Buy a 650 praire and your problems will be over.

 

Yep, that should solve it all in a heartbeat.

 

agreed

 

If i hated a machine i owned that bad i would trade or sell it...i have owned my 02' Griz since 7/01 and have had 0 problems just mods.

 

I've ridden the Praire 650, but I like my 660 better.

 

Hellfish? So what your saying is you haven't had any problems BUT, you've had to do all the mods #1 - Wrap the header with heat tape or Jethot coat the header, #2 - Cover the bottom of the tank and some fuel lines with heat reflective tape, #3 - Drill the side panels with holes so they vent the heat (does this cook your legs/thieghs?) .....Sounds like alot of stuff to be doing to a NEW? bike before you can reliably ride slow or on hot days or through really difficult sections of the trail i.e. Long mud runs, or multiple hill climbs..... I'm kinda in the same boat as "Curlytail" I Really like the Grizzly, I mean thats what I really WANT to spend my hard-earned money on. I love the features the grizzly has... Like I.R. susupention vs. the praire's solid axle. plus better gauges IMO. Also the grizz just looks kick a** compared to the Prarie's sedate styling. The Rincon was definitly in the running but LOL I didn't want to go though the BS of having a "first year out" machine plus the apparent engine braking & no REAL low range. The Grizz has what i want BUT WILL IT STAY RUNNING?

 

I will agree that nobody should have to do all that crap on a $7000 brand new bike to make it run right. Thing should do that from the factory. Thats poor design on Yamaha's part. I think they rushed it into production personally. On the bright side, the few mods are real simple and pretty much inexpensive to do. Only thing that really does cost any money is that Highlifter heat wrap ($40), and you can probably get the same thing someplace else for a lot cheaper. The reflective tape for the bottom of the tank cost me like $3 at some hardware store.

I would at least try that stuff, cause its not very hard or expensive. If the problems persisted, I would get rid of that quad and cuss every one like it that saw thereafter. Thats just me though. A few years ago, you would find guys with Sp500's that spent an eternity in a shop someplace, and then the owner would just go buy the same thing again. If I got burned once, that would be enough. You can bet your sweet *** that if my 660 conked out on me tomorrow, I'd be sitting on a Rincon or something very soon. I don't do the brand loyal thing.

 

7 Grand is a lot of money to pay for something that you have to fix or could severly hurt you like the guy that was climbing the slope when the griz started vapor lock sputtering. I am really on the fence right now. All of the issues with the Griz and the fact that Yamaha is not eager to fix their problems concerns me.

Starting to look at the 650 Prairie[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

 

ISTHISNEEDED...It does'nt take a genius to figure out a big bore atv with panels needs some air,the heatfighter kit,panel mods and insulating fuel lines were done with 10mi on the griz and i have had these mods or similar on every motorcycle and atv i have owned they have ben around longer than the griz and a little preventative FUNDAMENTAL MANTIENENCE goes a long way to prevent these exact symptoms everyone complains about i have not had so chaulk 1 up to EXPERIENCE or LUCK i guess...any atv you buy will have somthing or other that you will not like,if ANY atv gives me those problems i don't keep crying I WILL TRADE OR SELL IT, NOT KEEP BITCHING, E-BAY THE DAMN THING,lifes to short for grief and bitching about over and over get over it man!

 

I bought a 2003 Grizzly last spring, and have no problems what so ever. It is the most popular quad at family parties (no shifting), therfore gets every grandma and aunt in the family taking it for "a little ride". This equates to 25 minutes of riding under 10 mph....sometimes with two people on board. I have yet to encounter any problems..knock on wood, and don't foresee any either. I would strongly recomend the Grizzly for the type of riding you describe.