Grizzly 660 and Prairie 650.....opinions on both
Mar 5, 2003 | 07:39 PM
#1
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Trailblazer
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 95
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Grizzly 660 and Prairie 650.....opinions on both
For all you who are considering purchasing one of these two machines, you may want to read this before your purchase. Before I continue let me say that the following is ONLY MY OPINION!!!! Others may disagree and I mean to offend nobody. I have now owned both of these machines and thought maybe my experiences could help others out in their decision, 'cause I know I had a hard time deciding between the two. First I purchased the p650. I had it for about a week before deciding to give it back to the dealer and get the Grizzly. The prairie had alot of problems. I'm sure it was probably just a lemon but it left a bad taste in my mouth anyhow. I won't get into the problems in specific, but if you want to read about some of them go to the Kawasaki forum and find the thread entitled "Prairie 650.....piece of crap".
Mind you that many others have had prairies without any problems and some have had Grizzlys with problems also, so don't let this sway you either way (although every mechanic I've talked to has told me that Yamaha tends to have a better reliability reputation than Kawasaki. Anyway, the intent here is not to bash one brand or the other, my intent is to give you my opinionated comparison of the two. So, here goes............
Engine-- While both have extremely strong engines, I felt that the v-twin of the prairie felt a little
stronger. It was also smoother, as to be expected from a v-twin compared to a single.
But don't get me wrong, the Grizzly is by no means a slouch. I won't get into which one is
faster because first of all we all know from the tests that the prairie is slightly faster in
acceleration, second of all, I couldn't hammer either machine because of the break-in
period (which I'm still doing on the Grizzly), and third of all because these machines were
not made to race. If you're concerned about being faster than your buddy, than think about
puchasing a racing quad. Overall I'd have to give engine honors to the Kaw........and I'm a
Yamaha fan at heart so that is definitely an unbiased opinion. But believe me, both climb
hills extemely well.
Transmission-- Without a doubt I feel that the Grizzly has a better trans. Not that the Kaw's trans is
bad, but to me the Grizzly's just felt better. One thing I do not like about the prairie's
trans is that it has a "belt check indicator" light on the dash that is pre-programmed
to come on every 100 hours of use to remind you to check the belt. When it comes on
it limits the rpm of the motor to 3600, which is just barely faster than a snail in
molasses. If you try to go over this rpm the motor acts like it's hitting the rev limiter.
I know this for two reasons.....1)my light came on prematurely and I had to take it
to the dealer. 2) while at the dealer he showed me the maintainence manual and it
stated this in black and white. This may not seem like a big deal, but think about it.....
what if you're out in the middle of the woods when that magic 100 hour mark comes
up? Or worse yet, you're in the middle of a mud hole and the light comes on and limits
your motor to 3600 rpm. Personally I think it's just a way for Kawasaki to ensure that
they'll make a little money off of us every 100 hours of use as you'll have to take it
to the shop to have the light reset unless you know how to reset it yourself (which
I do not). Personally I don't want to always be worried about that 100 hour mark
when I'm planning a trip or something. What if you have 98 hours on it and are
planning on taking it to the shop over the weekend and your buddy calls you and
asks you to go on a trip with him. What are you going to say?........"sorry, my light's
about to come on and I don't want to be stuck out there with a bike that won't turn
over 3600 rpm, thanks anyways". On the Grizzly I don't have to worry about that, and
I've read many places that the Grizzly has a better trans.....maybe this is why Yamaha
didn't feel the need to put a warning light for the belt on their product. Another thing
about the Grizzly is that it has a drain plug for the trans cover. If you get water in
there, just pull the plug, drain the water, and you're going again in 10 minutes or so.
I don't recall seeing a drain plug on my prairie, so get it wet and you're screwed. I
might be wrong on that so look for yourself when you go to look at the prairie.
And no matter what the salesman tells you, any auto atv can get water in the tranny
if you submerge it deep enough.
Chassis/suspension-- Close call here. Obviously the Grizzly has more ground clearance. It also seems
like it has a bit better ride, I'm sure due to the IRS. The Grizzly has adjustable
shocks both front and rear, which I really like, and the preload adjusters are on
the bottom of the shock so they're easy to get to. The rear shock on the prairie
is adjustable for preload but it is at the top of the shock and is a pain to access.
The front shocks on the prairie are not adjustable and are set far too soft.
Putting just a little weight on the front rack squats the machine too much for
my liking. The Grizzly just seems to have a much sturdier suspension. The
prairie has a lower center of gravity and this is a definite advantage when
riding at a faster pace through the trails or around corners. The Grizzly with
its higher center of gravity and taller suspension seems like it wants to roll
more and feels "tippier". But it makes up for this when the time comes that
you need ground clearance. I rolled right over stuff with my Grizzly that my
prairie got the rear axle hung on. So it depends on what you want to do....
if you want to trail ride real fast and go fast around corners, buy the prairie
and put better front shocks on it. If you want to do some serious off-roading
buy the Grizzly. Not that you can't trail ride fast with the Grizzly, it just might
take a little more care and slightly bigger *****. Overall I'd say the prairie
handles a little better, but I feel that the Grizzly has an overall better chassis
and suspension set-up. I could call this a tie, but I think I like the Grizzly's
set up better. I'll give up a little handling for the advantages the Grizzly offers.
You won't be doing doughnuts in the sand with the Grizzly like you can with
the Kaw, but if this is your main priority, buy a race quad.
Tires-- Tires on both suck!!
Brakes-- Front brakes on both bikes work great, although I have to admit that the prairies front brakes
felt a little stronger. However, I don't like the internal "clutch plate type" rear brake on the Kaw.
I don't like the idea of having to pull apart the rear axle to access my rear brake. True it's
sealed from the elements, but that's what they make a water hose for!! The rear brake on the
Grizzly is a disk brake that's actually mounted to the drive shaft under the skid plate, which
aids in ground clearance and helps protect it too. I really like this set-up. Also, given the fact
that the prairie has good front brakes and soft front shocks, it dives alot under braking.....I do
not like this.
Instrumentation-- A tie on this one, it comes down to personal preference.
Overall fit and finish-- Most definitely the Grizzly. The Kaw's plastics didn't seem to fit together as well
as the Grizzly's did. I don't like the painted steel skid plates and floor boards on
the Kaw. Steel rusts....period. The racks on the Kaw are also painted and would
seem that putting stuff on them would eventually scratch them all up. The Grizzly
has hard plastic skid plates and floor boards and its skid plates seem to give
better coverage too. The racks on the Grizzly are coated with something similar
to that Rhino lining stuff which seems much more durable to me than paint.
I think Yamaha put more thought into their quad and gave it some more common
sense features. True, plastic may tear up easier under hard use, but it doesn't
rust, it's lighter and it's cheaper to replace. Lastly, the Grizzly just looks meaner!
Conclusion--- Aside from the problems I had with the Kaw, it was a nice machine with its v-twin engine
and good handling characteristics, but it wasn't without its drawbacks. I felt that the only
two drawbacks the Grizzly had was it's single cylinder engine (and I wouldn't call this a
drawback unless comparing it to the smoothness of the v-twin), and the fact that it
didn't handle quite as well in the trails and corners due in large part to its higher center
of gravity and tall IRS. Neither machine is perfect, but I felt that the Kaw had more things
that I didn't like about it than did the Grizzly. Although if you could put the Kaw's engine in
the Grizzly, and maybe mount the Grizzly's gas tank under the right fender like Kawasaki
did on the prairie to help lower the center of gravity, then I believe that the Grizzly would
be the perfect machine!! When I win the lottery, I'll have the best of both worlds, but until
then, give me the Grizzly. Hope this helps. Ride safe all.
Mind you that many others have had prairies without any problems and some have had Grizzlys with problems also, so don't let this sway you either way (although every mechanic I've talked to has told me that Yamaha tends to have a better reliability reputation than Kawasaki. Anyway, the intent here is not to bash one brand or the other, my intent is to give you my opinionated comparison of the two. So, here goes............
Engine-- While both have extremely strong engines, I felt that the v-twin of the prairie felt a little
stronger. It was also smoother, as to be expected from a v-twin compared to a single.
But don't get me wrong, the Grizzly is by no means a slouch. I won't get into which one is
faster because first of all we all know from the tests that the prairie is slightly faster in
acceleration, second of all, I couldn't hammer either machine because of the break-in
period (which I'm still doing on the Grizzly), and third of all because these machines were
not made to race. If you're concerned about being faster than your buddy, than think about
puchasing a racing quad. Overall I'd have to give engine honors to the Kaw........and I'm a
Yamaha fan at heart so that is definitely an unbiased opinion. But believe me, both climb
hills extemely well.
Transmission-- Without a doubt I feel that the Grizzly has a better trans. Not that the Kaw's trans is
bad, but to me the Grizzly's just felt better. One thing I do not like about the prairie's
trans is that it has a "belt check indicator" light on the dash that is pre-programmed
to come on every 100 hours of use to remind you to check the belt. When it comes on
it limits the rpm of the motor to 3600, which is just barely faster than a snail in
molasses. If you try to go over this rpm the motor acts like it's hitting the rev limiter.
I know this for two reasons.....1)my light came on prematurely and I had to take it
to the dealer. 2) while at the dealer he showed me the maintainence manual and it
stated this in black and white. This may not seem like a big deal, but think about it.....
what if you're out in the middle of the woods when that magic 100 hour mark comes
up? Or worse yet, you're in the middle of a mud hole and the light comes on and limits
your motor to 3600 rpm. Personally I think it's just a way for Kawasaki to ensure that
they'll make a little money off of us every 100 hours of use as you'll have to take it
to the shop to have the light reset unless you know how to reset it yourself (which
I do not). Personally I don't want to always be worried about that 100 hour mark
when I'm planning a trip or something. What if you have 98 hours on it and are
planning on taking it to the shop over the weekend and your buddy calls you and
asks you to go on a trip with him. What are you going to say?........"sorry, my light's
about to come on and I don't want to be stuck out there with a bike that won't turn
over 3600 rpm, thanks anyways". On the Grizzly I don't have to worry about that, and
I've read many places that the Grizzly has a better trans.....maybe this is why Yamaha
didn't feel the need to put a warning light for the belt on their product. Another thing
about the Grizzly is that it has a drain plug for the trans cover. If you get water in
there, just pull the plug, drain the water, and you're going again in 10 minutes or so.
I don't recall seeing a drain plug on my prairie, so get it wet and you're screwed. I
might be wrong on that so look for yourself when you go to look at the prairie.
And no matter what the salesman tells you, any auto atv can get water in the tranny
if you submerge it deep enough.
Chassis/suspension-- Close call here. Obviously the Grizzly has more ground clearance. It also seems
like it has a bit better ride, I'm sure due to the IRS. The Grizzly has adjustable
shocks both front and rear, which I really like, and the preload adjusters are on
the bottom of the shock so they're easy to get to. The rear shock on the prairie
is adjustable for preload but it is at the top of the shock and is a pain to access.
The front shocks on the prairie are not adjustable and are set far too soft.
Putting just a little weight on the front rack squats the machine too much for
my liking. The Grizzly just seems to have a much sturdier suspension. The
prairie has a lower center of gravity and this is a definite advantage when
riding at a faster pace through the trails or around corners. The Grizzly with
its higher center of gravity and taller suspension seems like it wants to roll
more and feels "tippier". But it makes up for this when the time comes that
you need ground clearance. I rolled right over stuff with my Grizzly that my
prairie got the rear axle hung on. So it depends on what you want to do....
if you want to trail ride real fast and go fast around corners, buy the prairie
and put better front shocks on it. If you want to do some serious off-roading
buy the Grizzly. Not that you can't trail ride fast with the Grizzly, it just might
take a little more care and slightly bigger *****. Overall I'd say the prairie
handles a little better, but I feel that the Grizzly has an overall better chassis
and suspension set-up. I could call this a tie, but I think I like the Grizzly's
set up better. I'll give up a little handling for the advantages the Grizzly offers.
You won't be doing doughnuts in the sand with the Grizzly like you can with
the Kaw, but if this is your main priority, buy a race quad.
Tires-- Tires on both suck!!
Brakes-- Front brakes on both bikes work great, although I have to admit that the prairies front brakes
felt a little stronger. However, I don't like the internal "clutch plate type" rear brake on the Kaw.
I don't like the idea of having to pull apart the rear axle to access my rear brake. True it's
sealed from the elements, but that's what they make a water hose for!! The rear brake on the
Grizzly is a disk brake that's actually mounted to the drive shaft under the skid plate, which
aids in ground clearance and helps protect it too. I really like this set-up. Also, given the fact
that the prairie has good front brakes and soft front shocks, it dives alot under braking.....I do
not like this.
Instrumentation-- A tie on this one, it comes down to personal preference.
Overall fit and finish-- Most definitely the Grizzly. The Kaw's plastics didn't seem to fit together as well
as the Grizzly's did. I don't like the painted steel skid plates and floor boards on
the Kaw. Steel rusts....period. The racks on the Kaw are also painted and would
seem that putting stuff on them would eventually scratch them all up. The Grizzly
has hard plastic skid plates and floor boards and its skid plates seem to give
better coverage too. The racks on the Grizzly are coated with something similar
to that Rhino lining stuff which seems much more durable to me than paint.
I think Yamaha put more thought into their quad and gave it some more common
sense features. True, plastic may tear up easier under hard use, but it doesn't
rust, it's lighter and it's cheaper to replace. Lastly, the Grizzly just looks meaner!
Conclusion--- Aside from the problems I had with the Kaw, it was a nice machine with its v-twin engine
and good handling characteristics, but it wasn't without its drawbacks. I felt that the only
two drawbacks the Grizzly had was it's single cylinder engine (and I wouldn't call this a
drawback unless comparing it to the smoothness of the v-twin), and the fact that it
didn't handle quite as well in the trails and corners due in large part to its higher center
of gravity and tall IRS. Neither machine is perfect, but I felt that the Kaw had more things
that I didn't like about it than did the Grizzly. Although if you could put the Kaw's engine in
the Grizzly, and maybe mount the Grizzly's gas tank under the right fender like Kawasaki
did on the prairie to help lower the center of gravity, then I believe that the Grizzly would
be the perfect machine!! When I win the lottery, I'll have the best of both worlds, but until
then, give me the Grizzly. Hope this helps. Ride safe all.
Mar 5, 2003 | 08:37 PM
#2
Range Rover
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 105
Likes: 0
Grizzly 660 and Prairie 650.....opinions on both
I am not sure you are right about the fact that when the belt light comes on after 100 hours of service the machine will only run at 3600 rpms I believe this only happens when the belt is loose enough to flip a sensor which causes the belt light to come on and only let the machine run at 3600 rpms because the belt is loose enough to the point where it is either falling apart or could slap around inside the housing and cause damage to the machine and quite possible cause injury to the rider.
Mar 5, 2003 | 10:10 PM
#5
Thread Starter
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Trailblazer
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 95
Likes: 0
Grizzly 660 and Prairie 650.....opinions on both
sfehr, you are right about the sensor in the trans being tripped by a loose belt consequently causing the light to come on and therefore limiting the engine rpm, however, when the light on my prairie came on it wasn't because the belt had become loose and tripped the sensor.......the light simply malfunctioned and as a result caused the engine to hit rev limiter at 3600rpm. When the mechanic pulled the trans cover, the sensor was in its proper position and the belt tightness was within spec. I watched him do this and saw it for myself. This led me to believe that the limiting of the engine rpm is directly tied to the belt light on the dash. The dealer confirmed this, as did the fact that the belt and the belt sensor were in their proper adjustment and position, respectively.
Mar 6, 2003 | 12:21 AM
#7
Trailblazer
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 47
Likes: 0
Grizzly 660 and Prairie 650.....opinions on both
Yamaguy,
That was one of, if not the most articulate and informative post's I have ever read on any of the atv boards.
Paul....
That was one of, if not the most articulate and informative post's I have ever read on any of the atv boards.
Paul....
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Mar 6, 2003 | 01:02 AM
#8
Pro Rider
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 818
Likes: 0
Grizzly 660 and Prairie 650.....opinions on both
Yamaguy, very good post. I have ridden both machines and have to agree with most of your thoughts. The only one I would call you on is the Grizzly's floorboards. They are way too flimsy. My buddy rode his for one ride and we wound up beefing up his floorboards the next day. After we modded them, it was 100 times better. As for brakes, I prefer my sealed brake on the 650----just my opinion. Good to see an unbiased opinion. Like you said, no machine is perfect, and in one of my posts quite a while ago I stated the same thing you did, "put the Kawie's V-twin in a Grizz frame and DAMN!!!!!" Now that would be a hoot!!!!!!
Mar 6, 2003 | 09:32 PM
#10
Thread Starter
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Trailblazer
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 95
Likes: 0
Grizzly 660 and Prairie 650.....opinions on both
shotgun, no problem........I know I was a little harsh in my post in the Kawasaki forum. At the time I was still real p.o.'ed about the problems I encountered with the prairie. Didn't mean to offend you or anyone else.....sorry if I did. Your apology is graciously accepted, please accept mine if I offended you. Ride safe.
