ATV / UTV Review..

NYSpeed Automotive NYSpeed Off Topic
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After reading the rental car review, and returning from a weekend of riding in PA. I figured I’d post up my thoughts. Feel free to add. I’ll be adding to this as I have time.

Oh, and I know…

2006 polaris sportsman 500 EFI -
I rode this most off the weekend. To me this was underpowered. clutch comes on slow, but on the other hand I put 100 miles on this and I felt like I was on a couch. Very comfortable to ride 25-35 MPH. This is for someone with back / neck probelms or a girl that has no idea how to ride. Rolls into corners, took a ton off effort to get it to slide. The 4 wheel drive was meh. it works like a traction control system. take power from one wheel to the other so when your climbing a step hill it fights you side to side. On the flip side the EBS (engine braking system ) works great. cover the brakes and let it work. Steep hills you have to blip the throttle a bit to get it to catch again.
Over all comfortable ride, slighty underpowered, EFI starts every time no choke BS.

2007 Grizzly 700.
This is my moms wheeler. This thing is a beast. The ride much stiffer but the IRS works well still. No power issues here. This is easier to slide but still takes work, if you corner to quickly it still gives for the novice riders. EBS on this, not so great. The brakes on the handle bar are front / rear as the polaris is all 4 in one handle. Takes some getting used to for braking down hills. On the flip side this thing going up hills is great. No heed to use low hit the 4 wheel button and get some, or lock the front diff in and crawl in low. I’ve towed haywagons full with the 660’s this is set up to work and play. I wouldn’t reccomned this for inexperienced riders. Heavy, powerful toy you could get yourself in trouble with.

2011 polaris razor -
This is my favorite. The only way I can discribe this is like a trophy truck. Very powerful yet very easy to manage. Has a little understeer that needs a little getting used to. It will fit in the bed of a pick up. It had no problem going anyplace the wheelers did. The only down fall is the lack of fenders once you hit mud your covered.

2009 Yamaha Rihno
Not bad. Stiffer ride. Plenty of power. Again more of a work and cruise around machine than a full out off road toy. I would still buy one to use for work around the farm and ride trails with. Decent fender coverage and still a comfortable ride. Won’t fit in a truck box though, won’t clear the fender humps.

2007 Raptor 700 -
Plenty of power, fun, fast trail wheeler. I wouldn’t take this to the moto x track but its deff fun to rip around on. EFI and reverse is a huge plus.

2003 polaris predator - This was to me the best sport trail ATV. Had a little bigger tires on the rear and has more ground clearance than YFZ,LTR ect. I’ve been finding these cheap used. I have yet to ride an IRS. No reverse.

2006? LTR 450 -
I would buy this and take it to the track. snappy sporty low. Then faster you hit bumps the better it likes it. Not trail friendly, just hung up easy and has no reverse.

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1998 Suzuki King Quad:

Its only a 300cc engine so it doesn’t have much power. It is totally shaft driven which is super nice. Has high, low and super low gearing meshed to a 5 speed which gives you tons of gearing. My dad purchased this brand new in 1999 with a plow and it has been nothing but reliable. Has IRS and is super easy to ride, no nannies so you can easily slide the rear end about in 2wd. Also has 2wd, 4wd and 100% locked diffs, so you can pretty much ride through anything.

1988(ish) Banshee:

As a kid this was a sweet ride. 2wd solid rear axle fully manual chain driven. Not really reliable and the chain seemed like it would always pop off lol but it was a blast to ride.

1988(ish) Quadzilla:

This was and probably still is my favorite quad ever.Super sweet ride. 500cc 2 stroke, 2wd solid rear axle fully manual chain driven. Not really the most refined but definitely the most fun on two wheels ever. I wish my uncle still had it!!

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2006 Yamaha Raptor 700
Great motor for trail riding. The 700 will just chug along in higher gears. While riding, you can effortless pop the front up over puddles or ruts. 2006 came with lousy pogo stick shocks so fast/hard cornering caused alot of roll. A pair of elka shocks cleaned that right up though. Great sport quad for taller/bigger people. Having reverse was super convenient in the woods.

2006 Yamaha YFZ 450
Small and lightweight compared to the raptor. The 450 lacked serious torque for trail riding. Stock quad requires you to be up in the RPM range to get around. A simple cam mod changes the whole demmeanor of the bike. Suspension is great from the factory.

2008 Can Am Renegade 800x
This quad is simply amazing. It does exactly what it was made to do, be a sport hybrid. Can Am is an awesome manufacturer because they listen to the publics suggestions and incorporate them into future models. By far they make the best utility quads of any company. For this model year, I could use a little more torque. But I feel like I will be able to solve that with some clutching. The mid and top end pull is insane for a machine of this size. The stock HPG shocks are really nice with how adjustable they are. 4wd is really nice to have for those muddy trails.

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2001 Honda 400EX
faster than 90% of utility quads, but underpowered compared to other sport/race quads…excellent machine to learn on, yet you can grow with it and learn to really really throw it around. the handling really rocks on this, it’s low and wide enough that you aren’t too worried about tipping over unless you’re being super retarded. outstanding low speed balance and manuverability, has more than enough power down low (i was geared down a front tooth) to spin around on a dime. overall a well balanced quad but after 3 months of riding it i was left wanting more power at mid to higher speeds. the midrange power is good in the lower gears but it’s somewhat breathless up top, the power falls off hard near redline.

2001 Raptor 660R
tons of power, can wheelie quite well, brakes are great, traction is great, but the problem is that it’s too narrow and tall to go seriously fast around tight curves. the tires grip too well for the chassis to keep up with, it tends to feel wobbly unless you’re really hanging off the sides. this was even with a +2 extended rear axle. i love the power though, it pulls hard right off idle and really screams in the midrange to redline. reverse is great to have, but the stupid rev limiter that kicks in at 3000rpm in reverse only is really retarded as sometimes you need the high revs and wheelspin to get out of a jam. the redline is too low and abrupt and cuts the engine too hard for you to get out, ending up in stalling/lurching. i guess tons of people remove this and like it that way. transmission kind of sucks on this thing, reverse and neutral are always tough to get into and are known to be unreliable.

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08 raptor 700 se: first quad for me. reliable and gobs of torque. I am not a MX’er but love trails on the raptor. only issue I have had with it is rad fan failing. nothing other than that. No mayor mods or fuel controller, but I love the Dr.D reverse lever on the handlebars, you can go into reverse without taking your right hand off the handlebars, this eliminates the twist feature on the right fender. I did drop down from a 14t sprocket to a 13t but I am running RazrII tires in the back for an extra inch of clearance, and 23’s up front both with a +1 inch dia rim .

08 grizzy 700 Non/PS, awesome in the mud. push button 4x4 and locking diff makes riding a lot easier. the only major problem I have had with it is This summer I lost reverse. after tearing into the case I found out why. Yamaha makes the reverse idler ride on a bushing, and that bushing/gear is locked in place with snap rings so it does not wander on the idler shaft, but if the bushing wears it will push out and eventually push a snap ring out of the groove and your idler will wander and your stuck with no reverse. and this happened to me while in a 3 foot mudhole… in late 2010 yamaha fixed this and sells a reverse idler kit for the 07/08/09 grizzly 700’s that uses a new idler gear with a roller bearing and rather than snap rings it uses a large spacer to hold it in the right spot between the case halves. It is not a hard fix, dealerships want 1500+ to fix it if your out of warranty. the idler kit shipped is around $75, and you’ll need a few gaskets. Its not a hard process and if anyone has questions please let me know. mods on the grizzly are roller weight changes, machined sheave, pod mod, 28" tires 14" rims, 4000lb winch, synth line, yamaha HD front bumper, to be honest I pretty much beat the crap out of it. Ive submetged it, pushed down trees, towed trailers, its a quad, not a trailer queen, ride it while you can.

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'84 honda 200s ATC. This is, well its just fun to ride. Little power, chain, strait axle, tops out around 40ish. Wheelie for ever, great in mud and snow since front wheel just floats on top. Motor is built proof. Can be scary since its roll over friendly.

'87 honda 250x hahah. First quad for me. Fully manual with reverse, chain, strait axle. Great beginner quad, decent power, decent top speed 50-55ish depending on tire size and gearing. Its no 400ex or 450.

'87 Honda 250r quad, full manual, chain. This had a big bore kit. One word, NASTY, fully built motor, crazy long travel suspension. Haven’t rode quad that handled or pulled as hard as this. Once the r’s got up hold on.

'97 blaster, fun to fart around with.

'01 Honda 400ex, read above. This did have has a 426 kit, trq monster, not much top end difference.

'01 660 raptor, read above.

'04 honda 450. Stock not much to say, its a 450, tight woods, tight track, always slipping clutch. Fire roads or logging roads lots of fun.

'06 Kawi brute force 650 SRA, fully automatic, high/low/reverse. Great work horse, use it to plow in the winter. Great trq, falls flat up top. Tops out 65-70. Shaft drive, strait rear axle, locked rear, open front with option to slip or fully lock with lever on handle bars. This is one of my fav’s, can ride pretty hard, drift, and take small jumps. Its actually pretty neutral in the air. Needs at least front suspension work, dives to much in tight turns.