Hey guys. I havent been looking for one of these ATV's, but one has popped up for sale around here. It needs some work. Ad says it has low compression, which if that is the only problem, it shouldnt be a bad fix. Plastic looks great and tires look pretty nice. He's asking $500 which seems fair. Im thinking if I could get him down a little on it it would be even better.

My questions are about the 600 grizzly in general

1-Is the belt drive system reliable on this model? I know the 660 and up is a good design, just havent heard much on this

2- Since it is Air Cooled, Is the 600 Grizzly bad about overheating easily even when the oil cooler is clean?

3- Are these machines reliable in general? Im not a huge fan of these older grizzly's, but i do remember they were pretty popular back in the day.

4- Do they have selectable 4wd, or full time?

If I could have this going for less than a thousand, seems I couldnt come out too bad on it. I know how these projects are and they can cost more than expected, but I think I could come out ok on it considering what he is asking. Thanks for any help

Eric

 

Nobody has owned one of these? lol I think im going to go look at it and possibly pick it up tomorrow if its in decent shape.

I did find out they are selectable 4wd, just like to know more about the other stuff. Thanks

 

The reason nobody has one is they had a very short production, 1998 to 2001, thats only a 4 year run.
My friend had one it seemed like a powerful tuff ATV. The motor was used by Yamaha for many years in there XT600 motorcycles.
It was the first Big Bore ATV and top dog in its day.

They are selectable 2wd/4wd.
I,m sure the belt drive is good because Yamaha has been making high performance snowmobiles for years and the CVT system is nothing new to them.
Here is some owner reviews Vehicle Reviews for 1999 Yamaha Grizzly they seem to like it.

 

Thanks, I know they were a popular ATV when they were introduced. The main thing I dislike is that it's a big engine that isn't water cooled, but from my research they don't seem to overheat as long as the oil cooler and engine are kept clean. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go look at it tonight. It looks pretty clean and after talking with the seller I believe it may not have too much wrong with it.

 

for $500 + $500 into parts- who cares how reliable the cvt was- you can make your money back parting it out!
I'd buy it and turn it into a mudder or just something to beat on!

 

It is a big motor for a air cooled but it does have a oil cooler with fan asist.
The 500 Honda foremans are reliable large displacement air cooled motors also.

 

Thanks guys. I told him I would be there to look at it tonight so I plan to buy it unless its not what I think it is. I'll post pictures if I wind up with it. Haha

 

Ok guys. Came home with it tonight Plastic and stickers look almost showroom new. They just need the dust cleaned off. The racks are pretty much perfectly straight, frame looks good, and the tires are really nice even though they are somewhat of a utility tire. It has a couple minor issues other than the engine, but nothing that was a deal breaker. Engine rolls over and feels good. The plug is out so dont know about compression, but the inspection covers for the cam/valves are off and all the valvetrain appeared to be working fine. Its going to take some work to get it going, but it will look great once its back together i think and should be a nice ATV. Dont think it has been ridden a whole lot... I have some bad pictures attatched. I also got the title with the ATV (not common in KY). I didnt look at it until i got home and realized its a 1999 model, but it really makes no difference since they are the same machine. Pretty excited though. I will start a thread on it once i get some better pictures and dig into it. Oh, and I got him down to $450 on it

 

Looks good for that price, if you need any motor parts remember it has the same motor as the XT600 which was in production alot longer.

Its a pretty simple basic ATV with no high tech crap to worry about. Think of it as a Big Bear on steroids. LOL

 

Thanks, I will keep that in mind about the engine. Gonna start working on it as soon as i can. At the moment I am working on a co-workers 350 Big Bear and my shop is pretty full with 3 ATV's in it, but hopefully I can get his done Saturday and then have more time to work on the Grizzly. I figure I still have a few months before I really need it ready to ride anyways. Took some better pictures of it today as well as a small video clip.