For those of you that have not been following the Quad Magazine big bore shootout this year, the results are out. Quad Magazine is one of the better magazines in my opinion, and in general I tend to agree with most of what I read. They do seem to be more objective than some magazines.

This year they did a multi-part big bore shootout. Part one was a shootout between the 800+ cc big bores, and the Outlander 800 beat the Sportman and the Thunder Cat. Part two was a shootout between the 700s, and the Grizzly 700 won. Part three was a shootout between the 750s, and the King Quad won. Part four was a shootout between the winners of each segment, and the Grizzly 700 won.

I think it is interesting that there seems to be a shift in peoples perception of what makes a big bore sport utility ATV " the best". It used to be that each year the manufacturers brought out bigger and faster sport utes, and the biggest and fastest one would win the shootout. Are we now seeing a shift in what is considered "best"? It would appear so, because for the last two years the Grizzly 700 has won because of superior handling, steering, and the quality of the overall package. Given that these are sportutility ATVs, I think this makes sense. Go to any sporting event (GNCC, Hare & Hound Desert Race, WORCS, AMA), and talk to the racers. Beginners talk horsepower, ... pro's talk handling.

 

I'm glad to see the Grizz win as I was thinking of picking one up myself.

I do agree with you on Quad Magazine beeing one of the best atv magazines out there.

 

I thought Artic Cat dominated the utility racing untill Can Am came along.

 

How did the 5 speed big bores do? Oh,that right, they don't make any.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Can Am and Arctic Cat continue to sweep the podium at terrain challenge races. (AC holds most, which is why Im suprised Can-Am beat out AC). Yamaha makes a nice quad, I just prefer AC, no matter what a magazine tells me.

 

The racing effort that AC has been involved in has really helped their company if you ask me. Didn't they develop their "ride in" suspension design from feedback from their race team? The new lower suspension settings and rider position have certainly improved handling and peformance on the newer AC quads.

 

Yes. It works well for those trying to get more high speed cornering from their machine. I personally love my ground clearance, as I do alot of rough log covered, and big rocky trails. It gives the best of both worlds. AC has enough power and wheel well space to put on about any size tire also to gain the ground clearance wanted.

 

I think that's interesting. I've been looking at quads hard for a couple months and without having seen the magazine- I was torn most between the Grizzly and the Arctic Cat I finally did buy. The Brute Force sounded cool for the motor- I come from sport bikes so my last ride was a 170mph crotch rocket.

I did pick up a copy of Quad at the shop I got the Cat, the issue with the BF versus the Kingquad.

I have mixed feeling about the magazine. I think their testing methods sounded solid, but the article about duck hunting was so poor that I was embarrassed for them to even print it. Not knowing the difference between a rifle and a shotgun? Come on, my 8 year old knows that, and I'd feel safer having her in a blind than the people in that article. Worse- what's the biggest complaint from anti-ATV'ers? That hunting with quads damages the environment because hunters are tear assing around the woods. And here's a magazine who's serious hunting article was about how they hooked a john boat to a quad and ripped around a swamp.

So I'm reserving my support of Quad until I see better articles written by knowledgible people and not put out articles I could have done a better job with.

 

Hey Solly lama, check my pics. Thats a fast bike.

 

nice gixxer. I have gotten to ride several and there's little wonder why they dominate the track.

I prefer the V Twins, and my last bike was a TLR1000. It was two wheeled insanity. It'd wheelie in the first three gears, and whether you wanted to or not in the first two!

I live at 6000 feet too, so I'm losing power. I can only imagine a TLR at sea level. It's not the top speed I care about so much as that ******* shrivelling acceleration. Riding the TLR is like driving a 500 HP big block musclecar.

It was also so loud it set off car alarms. No kidding. Louder than my Harley.

But the scene here sucks and the cops are out of control. I have a CDL, I need a clean record. Plus too many of my good riding buddies have been killed over the past couple years. I needed to get off the street with fast machines. A cruiser, sure- but not the bike doing 80mph in first gear.

So I went back to the dirt for my fun, and traded the TLR in for this Arctic Cat 700.

I'll never not be a biker- but I'm going back to getting my thrills in the woods and at slower speeds. Mud and rocks! No court appearances, no impounded bikes, no high speed felony evasion. We got harrassed by the local cops constantly too.

I'll leave the plastic bikes to the kids who wheelie but don't ride past the city limits. I got a toy I can use with my kid since she has a quad too.

Will I miss it? Oh yes. But it was time to get off the replica Superbike. But that's why I wanted the big dog 700cc quad- couldn't trade in that rocket for just any quad. I needed excess- and 700cc's is more than I'll ever really use anyway. But if I could have afforded it- I would have gotten the Thundercat, just to have it!