05 Grizzly VS. 05 Sportsman 700

[shanksRX-1]

One of my buddies just got an 05 sportsman 700 twin with EFI and we logged on about 200 miles this weekend over all different terrain and we switched back and forth several times.

Comparison:

Off the line the sportsman has quite a flat spot. So much so that if we both hit it right from idle I jump out in front till about 35-40mph then he comes back by me. The power delivery is actually quite like a banshee in that it is kinda all or nothing. You have to use the rpms to keep the power on. However in the midrange and top end it accelerates much faster than the grizz and I would estimate it to be 5-7 mph faster on top end. Not nearly as bad as I thought I was gunna do against it. especially since it is an 8 valve twin with EFI.

Through the woods in the tight stuff the grizzly really out handles it by quite a bit. I can gain distance on him all the way through the tight twisty rough woods trails. The power delivery of the grizzly being very torquey right off idle makes it much better and more fun in the woods. The front end on the sportsman dives much worse in corners and hinders the handleing. The power delivery of the grizzly also makes the front end easier to get light. Its nearly impossible to get the front end up on the sportsman where as I can float mine over whoops and hills as im going down the trail. Weighing in at 765lbs the sportsman feels much heavier in the woods. To me it really makes the grizzly more fun to ride.

ride quality is almost perfectly matched. The front end on the sportsman with the macpherson strut rather than A arms seems to suck up the really rough stuff better than the grizzly but its not by much and the better handling of the grizzly more than makes up for it.

I havn't looked at the specs but the sportsman looks like it has a 1/2 inch or so more ground clearance. Not enough to make much of a difference. Both machines dig right through the mud holes with little effort. I definately like the setup of the 4x4 and diff lock on the grizz better. Im not sure if the sportsman has diff lock, if it does it must be automatic because the only button it has is awd or 2x4.

the EFI is nice, no choke just turn the key, give it a min to warm up and your off.

We hooked bumper to bumber and tried to pull each other backwards but neither one of us could move the other we just spun huge ruts in the ground and on the black top we just smoked tires. but it was fun...

Even though the spotsman is faster and accelerates from mid to top end much faster, the grizzly, to me anyway, is more fun to ride and definately out handles the polaris. We'll see which one holds up better.

Oh ya one more thing... We rode all day and both machines got about the same fuel mileage with the grizzly taking just a tenth or so of a gallon more on fillups but we were running hard and the single 660 probly had to work harder, The EFI im sure really helps the sportsman out also...

IMO...

 

[Ganz]

Great post and nice job on the comparison.

 

[shanksRX-1]

Thanks!!... I tried to paint the entire picture...

 

[Ganz]

Oh and one more thing. All my riding buddies have poo's.

 

[shanksRX-1]

Oh and one more thing. All my riding buddies have poo's.

They really do seam to sell alot of em. My crew consists of 2 grizzlys and 2 sportsman. They are nice machines but I have had no luck with polaris whatsoever. I won't own another one...

 

[shanksRX-1]

Oh ya the fit and finish on any yamaha (atv, sled, jetski, bike) is second to none. Much better than polaris.

 

[Ganz]

I agree fit and finish on the yamaha is the best.

I don't like Polaris because I have to work on my friends and they are a P.I.T.A. Seems you have to take half the machine apart to get at what you really need to work on. Bad engineering IMO or maybe good if you're a dealer and can charge for the repair.

Thanks, I'll stick with my Yamahahopper.

 

[MrSled]

Nice report