Home Forums Gear Horses and ATV's 2013 Can-Am?

Honda was always my standard to judge 4 wheelers. It just got to where I couldn't tolerate the ride any longer.

I went on a search last year, tested them all, it came down to Can Am & Polaris.

I'm eating crow here, I went back to Polaris.

Overall I found the 550 Sportsman to be the best overall value and ride.

One of my friends bought a new Can Am, IIRC its a 1000. He rode my 550 and wishes he bought the Polaris.

Oh I like the new Polaris' just fine from what I've seen. Vast improvements from the one I used to have.

I also have friends that work there, so I'd like to support them as well.

You couldn't run fast enough to give me a free Polaris don't care who works there.

Sweet.
Stick with the Yammi.
No biggie to me.
For the record, 5, as in five, Yammi dealers, have closed in a 50 mile radius of here in the last year.
Polaris zero.
Polaris stock.......kicking azz.
You decide.
I'm happy with Polaris.

I thought the Griz 450 EPS was your next bike? What happened?

A lot of that Polaris stock going up has to do with sled sales, not their wheelers. Personally, their wheelers are ugly as sin and have too much plastic BUT, if I could swing it i'd buy one of their new Rzrs in a heartbeat.

Worth mentioning is balance,as in back flips.With the 700 Yammi,the two guys I've met who had them flipped them,backwards.

My 08 Can-Am goes slower down hill than a new Honda or for that matter the 08 Honda he had before. This is very,very good thing.

The Can-Am also keeps four tires down instead of only two when bouncing along a trail,same two Hondas as above.

What the Cam-Am doesn't do as well is turn around in tight quarters,three instead of two,and the power comes on fast and hard,making feathering difficult.

I think the people who make Ski-Doos would know how to make a good belt drive.

Then why don't they put a clutch in them instead of slipping the belt everytime you start

Some other brands cost more but there's reasons for it, little things like a "wet clutch" that costs more to produce but as long as your interested in nothing more than throttle down you'll never notice

I have friends that work for Polaris and I'd like to support them and their community. I can't argue that Yammi makes a better bike. I'm sure of that.

Thanks. Let me ask y'all this. Anybody feel free to chime in as well.

I have an '11 Foreman 500 w/ PS. I bought it b/c it is air cooled, solid rear axle, and foot shift. I'm old school and didn't want a belt or all the moving parts of IRS. I'm a Honda guy. Grew up on 'em. Several Ranchers in the family with no problems. Honda made several changes to the Foreman for '12 that I didn't like so I bought an '11 with the intention of keeping it....well, forever. This model should last that long, right?

It's been fine up until now. I just spent a week in New Mexico riding in the mountains including forest service roads, trails, over roots and rocks, lots of slow crawling. Wife and kid was with me. I thought I had made the best choice for what I do. I don't do any of the serious mudding you hear of down this way. I don't do any serious work or pulling with it. I need a wheeler mainly for trails, hunting, a little mud, rock crawling, fun etc.

I discovered two major things last week. I don't like that solid rear axle that much after all, and I don't like searching for the right gear. Going up steep inclines it was either 1st/2nd was too low or 2nd/3rd was too high. Around here the shifting doesn't bother me but up there it did. Wife didn't like how bumpy the ride was on some of the trails either.

So I'm reconsidering my choice and thinking of going with a Yamaha Grizzly. I'm mainly looking at the 450 EPS but will consider the 550 EPS as well.

I've said all that to ask these two questions. In looking at these Grizzlies, I've noticed that the 450 has a high compression ratio compared to other popular models. In keeping with my "I want it to last forever" (ok, at least 20 trouble free years)...

1) Is the 10:1 an attempt to make up for something?

...and more importantly

2) Will the 10:1 on the 450 have any adverse affects on the longevity of the OHC motor....compared to some of the others with a lower compression ratio?

Griz 450 10.0:1
'12 Foreman 500 9.5:1
Griz 550 9.3:1
Kawi BF 750i 9.3:1
Griz 700 9.2:1
Honda 300 Fourtrax 9.0:1 (Guy w/ us was riding a '92 he bought new; was in great condition)
Big Bear 400 8.6:1
My '11 Foreman 500 8.5:1
Polaris doesn't list their CRs.
Interesting that the last three with the lowest CRs are all foot shift, standard auto-clutch transmissions.

Sorry for the rambling. I thought I did my homework the first time. If I decide to sell this Foreman I want to make an informed decision on the next one. Again, mainly looking at the 450.

Thanks

I wouldn't concentrate on compression ratio, it's only a single part of the ignition timing, cam timing, engine tune ratio, they're all designed to work together.

If considering the Yam 450-550 choice, unless Yam has changed the 450 this yr, they are built on a quite a bit smaller frame, as such they have less ground clearance, less suspension travel, & I find a cramped cockpit unless your vertically challenged.
As for the belt system, I just checked my neighbors Yam belt, after 12,000 miles of mostly a work life, the grease was still clean & the belt measured in the "as new" range, thats the advantage of CVT belt systems with a wet clutch, they're designed to not slip the belt to get under way.

Actually, snow machines are flat.
Orv is kicking azz. Some of that is the xp line, but more so Rzrs.
Military use of Rzrs is WAY up.

The Yammi 450 is physcially smaller than the 550/700 but a good margin. That is what I liked about them. But the next machine I get will be almost strictly a trail machine. The Foreman 450s will be the hunting/ice fishing machine. So I don't think I'll mind a bigger machine. If you're wife and kid will be on it, I'd get a bigger one.

The 550/700 is also fuel injected and the 450 isn't. That may or may not make a difference to you.

The reason I'd like to get another wheeler, is the ride and power of the Honda. It's just not there for a long day on the trails.

We bought our 450 EPS in September 2011. Presently it has 5800 miles on it. It hasn't been perfectly trouble-free, but it has given excellent, go-anywhere, reliable service, and it seems pretty much the same now that it did the day we picked it up.

Let me list the problems we have had so far.

-The breather tube froze up last winter when the temps were in the -30�s F.* That caused crankcase pressure to push the seal out behind the clutch, flooding the clutches with oil and ultimately burning,glazing the belt. Yamaha has a very good design which made all repairs quite simple and easily done with basic mechanical skills.

- The throttle cable cover cracked in the cold, causing the throttle to stick and pull a bit when the steering is turning hard one way.

-Both upper IRS boots failed between 4000-5000 miles, (perhaps due in part to the use in the cold?) The boot is essential for maintaining the captive grease which lubes the joint. The kit includes all needed parts including new grease and snap rings; takes less than an hour to replace.

The belt drive is a distinctly different feel on the 450 compared to typical gear drive ATVs. It won't 'snap' you at take-off. Neither will it burn a belt. The machine feels different to drive but it doesn't feel undersized for my 200-plus pound, 5-11 frame.

We bought the carbed 450 instead of the 550 FI because we wanted the simpler to troubleshoot and cold-start system. I don't regret it, and the Yamaha has been perfectly reliable in the cold, though we have had to add heat to start the engine when it's very cold. Honda carb systems have always been a bit finicky in the cold, especially the way their chokes works - or don't.

*By contrast, I've blown a crankcase gasket out the bottom when the breather iced up on a Honda TRX 300, causing the loss of oil, piston seizure, and major damage. A friend's Rancher 420(?) trapped enough water when the breather plugged so that the oil pump was cracked when ice jammed it. Subsequent major engine damage required full overhaul. I'm not hating on Honda or anything else, just pointing out that cold weather can cause serious issues in these motors.



I'd gladly buy this same machine again, or even the 550.

Ground clearance is exactly the same at 10.8", suspension travel is better on the 550, wife and I are 5'7" so the 450 should be big enough. The 550/700s seem huge but I still haven't found a 450 to look at so I don't know.

Klik, great write up. Many thanks. I gotta admit though, I'm sitting here reading your points and thinking "I live in Texas"

The EFI, or lack of it, doesn't sway me one way or the other.

You mention it feels different than typical machines and won't snap you....how does it do on those rocks there in that picture..ie, crawling? Enough torque?

I've checked two dealers this week and neither have a 450 for me to test drive.

I would imagine, in warmer climes, you would have none of the significant wear or problems related that we have, so far, had.

The rocks? No problem at all, it was just a slow lumpy crawl which saved a very long, only slightly less lumpy tundra ride to get around. The Yamaha clutch seems nothing like the snowmachine clutches I am also very familiar with. In fact, though similar in basic design, they are very different in important details. Consequently, unlike a snowmachine's belt on which one can quite easily ruin belts and clutches if they get run foolishly, I think it would take a lot of effort to ruin the belts or clutches on one of the Grizzlies, at least the 450 version. One of the things about the EPS feature I really appreciate is the fact that I traversed a wide rock field and was on tundra again before I realized that my arms and shoulders hadn't been yanked one way or another a single time in crossing. EPS is very effective - and when it first came out, I figured power steering on ATVs was a wussifiication feature that no real man would want, let alone need.

FWIW, We had to make a short move this past spring which involved pulling a Chevy Astro van on about 1/2 mile of dirt road, not all of it level. The front end was raised on a dolly which we hooked to our Griz. The 'little' 450 had no trouble doing the job with all four wheels engaged. The motor worked, to be sure, but the belt was not an issue at all in the low range I used.

They really do seem huge. Wait til you compare them side by side with the 450.

I'm 5'8" and have no problem on either sized machine but you're not going to throw them around either. They weigh 600#'s so it's now sport quad.

My 04 Foreman has carb heat for when it gets cold and i've never had a problem starting it in sub zero temps. With that said, i'd still go for an EFI powered machine and power steering is a must on my next quad.

My Foreman has power steering and I won't have another 4wd quad in that size range without it. Last week I jumped on my uncle's 2wd Rancher to run up a trail to check it out before I unloaded mine. I immediately noticed the difference, even on the 2wd, and said no way I'm going back.


The difference b/t a Rancher 420 and a Foreman 500 is 55cc and I liked the features of the Foreman so I went with that.
Going from a Griz 450 to a 550 is a difference of 137cc...a considerable jump in size.
I'm not buying it for a sport quad, but I'd still like to break the back tires loose every now and then. I'm kinda worried the 450 will be a little weak. I still can't find one to ride.