all i have to say is that Yamaha did a fine job on the 660 Grizz.
Its not very often you see a stock automatic take off like a rocket.

 

Sorry Andy, but standard tranny utility atv's suck, big time. There is no way I would run this new Grizz without a variable tranny. Everyone would be pissed off at the hitches in the power band, clutching problems, no power in mid range, etc. The Sled trannies in these atv's made them what they are today . . .accepted by the masses. Gas and go . . . who the hell even knows how to shift and clutch anymore. Hell, I've got an Alison tranny in my D-max, would not think about a standard. Are you a purist?

Believe me, these trannys were even in dirt bikes in the early 70's (ski-doo). They out accelerated every other dirt bike with 200cc larger engines. They absolutely work very well. They will be back again in dirt bikes realtively soon, that's a fact. If you don't like how your's works, change it, or buy a Honda and then everrrything will be just fine in the land of hondaphiles.

Coming from the Polaris side, these things are tunable, but no one has done much for Yamaha, as yet. Let's see what Erlandson comes up with. I never had a problem with any of these trannys yet. They keep you in the power band more than you can realize. In fact, the stock Yamaha setup is far superior to the stock Polaris EBS setup, by far. It's the best backshifting stock tranny out there that I've ridden.

 

OK in one sense you are right, The Rubi has a Hydrostatic drive, but it is much more complicated then a lawnmower. Its transmission has a torque converter that is continuosly variable, In effect it does not shif through gears, It is something automobile manufacturers have been trying to perfect for years. The neat thing about a Rubicon is you can also switch it to manual shift mode, wich adds some spice to your riding, You shif through Hondas patented Electric Shif Program, and you smoothly transition through all five forward gears. No offense, but Honda makes the best 500 out!

 

My god I can't believe I'm getting slammed for not liking a belt drive quad! What a joke. The hell with you guys that climbed on me here. Its a damn 4 wheeler. Purist?? I've owned nothing but automatic trucks. They aren't powered by a rubber band though.

Now somebody is even darting after Honda, even though there hasn't been one honda guy in the thread making comments. Are you bored or what?

If the takeoff is so great, how come the Rubicon takes off faster???? Sure I get him 10 yards later, but thats just the engine making up for it. Put the same engines in each quad, and the Hondamatic wins every time. I'm no Honda freak either. I don't appeal to the masses. As for handicapped people, sure an auto is great. Auto isn't the ticket here, belt drive is.

I could care less what you think though, cause I'm not here to satisfy you. Just me. I think all of the old time quad guys have left and gone on to other forums now anyway. All there is left it seems are the baby *** whiners that got in on the ATV scene after belt drives were the flagship standard models. I doubt anyone can still appreciate when the Kodiak 400 and Bayou 400 models were things to stand in awe of.

Sport/Utility is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I recognize wolverines & scramblers in the class, and the rest as either Utility or Sport. Not a lot of rubber band sport bikes out there. The automatic was put here for the simple minded I think. Gas & go. Wow, what fun.

Still, the potential for problems is there. Dunk it over its nose in water and watch the belt vent fill. Do the same on a manual and don't even wince. Shred a belt in the middle of nowhere and walk. Don't even entertain the thought of the situation with a manual. Watch as you aging belt has sagged away some of the response and hook up from your quad. Never notice such a drop with a manual.

Sorry, but its nice to wind out the gears. Not to be done on the belt driven quads. But then again, why would you ever want to. Lets just ride in circles and remember that with the auto, we are always in the right gear.


I assume that each and every person that has replied to this thread owns a belt driven quad, and OVER HALF of them have never owned a manual shift ATV, or for the most part, never had one before 3 years ago.

 

Andy, don't take it so personal. There are two sides to everything these days. I've owned several standard tranny atv's over the years, 1 Suzuki, 2 Honda's and a Yamaha Banshee long before I bought my first Polaris in '95. I Don't even like riding our YZ250 dirt bike in the woods any more because I have to shift and on real technical trails, it can be a pain.

I can live with a standard on street bikes, but the day is coming, real soon when there will be auto tranny bikes out there. In fact, there are a couple of models that already are experimenting with them.

These trannys were direct decendants from sled setups. The nicest thing is that they keep you in the powerband all the time. I'm sure Honda is taking a different approach, but how will it really perform? These belt drives can be modified to work quite well.

As with almost everything I buy today, I have to make changes to it to suit myself. I hate to tell you how many things I changed on my Duramax so far.

If you don't like the way the belt setup works, change it to make it work like you want it to.

 

How can I own a belt driven quad, its the rubicon, the transmission aint blet, and on top of that, you can shift it manually if you like, Also, I own a Honda Big red 250 Three wheeler, and you are right it is fun to shift through gears, and I remember when that three wheeler was something to stand in awe of.

 

I would rather shift anyday, but I don't recommend the ES. Just my $.02.

 

Although I've never owned a standard tranny atv, I love climbin on my brother's ATC 200X and windin through the gears, there's nothin like it.

 

look buddy, if you don't like your belt driven atv, than SELL IT AND GET A NEW ONE!. i don't want to hear you **** and moan about your petty problems. Never owned manual quad, i owned two. A Bear trackerand a Suzuk 500. so stop making assumptions that makes you look like a complete idiot. why don't you sell your grizz and buy a rubicon if you like it so much, i'm not stoping you.

 

Lsnake-
what is your problem man??
everywhere i see your posts you are mocking other people. I think you should just worry about yourself and let other people post what they want.