By now we know that both of these ATV are great, but there is something that has been bothering me for a while. The Prairie 650 seam's to have been really designed with sportier riding in mind, but what baffles me is why did they make it look like such a tractor? I mean this quad is ugly!!! I'm not bashing the Prairie 650; I'm saying this out of complete frustration! The Prairie 650 is the 4x4 that I would like to buy because of it's performance, I like a sportier/quicker ride, but I keep wondering, if it was built to be sporty, why doesn't it look sporty! This has been on my mind for a long time, but I never see it talked about in the forum or in the magazines. Am I the only one that feels this way? Does anyone else think that it is ugly? The Grizzly looks awesome, but it just doesn't seem to have the performance of the Prairie 650. This frustrates the crap out of me, I want the Prairie 650s performance, but I don't want to own an ugly ATV! Does anyone know of replacement plastic that would make it look better? Those rear fenders remind me of the old Honda ATC 90 back in the early 70's. I hope that I don't upset anyone with my comments about the looks of the Prairie, that is not my intention. I am just frustrated that the ATV that I want looks so bad. Does anyone else feel this way?

 

Andy, like I said about the Prairie, you would have to ride it to know about the weight distribution and how much difference it actually makes. Like your Grizzly, the IRS looks great, but the sway bar limits the articulation. You didn't know that till you rode it. I thought the 650 felt more stable than my 400 Prairie when sideways. I didn't ride it anywhere near enough to know if that is true in all situations though. All I mean is that looks can be deceiving. I read an article about the 650 that explained the movement of the gas tank. They wanted the weight down but also farther to the rear for better front/rear balance. I forget the ratio they ended up with, but it makes it a good jumper for a 4x4. It also allowed them to raise the air intake for less problems in water. The only Arctic Cat I've ridden was the Bearcat 454 with the semi-independant suspension. That was when they first came out in /97. At the time, I compared it to a Honda Foreman 400 and my Prairie 400. I thought at the time that the Foreman felt the most stable sideways because it had a very low seat compared to the others, but I was taken by the Prairie's softer ride. Thats why I bought it. I didn't really give them much of a test for sideways stability. I don't doubt that you know lots about the ones you have ridden and I appreciate your honest opinions. I hope you do get a chance to ride a 650. I'd like to know what you think after you've tested one.

 

Area51, I know exactly what you mean about the 650's looks. I don't think its ugly, but there are better. I love it's new features---especially the smooth V twin, but if I was buying a utility quad today based on looks, I'd probably get the Grizzly 660. I think the Prairie has stuck to the rear fender design because it really works for keeping you clean (it hasn't changed much from the old Prairies) but many designs look better. The low front rack and front end doesn't have the mean look of the Grizzly either, but it is probably an advantage for visability in some situations. They tried to make it the best of all worlds---it isn't, but what is? Have you seen pictures of the prototype Honda Rincon? If it looks as good in real as it does in the pictures, I'd pick it (just my opinion), but how will it perform? Time will tell. I'm amazed that they aren't going to put disc brakes and a manual locker on the front. Overall, I'd go for performance over looks. You can't see it while you're riding it anyway.

 

Jscyoung: I agree with you completely. I guess it's not completely ugly, but it sure doesn't have the sporty good looks that it deserves. I spent the last several hours re-reading all my old articles, everything that I could find on the Prairie 650. It seam's to be everything that I want in a 4x4 ATV, truly the best of both worlds when it comes to sport riding and 4 wheeling, I sure wish it looked better, but like you said, you can't see it when your riding it. In one of my articles, I saw one that was setup for racing. It had the racks removed, and had beed lock rims on it. It looked much better; maybe I could do that, as I'm not interested in it for hauling stuff on the racks. I'm interested in going as fast as I can, and still being able to ride rough trails when I come across them. My 350x is pretty fast, but I am limited where I can ride due to no 4-wheel drive and low ground clearance. I have read that the Prairie 650 will out accelerate, and out run a Honda 400ex, is this true? I may buy a Prairie 650 before the month is up, but I sure wish they looked better.

 

Jycyoung: I agree about the new Honda Rincon, it looks really sweet. But because they are still using drum brakes and no front diff lock, I will pass on it. The Prairie 650 seam's to have the best overall mechanicals in my opinion, with dual piston front brakes, sealed multi disk rear brake, V twin 4 valve engine, and on and on. I like the IRS of the Grizzly, and the looks of it to, but in the end, the prairie 650 seams like the better ATV. Again though, to bad it doesn't look better [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

The rack extension was an Arctic Cat factory accessory I got at the dealer. When I sold the AC, I kept it for the 660. You can get them at an Arctic Cat dealership for about $70 each. Pretty high. Kimpex makes one a lot cheaper that serves the same purpose. The difference in the Arctic Cat extension is it has the little rubber things on the sides. I thought those were cool. It telescopes to fit front or rear racks. Actually designed for the thicker racks of the AC, but it fits the Grizzly good enough.

 

I can see the point on a 650 being stable. I see it as being average basically. In my mind there is average and there is unstable. Unstable is something you ride and it scares you. Average is basically any 4x4 quad that isn't massively narrow and doesn't have weight focused towards the rear. I think its stupid to put the gas tank in the rear of a quad. That adds weight to its ***. Same thing with the Sportsman 500 rear end being so heavy and the engines being in the rear of AC 300's and King Quads. They are prone to flipovers up steep hills. Old 1980's model suzuki's were notorious for this as well due to their light front ends.

I'm not saying a Prairie isn't stable, I'm saying that I can't see how it would be so mind boggling stable compared to most other quads that you would ride it once and say "damn this is the best thing I've ever seen!"
A honda 400 with crap for clearance, no wheel travel, and a fairly long wheelbase would in my mind have a lot less center of gravity than a 650 prairie with more clearance and all of the weight higher above ground than the Foreman.

A 97 Bearcat while less refined, works on the same frame as just about any other AC quad. I had a 99 model. The places I parked it in and got off to rock it back and forth blew my mind. I flipped it once ever, and any quad would have gone in that situation. You could drive it flawlessly over bumpy off cambers that my extremely low center of gravity 300 Honda would make your butt pucker. Difference was the wheel articulation keeping the quad even.

If I rode a Prairie, the only thing that would possibly catch my attention would be the quick hookup of the transmission and the ungodly rear brake. Thats about it. Good quad, but I've ridden good quads before. Want another good quad for sidehills- 700 Sportsman. Rode it as well, and it was pretty nice. Not my pick for going uphill, but even with its massive height, it was fairly stable. Would I call it more stable than a Prairie- probably not. But pound for pound its holding back a lot more.

I wish somebody I know would go buy a 650 so I could take them up into the woods and see which one flips over first. Probably have to bring my cousin's 454 just to settle things too.

In stock form (wheels & tires), I can see how a Prairie could be more stable on a smooth off camber (granted all tires are able to stay on the ground) than a 660. The Grizzly is narrow. It has nothing to do with the canted engine or rear mounted gas tank I don't think. Give them aftermarket wheels and tires, and I can't give the Prairie the same praise.

 

Area51, the Rincon is supposed to have an automatically locking front end, but from what I've heard about the one on the Rubicon, it doesn't work as well as a manual. I assume it is the same one. As far as the brakes go, I'm sure it will stop just fine, but drums just seem "old tech" to me, although they do last well if you stay out of the mud.
The Prairie isn't faster than the Grizzly once they are rolling, but where the Prairie shines is in a take-off from a standstill. It has virtually instant throttle response where the Grizzly has a slight lag before it kicks in. This gives the Prairie more of a sporty feel right away and nearly always results in it being ahead at the start of the race with the other big 4X4's. The Prairie's engine is definitely smoother also.
You should really test ride all the quads that you like before you buy one (if you can) because there might be something that you haven't thought of that could change your mind. Every machine fits people differently and you may find you are more comfortable on one than another. The Quest and the Sportsman 700 might be more utility oriented than you would like, but the Grizzly may also make you happy. I tried out a Grizzly and then went right over to the Kawasaki shop and tried out a Prairie again (I had ridden the Prairie once a few months before this). Like I said earlier, the Prairie has that "snap" when you touch the throttle that I like, but they are harder to compare in other respects. The Grizzly has a narrower seat, which is nice. You sit differently on the machines as the Prairie has lower handlebars than the Grizzly. I felt at home on both, but I am quite small. A big guy might find one much more comfortable than the other. Don't get me wrong---I'm not trying to talk you out of a Prairie, but if you really don't like the looks of it, the Grizzly is just about as sporty and goes just as fast and they really feel different in some ways.
Someone else (I forget who) had a 400 EX and then bought a Prairie. He said that the Prairie was faster than the EX, and since it was so much more versatile, he was going to sell his EX (If you are reading this, please throw in your 2 cents).
Anyway, I hope you get to ride them all. If you are going to spend that kind of money, you don't want to be second-guessing your choice.

 

Hi all~

I had all my replys done Friday before I took off on my ATV trip, and we were having a damn snow blizzard...starband doesn't like that and I lost my reply because the connection went dead. Oh well, back after another awesome weekend of riding, went further up north and played in the mountains, then went down to Lake Roosevelt and played in deep mud and water. What a blast. Here's the replys: (warning...this may be long)

Ratman~

Sense I have taken my sway bar off, I have noticed no ill effects. As a matter of fact, I can't imagine ever putting it back on again. It has made off camber riding a blast and, in most places, a breeze. My sister and her husband (sport quad riders) have envited me to go down to southern Idaho and do some dune riding with them. They go trail riding with us, so figured it should be interesting. I'll probally throw the anti sway bar in my toolbox and take it with me for that trip. I suspect that it's more high speed type riding, which I usually don't do, and that would be the only reason I could see a use the that bar. I'm, of course, going to try it out as my Grizz sits now, but I have no idea how it will be in sand. Personally I think Yamaha put them on there for the people that will drive that thing at 60+mph on pavement & hardpack, taking corners fast, etc. I'm sure the principal of an anti sway bar becomes quite usefull in those cases. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

I'm glad you got to test ride a Grizzly! There's no better way to see if it's the quad that suits you or not. Even after owning the Grizz for several months, there's not a weekend I don't grin like a clown with satisfaction about that quad. Lastly, I also noticed the Grizz really performed pretty good in 2Wd compared to a lot of other 4WD's. I'm not sure why, but have gone places two legged when others had to goto 4 wheels. I agree...hand warmers, thumb warmer and better tread complete the Grizzly package where Yamaha left off. Now, if you could only test drive a new 500I Cat, so that you would have a good comparison for what you're looking for.

Lsnake68i~

Looks like Andy got you taken care of on that question. I can't imagine there's any long term effects, negative wise. I think Yammy did it to make the quad safer at high speeds in cornering. Heck, Arctic Cat doesn't even put sway bars on their IRS models, but I don't think they're as "fast" as the 660 Grizz or 700SP.

Andy~

I agee w/ya on the Grizz in stock form. I wasn't that impressed with the stability either, expecting to see that 9.5" of rear suspension travel, that wasn't happening w/the anti sway bar. Now, with the ITP offsets and 12" Claws, it keeps on astounding me on how stable it is. I wish somebody knew the formula used to calculate center of gravity. It would be interesting to do the math, but independant suspension has to figure into that equation because the longer you can keep all 4 planted, the better it will be, in my opinion.
Speaking of ITP's...are the lug holes in your rims perfectly centered around your lugs? The holes in mine aren't. I lost a rear wheel 4wheeling around Christmas...and thought I screwed up by not checking the lug nuts after a while. Now, I'm paranoid, and I tighted them up before riding this weekend, and checked the next day, and a few weren't as tight...so I tightened them up again. The Grizz is going in for the valve check tomorrow, so I'll check the lugs before I take it up to the dealer and see if they are still tight. Kinda wierd. Also had a bit of a scare, late Saturday night, was heading up a hill where others had gone, spun out, been winched up, etc...was really icey by the time I headed up. I locked the front diff, got about 10 feet from the top (extremely steep at this point) and started sliding backwords. I hadn't pinched my seat so hard sense before I took my sway bar off. Nothing like watching all 4 claws spinning and having the Grizzly sliding backwords down a steep *** hill on ice.

SilverBear

 

Silverbear, hope you brought your camera on that trip i would like to see more pictures on you website. and dont forget those flex pix. well im going to remove my swaybar tomarrow since ive got a day off. im going to try it with the stock tires since money is tight for me right now and cant aford those 589s. Did you tri cutting the white wire thing yet to override the differential lock rev limiter yet?