Advice on new ATV

[polarisbob]

Hey all I am new on this forum and was looking for some advice. I am an avid snowmobiler who is looking for something to ride in the long off season. Although I think a sport quad would suit my riding style much more. I must get a four by to meet all my needs. I think I have narrowed the search down to a Yamaha Grizzly 660 or a Kawasaki Brute Force 650. Does anyone have any useful information on these machines things I should consider. I will mostly be trail riding with some work around the house on the side. I would say I am a fairly aggressive rider at six feet tall and 190 pounds. Thank you in advance for any help.

[mveshia]

If this helps any.I'm not much of a polaris fan,but...i saw a competition between all the big dawgs and the new polaris MAX beat all.They did a tractor pull style pull-off between them.It was really cool to watch cause the new honda foreman,pulled the sled only like 1 foot.Anyways just my $.02.

[vhcat]

Out of the 2 I would have to pick the Brute Force, that v-twin is very quick and the handling on them is about the best you will get from a 4x4. It will also be great for working as well. But that is just my opinion.

Oh and welcome to NYRs.

Vince

[ajd187]

I have a V-Force which has a motor/drivetrain very similar to the Brute.  It has tons of power and torque.  I think the Brute is ugly though.  And it has hardly any storage aside from the racks. 

I haven't ridden a Griz but they are pretty sweet looking.

[grizzlyrider]

Well heres my .02....... I have a '05 Grizzly..thing is rocking awsome, it has the power to do anything you want it to. It also rides very very smooth. It feels pritty sporty for a 600lb 4x4. It hits jumps very well if you want to play around a bit. Has good ground clearance as well.......Thing that I didn't like was not much storage (although the trunk is huge) there is no other storage at all. You would have to use fender bags or rack bags as the saddle type bags will block your air vents on the side and make it run very hot. I know from experiance lol. (also if you leave the shocks on factory set....its feels a bit tippy when cornering at high speed)

Brute force I also like......however I don't know if they changed it this year or not but the 650 version has the solid rear axle not the IRS. That will make a huge difference in your ride. The 750 version has IRS...I have not ridden one myself, but from what I heard from a guy in PA and what I read in dirtrider mag....The brute has crapy stock tires, and small handlebars that make the stearing feel crapy. They said be prepared to spend a couple thousand more than sticker to make the ride feel comfortable. I guess thats to get new rims, tires and wider handlebars.

The grizz feels damn good stock....and if you go to troycitygarage.com the grizz is priced at 5800 and the Brute is priced at 6400. Maybe your local dealer will match those prices..mine did. Dirtrider did give the Brute a good rating Just need to make those few adjustments. But for the money and a good machine I would go with the grizz. those are the two machines I was looking at for my second machine (for the wife) So far unless Kawi fixes those things on the next modle I will be going with another Grizz. ( I dragged a Brute in pa in the snow and took him off the line and 3/4 the way down the stretch however his bigger tires and clutch finnaly got me in the end.) since then  I just put new rims and tires on the Grizz and that took away the tippy feeling when cornering. It's rock solid now.
p.s. I don't remember if the Brute has push button 4x4 with push button locking differential but the grizz does and it is really nice.

Brute does sound real cool though kind of like a jet engine taking off. Both machines will do you proud. Hope this helped.

[vhcat]

Grizz,
You are thinking of the Prairie 650/700. The Brute Force you can get either solid or IRS. I think the difference is the plastic plus you cant get IRS with the Prairie 700.

polarisbob,
Here are the MSRP's for the 3 machines from their web sites. But like Grizz said go to the dealers to see what kind of deals you can get.

Yamaha 660-$7,199
Kawi BF 650-$7,099
Kawi Prairie 700-$6,949


I hope that helps.

Vince

[ridgerunner]

If you want a 4X4 utility quad that acts like a sport quad, look no further than the BRP 400, 650, or my new ride, the 800!  It has a V-twin fuel injected Rotax engine that is a full 800cc.   I also have a hopped up sport quad that I love dearly.  The 800 is a heavier version of that with better mud flaps!   Keep in mind that the BRP's are not the cheapest quad out there.  Kawi puts out a great V-twin also.  That is what I traded for the BRP.  Check out what people are racing in the Utility class of GNCC, they are mostly Kawi's and BRP's.   If you are looking at mega storage with the best layed out  storage system, Polaris can't be beat on that period!  There are some great machines out there and don't settle on one until you have ridden all candidates!!!    

[polarisbob]

Thanks for the replies. Funny you should mention troy city garage because that is where I plan on buying from. The problem that I see is that I have no opportunity to ride any of the machines. It seems the local  dealers dont have any machines that you can test ride.

[KURT]

Go Green!

[Adirondack Man]

I have over 3000 miles on my '03 Prairie 650.  The BF650 SRA is the same machine.  I have no problem with the handlebars.  Keep the deflection, on the belt, on the tight side and it will pull a house down.  I have no complaints about the handling.  I upgraded to a set of works struts and it handles like a sports quad.  I will admit though, that on rough trails, my back starts to feel it after awhile.  You might want to check out the BF650 model with IRS.  Much more comfortable ride.  If you have the $$, the Outlanders are great machines.  However, from what I have read on other forums, you will want to put a skid plate on it.  Other than that, they are great machines right out of the crate.  You will enjoy whatever you get, so long as you are riding.

[rapidrobert]

I have to add one to the mix how about the ATV of the year the 05 Suzuki king quad 700 efi.
I have rode them all and that was my choice. I can give you more information on it if you are interested. Rapidrobert