absolute best performing quad. It won shootout after shootout and mainly because of its independant suspension. Sure it had power, but so did a Rubicon and a Grizzly 600. The suspension was its meal ticket. Now that the Grizzly is out, and of course the Prairie as well, the IRS gets more negative flack than a bad airline joke.

As well as being just a bit less stable. That is true. There isn't a super difference, but there is indeed a difference. There is a massive difference even between a swingaxle AC and anything with a standard swingarm. I agree that a stock 660 doesn't articulate that much, but mine does. No damn sway bar on there either to limit it. Can't call it much of a modification either. Just take off 6 nuts and remove.

As far as that 650 smoking a 660, I will have to experience it before I could ever give that credit. I have heard that story both ways. I've heard the 650 being faster more often, so I will give it credit for being the fastest, but I would be hard pressed to believe that it smokes a Grizzly. Beats and Smokes are too vastly different things, and I don't see a Grizzly being too far behind.

As far as those maintenance issues. I can't see why folks keep spreading this bad reliability Grizzly thing around. Look at the kawasaki forum and see how many things have happened to various 650's. They dont exactly have a Honda track record either.

A lot of crap is either percieved in the mind, or blown out of proportion. This is even applicable to late 90s polaris quads and some of their problems.

Just for the record, I'd like to see a number for sales figures between the top big 4x4's. It would be interesting. Around here, there are only 2 660's. Mine and another guy's. There are no Prairies. That means squat though. Mostly old farts tooling around on Honda 300's praising how &quot;I ain't buying nothing but a damn Honda. They is the best&quot; I like to hear that after I leave them behind, then backtrack a mile to go pull them out of something. I would do the same on a Prairie too.

I give the Prairie credit, but I don't praise either all day. If I give credit to one, I generally will give credit to the other as well. Don't forget the 700 either. It has all the same ability.

 

Good post.

 

GrizRick

Between me and my friends there is 2-Warrior, 1-Banshee, 1-Kodiak 1-Raptor and 2-Grizzly 600 and ever time we go riding one of the above 4 wheelers have a problem or break down. There is also 2-Honda 450 formans 1-300EX 1-400EX Bombardier 1-DS650 2-Polaris Scramblers 1-Sportsman 500 and 1-Explorer.
I think this is enough 4 wheelers to know which one is the most reliably and it is not the Yamaha from my experience. I have owned 5 Hondas 1 Kawasaki 1 Yamaha and 2 Polaris. I think I should have some idea with friends and my experience to know which 4 wheelers are reliable. What GrizRick said about Polaris is not true its a opinion the polaris do not break anymore than the Yamaha.
I think the Grizzly would be the best 4 wheeler for someone who rides slower and likes a soft trail ride but if you like more of a sporty ride I think the Kawasaki 650 is the best. The new Polaris 700 I think would be the best if you work and play with your 4 wheeler the tow rating I know is higher than the Yamaha and Kawasaki. I don't think 700 would be what you would want for a sporty trail ride .

 

I have said this before and I will say it again. Many people say Hondas are the most reliable. I say prove it. Your father having a trx300 that never brakes is not proof. A friend with a Polaris tie rod problem is not proof. Proof is a statistical tabulation of the number of units sold, number of proplems, type of problem, cost to repair and if it was a diffective part or owner neglect. Until I see this real data from an independent sorce, like JD Powers does for autos, anyone saying 'Honda is the most reliable' is only repeating what they have heard or basing it on anicdotal (sp?) evedence.

My opinion on the 3 quad is there is not a big difference. The Prarie has a solid rear axel, the others have irs. If you are not mostly trail riding, get the irs. The irs is better for mud and rocks. The Prarie may be slightly faster but the other too are plenty fast.

Let me put it another way, if the quads where ranked in every catagory (for instance top speed difference) and you had to build a quad from there differences. You would end up with a battery powered quad a 2 year old rides around the yard.

Good luck and enjoy whatever you get.

Charlie

 

Here's my 2 cents worth -

I have a y2kodiak and my buddy has the 500 sportsman. We ride alot and hard. He had problems with the tie rods as others have mentioned, I had minor problems with the kodiak, ie. water pump, which was fixed and had no further problems. Both of us have had no other problems to speak of, other than maintenance, hey, we've been riding hard for 2 years now. My buddy continually states that the kodiak steers alot easier than his polaris. It is big and heavy but absorbs the bumps unbelievably. The kodiak bounces over bumps and can be dangerous if going very fast and you don't see it coming. It's the same old arguement about utility or sport. IRS can't tow as well but the solid axle can be bouncy. I would think the new grizz would be along the lines of handling as the sportsman but I bet the steering is much easier than the sportsman. So, it's your choice, I don't think one can go wrong with either choice, obviously I haven't mentioned the praire but would think it similar to the kodiak, since it has a solid rear axle, no? I think reliability is overstated as we have abused the hell out of our quads with no major problems. Everyone is making a longer lasting quad these days, like cars. Have fun and ride safely.