Summary: I loved my Kawasaki rigs, but the Grizzly is a better machine for the kind of riding I do.

First, let’s talk about the electronic power steering. That’s probably the single largest difference, and it’s what everyone wants to know about.
Let me start by saying that the Grizzly I just bought had oversized wheels/tires on it. The steering was still super-easy. I replaced them with an aftermarket ITP/BigHorn combo in the stock sizes, and it got even easier.

Ease of Turning:

Yamaha Grizzly (EPS)
The EPS makes a REALLY big difference in how easy it is to turn the ATV. Whether you’re maneuvering through the woods on a narrow trail, or loading the ATV onto your trailer, the EPS makes it a lot more enjoyable.

Brute Force 650 (MacPherson Strut)
The Kawasaki Brute Force 650, with the MacPherson strut in front, turns pretty easily, but the EPS makes it SEEM hard by comparison.

Brute Force 750 (Double Wishbone)
The 2005-2007 Kawasaki Brute Force 750 had some serious front-end geometry problems, in my opinion. The 2008 model addressed these and is much better, but still lacks the ease of turning that the EPS provides. I understand that the newest BF750 has EPS. I have not had a chance to ride one, but I’m glad to hear it!

Steering Stablization:

Yamaha Grizzly (EPS)
When you’re rolling slowly, hitting a rock or stump or log will still turn the handlebar with a bit of a jerk – that’s unavoidable, really. The EPS can’t tell the difference between a rider moving the handlebar really fast and hitting something at low speed. However, hitting something at low speed (under 5mph) doesn’t jerk the handlebar out of your hand, try to rip your thumb off, nail you in the gut with the grip, or send you spinning off the trail. At higher speeds, the EPS really kicks in and makes itself known. I swapped ATVs with a friend for about ¼ mile over a really rocky, bumpy section of trail at Evans Creek, and by the time he stopped and waited for me, I was ready to beg for my Grizzly back.

Brute Force 650 (MacPherson Strut)
Brute Force 750 (Double Wishbone)
I didn’t really notice much of a difference between the BF650 with the struts and the BF750 with the double wishbone as far as “stump steering” is concerned. They both regularly jerked the handlebar out of my hands.

Miscellaneous Weird Noises:
One thing that has bothered me about all of the Kawasaki ATVs that have the Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) and Electronic Braking Control (EBC) is the amount of miscellaneous noises the ATV makes. If you ride a BF down a steep bumpy hill, you hear all sorts of unpleasantness from it. Loud clicking noises that coincide with every bump come up from under there somewhere (can’t tell exactly where). A tortured whirring sound comes from the EBC actuator. If you’re going fast down a hill, like on a service road, and you tap the rear brake, the EBC kicks in noisily and sometimes you hear a really awful shrieking noise as the belt firms up against the drive pulley. Also, when I shift the Kawasaki units into gear, if the RPMs are a little high just then (which happens a lot), there is this awful “C-C-C-C-C-CLACK!!” noise as the thing shifts into gear.

Before you say that the shifter or the CVT or the EBC must be out of adjustment, let me just mention that I have noted this effect on a green 2005 Prairie 360, a red 2006 Prairie 360, a red 2005 Brute Force 650, a 2005 camo Brute Force 650, a 2006 camo Brute Force 650, and a red 2005 Brute Force 750. Every single one of them did it. I asked the service manager at the dealer to look at one of them, and the adjustment didn’t change this effect.

I don’t hear any awful noises like that from the Grizzly. I do hear some high pitched squeaks and chirps, mostly at very low speeds, and the occasional sound like chewing on a rubber band. These sounds, I believe are coming from the disc brakes. The thing about these sounds though, is that they do NOT sound as if the ATV’s engine is tearing itself apart, or sound as the suspension is coming unbolted from the frame.

Now, I realize that these are just noises. We’ve ridden the crap out of all of those aforementioned Kawasaki ATVs, and with the exception of when we excessively abuse them or neglect them, they don’t break down. They’re JUST unpleasant noises – but given a choice, I’d rather not hear them.

Brakes:

-      Disc Brakes
The Yamaha Grizzly has disc brakes all around, instead of the wet brake system the Kawasaki ATVs have. When the brakes are dry, they work extremely well. Hats off to them. When they’re wet, not as good, but still good enough.

-      Wet Brakes
The Brute Force ATVs (and the Prairies) have discs in the front, and the wet brake system in the back. We like the wet brake system a lot. It performs consistently well, no matter what you’ve been riding through. I don’t want to know how much it costs to replace them, but we’ve never had to, so there you go.

-      Parking Brakes

Grizzly
The Grizzly doesn’t really have a parking brake system. You have to put the transmission into “Park”, at which point it locks the transmission. Better hope that hill’s not too steep. Better yet, make sure you’re in 4WD when you park it on a hill. I’m not terribly impressed with this. It worked pretty well for me while in 4WD on my first ride, and it was a pretty steep hill – but I was nervous. When I could, I parked with the bumper against a tree.

Brute Force
The Kawasaki ATVs have a very simple parking brake. Pull the brake handle and clip it in place. Done. As long as your brakes are adjusted properly, the parking brake does a great job. If you have to park and dismount in a hurry (because your riding buddy has a leg trapped under his ATV), I much prefer the Kawasaki parking brake.

Kawasaki wins in the parking brake department.

4WD and Differential Lock:

Grizzly
The Grizzly wins this one hands down. As with the Kawasaki, the 4WD is just a push-button away. Once you’re in 4WD, it becomes possible to slide a lever, which uncovers the diff lock button. Push that button, and you’re locked. It’s pretty easy and reliable. I have also noticed that the Grizzly seems to do a better job of actually getting itself into 4WD quickly after I have pushed that button. More reliably than the Kawasaki ATVs.

Kawasaki
Getting the Kawasaki into 4WD can sometimes be a challenge in itself. You just toggle the switch – but wait, why hasn’t it switched into 4WD? Sometimes you have to rock the ATV (if you’re not on a hill) or roll a few feet. Stuck in a hole? Have fun trying to get it to engage. Hope you’re not spinning the wheels too fast when it engages (clunk!). I’m not a fan of the external activators (solenoids) Kawasaki uses to get the machines into and out of 4WD.

The Kawasaki diff lock is so simple that hardly anything could go wrong with it, which is good, but that’s about all that is good about it. You have to pull a yellow lever on the left handlebar to activate it, and keep pulling it until you’re done. If you’re trying to climb out of a tippy mud hole or over some really big rocks, having to keep your hand in a position where one finger can hold that lever tight is very inconvenient. Also, this lever requires adjustment, and it is difficult to know when you have it adjusted right. Some people like the ability to vary the pressure on the diff lock. Me, If I need that front diff locked, I need it LOCKED!

Electronic Fuel Injection:

The electronic fuel injection is great because you don’t need to use a choke, and you don’t have to fiddle with your idle speed or worry about the engine dying because you just chilled it by riding through a hundred yards of knee-deep ice water.  As an “it just works” feature, fuel injection is great. Of course, there is a potential weakness there. If the battery is dead (or nearly dead), the fuel system will not deliver.

The 2008 Kawasaki Brute Force also has fuel injection. The older ones do not.

I won’t buy a new ATV or UTV, or even a street motorcycle without EFI. I’m done with carburetors.

Recoil Starter:

I liked having that backup on the Brute Force and the Prairie. We used it more than a few times on a Prairie that had a charging system problem (may that ATV rest in pieces). On our Brute Force ATVs, we never used the recoil starter to actually START the thing except as practice to make sure it still worked. Mostly, we used it to expel water from the cylinders after removing the spark plugs when we drowned them.

The Grizzly does not have a recoil starter. I’ve never missed it.

Independent Rear Suspension

The independent rear suspension maximizes ground clearance, which can be very useful in mud holes left by jeeps. Most times, when we are stuck in the mud (or snow), it is because the rear gear case has bottomed out, and the wheels are spinning. Having the independent rear suspension means it take a MUCH larger hump between two ruts to make this happen. It also provides the surest footing available (short of tracks) for challenging ground shapes like big rocks, holes that like to flip your ATV, etc.

Most of the Brute Force 650 ATVs do not have this. There are a few, but they seem to be quite rare. This is much more common in the Brute Force 750.

Miscellaneous Engineering

One thing that my friend and I noticed about the Kawasaki vehicles (bikes and ATVs) and we joke about (because you’ve got to laugh) is that it’s not really “broken in” until something has rattled loose. Consequently, one of the first things I noticed about the Grizzly is that the plastics are held together with bolts and NYLON LOCKNUTS. Kawasaki can’t be bothered with nylon locknuts. They seem to think it is better to sell more nuts/bolts in the parts channel.

Another thing I noticed when checking out a storage compartment on the Grizzly was that its screw-on cap had a string attached to it so you don’t lose the lid. Looking closer, I found a drain plug on the bottom of that compartment – also with a string attached. The same string, in fact. Someone thought that one all of the way through (pun intended). It’s a small thing perhaps, but it’s a nice touch.

Summary:

So there you have it. From big stuff to little stuff, I am impressed with how Yamaha put the Grizzly together. In fact, I am more impressed with the Grizzly’s engineering than I am with how Kawasaki puts the Brute Force and the Prairie together – and that’s saying something!

Additional notes from another Brute Force owner:

Another BF650 owner, who has “ridden the hell out of” a 2WD Bayou 250, Prairie 360, and Brute Force 650 and loves each in its own way, says that the Grizzly manages to simultaneously incorporate the three most desirable things that Kawasaki has not yet been able to incorporate into a single ATV (as of 2008).  These are:
1. Steering stabilization via EPS (not available on Kawasaki sport/utility ATVs yet).
2. Good turning radius.
3. Independent rear suspension.

The main difference is engine power. The 360 is a single cylinder. The 650 is a V-twin. The two vehicles weigh the same and have the same suspension and steering type. Same ground clearance, same brakes, same 4WD system, same gears/shifter, same wheel/tire size. The 360 is a little more nimble, has less get up and go, and less top speed. However, it is just as capable of getting through nasty rough terrain and mud holes.

They will both get just about 75 miles on a tank of gas on gravel roads. The 650 consumes more fuel but has a bigger tank to compensate. We’re not sure how the mileage compares when slogging through mud or climbing over rocks and logs, but in situations like that, range is not important – the rider gets worn out long before the gas runs out.

Not only that, but making these modifications will void your warranty. Your dealer may charge you for repairs related to these systems if you modify them.

Having said all of that, everyone does it, and the dealers even tell people to do it. I’ve never heard of anyone getting busted anywhere but California for modding their bike.

In previous years, Kawasaki shipped the bike to 49 of the states with one type of needle in it. The California models got bikes with a different needle in them (and a bunch of other smog equipment). I don’t know what the CA guys do to make their bikes run better.

The rest of the world, however, made some very easy mods to greatly improve the bike’s performance:

• Remove the airbox lid.
• Replace the air filter
• Remove the restrictor plate from the muffler.
• Replace the crankcase breather hose.
• Replace your 14-tooth front sprocket with a 13-tooth.

Those changes, by themselves, made a huge difference.

Starting with 2006, Kawasaki is shipping all U.S. bikes with the needle that they used to send only in the California bikes. Now, the Canada bikes get the good needle and everyone else gets the “bad” needle.

With the bad needle in there, removing the airbox lid causes the bike to run like crap. So, now you need to replace that needle AND do all of the things mentioned above.

Here it is in more detail:

1. Identify your needle.

The first thing you need to do is find out what needle you have in there. To get to it, first remove the seat and gas tank (make sure you shut the gas off first). From there, you’ll be able to get into the top of the carb, where the needle is. Here’s an exploded diagram of the carburetor:

Click this image (and then click it again in the next page) to get a bigger version.

Make sure that when you take it apart, you carefully keep track of each component and put it back the way you found it.

The first thing to do is remove the diaphragm cover. That’s #14041 in the picture. When it comes off, the spring under it will try to escape. Don’t let it.

Get yourself a tupperware container and put the cover, screws, and spring in it.

Once you have the cover and spring out, gently remove the slide. Make sure the rubber diaphragm doesn’t get stuck on anything and tear.

Once you have the slide out, put your hand over the hole and turn it upside down. The “seat-spring valve” (white plastic thing with legs, #16007) will come out, along with the needle possibly some other tiny bits like a collar (#92143) and spring clip (#92037) – but the clip, if it exists, should be firmly attached to the needle.

Compare your needle to these two pictures:

The needle with the permanently attached collar is the “bad” one. The one with the circlip and grooves is the “good” (adjustable) one.

The needles also have little letters and numbers stamped into them near the fat end. If it says “N5AF”, it’s the “bad” needle. If it says “N1TC” it’s the “good” needle.

If it is the good needle, put your bike back together and skip to step #2. Make sure you get that white plastic thing with leg in right. Don’t cover the hole in the bottom; make sure it seats all of the way. Your bike will tell you if you get it wrong.

If it is the bad needle, call your dealer and order these parts:

16009-1912 – Needle-Jet,N1TC

92037-1401 – Clamp, Jet Needle

92143-1667 – Collar

The new needle will cost you about $20. Not sure about the clamp and collar, but they’ll be cheap.

2. Remove the airbox lid.

This step is frighteningly easy. Just pull off the seat, unscrew the four bolts holding the lid on, pull it off (and store it safely somewhere), and put the screws back in. I recommend putting the screws back in so that you don’t lose the screws, and so that your screw holes don’t get muddy, corroded, or whatever.

The airbox lid looks like this:

See how small the intake holes are in that lid? See how much more air it can get if you remove it?

Oh, and by the way, see how much more dust, grit, sand, and water can get into the airbox without the lid? Clean and lube your air filter VERY often after you’ve taken that lid off. Get some air filter oil and remover that is easy to clean off and re-apply. I recommend “No-Toil” filter oil and cleaner or the Kawasaki branded equivalent. No-Toil also sells filters, but the popular opinion says to buy a “UNI” filter instead. It has a rough outer filter and fine inner filter. It lets more air in while still filtering out the bad stuff. They cost about $20. The No-Toil costs about $7.95 each for the oil and cleaner. Also, get some nitrile gloves from your local drugstore. No-Toil is nasty and sticky, and you’ll be glad you did.

3. Remove the restrictor plate.

This is also very easy. The plate at the back of the muffler has two screws holding it on. Remove them, remove the plate, store the plate with the airbox lid, and put the screws back in.

The restrictor plate looks like this:

The Kawasaki manual calls this piece the spark arrester. I think they do that to try and scare you. I asked the dealer if the spark arrester still stopped sparks with the cover off and he said it did (shrug). You might want to check that out for yourself.

This mod will make the bike a lot louder, so your neighbors might not like it if you run the bike at home a lot after making this mod. It also leaves a gaping hole in the back of the can, so be careful when hosing down your bike. Don’t get any water in there if you can avoid it.

4. Replace the crankcase breather.

This mod isn’t as popular, but is supposed to help significantly as well. The deal is that the stock crankcase breather system has a one-way valve in it to keep fluid from running down the hose from your airbox into your crankcase. This restriction means your engine has to work harder to breathe, and performance suffers as a result.

Basically, you disconnect the stock crankcase breather, run some fuel/oil resistant hose from the crankcase breather connection on the transmission case up into the air box, stick the little filter on the end, and use some hose clamps to hold it together. This allows it to “breathe” without getting junk in your transmission if there is back flow. You can get all of the crankcase breather stuff from your local auto parts store

While you’re modding your bike, here’s some other stuff to think about:

• You might want a magnetic oil plug to catch shavings and the occasional bolt that might come loose inside the engine. FSW’s website, $20.
• The KLX300 is known for popping out of gear if you don’t shift just right. There is a “shift star” kit from FSW for $90 that is supposed to help out a lot with this. I ordered one for my 06. My 98 already has one.
• If you really want to go all out, replace the exhaust header and muffler too. Some people naysay this, but a lot of other people say it makes a big difference. FSW sells headers and mufflers for somewhat less than the big names, and they’re supposed to be really good. If you buy the header and can together you get $50 off of the set.

The Arctic Cat 250 utility model comes with a recoil starter, in case the battery dies and the electric start doesn’t work.
The Arctic Cat DVX 250 model does not.

It’s the same engine, and the recoil starter isn’t terribly heavy. It might add two pounds. So why didn’t they include it? Having a cheap, lightweight backup system is always a good idea.
Maybe they didn’t add one because the DVX is more likely to be spending its time at high RPM in the sand than hopping logs in the forest.

Anyway, I ended up with a DVX 250 that I intend to use deep in the forest. We never ride alone, but a dead battery would still be a big pain in the butt.

So, I went down to my local Arctic Cat dealer and spent some time looking at the manual and the fiche with the parts guy. Here’s what I came up with:

Purchase these parts:
3303-643 – Recoil Starter Assembly – About $65
3303-828 – Plate Ratchet – About $28
3303-643 – Gasket, Crankcase Cover, Left – About $35
3303-101 – Gasket, Starter Cover – About $6
Total Parts Cost: About $135 (plus sales tax)

Here are the parts lists in case you need to look at them:
Arctic Cat 250 Utility
Arctic Cat 250 DVX

Installation is fairly straightforward, and should take you about an hour (90 minutes if you’re the cautious type). There’s just one tricky spot. I’ll go over the whole process here:

1. Remove the black plastic outer crankcase cover on the rear of the crankcase.
2. Remove the intake hose from the front of the crankcase cover.
3. Remove the exhaust hose from the rear of the crankcase cover.
4. Remove the small aluminum cover that goes where the recoil starter would be and clean the old gasket from it.
5. Remove the crankcase cover and clean the old gasket from it.

6. Here’s the tricky bit: Make yourself a holder to keep the pulley compressed using one of the crankcase cover bolts and a few large diameter fender washers. Screw this into the top-left-most hole in the crankcase cover, with the fender washers overlapping the drive pulley. Tighten this down so that the drive pulley cannot spring out when you remove the flange nut from the crankshaft.

7. Using an appropriate holder to keep the drive pulley from rotating, remove the 14mm flange nut that holds the drive pulley onto the crankshaft.
8. Remove the small spacer between the flange nut and the pulley. This spacer does not show up in the parts fiche, so don’t lose it! If you ever go back to not having a recoil starter, good luck buying one! You’d have to use washers instead. I suggest using a zip tie to attach it to the old recoil starter cover, and then store them both in a safe place.
9. Put the plate ratchet in place, making sure that the splines on the plate ratchet engage the grooves on the crankshaft. This is why you need to hold the drive pulley compressed, so that the grooves are visible.

10. Put the 14mm flange nut back on (without the spacer you removed in step 8 ) and, after making sure that the splines of the plate ratchet are still in the grooves on the crankshaft, tighten the flange nut to 72 ft-lbs of torque.
11. Put the crankcase cover back on, with the new gasket, and put a couple of bolts in hand-tight for now.
12. Put the recoil starter in place, with the new gasket, and put all of its bolts in hand-tight.
13. Make sure the recoil starter works. Assuming it does, proceed. If not, take it back apart and figure out what you missed.
14. Put the rest of the crankcase cover bolts back in and tighten all of them to 8 ft-lbs.
15. Tighten the recoil starter bolts to 8 ft-lbs.
16. Re-attach the intake and exhaust hoses to the crankcase cover.
17. Put the black plastic outer crankcase cover back on.

That’s it! You’re ready to ride, and you have a backup recoil starter!

Woodland Saw and Cycle   Stihl Dealer

Bi-Zi Farms

Full Circle Powersports

Pro Caliber   9 ATV Dealerships

Pacific Boatland  Arctic Cat Dealer

Precision Industrial Construction Inc.

Bent Lever Motorsports

DUNE IT AGAIN

L & D Race Tech Inc.   Arctic Cat Dealer

Dirt Church ATV Nicolai Mountain Club to Club Ride March 25-27, 2011

Dirt Church ATV Nicolai Mountain Club to Club Ride March 25-27, 2011 – with music.

Dirt Church Nicolai Mountain Club to Club ride BLOOPERS!!

Washington Off Highway Vehicle Alliance

Central Oregon Combined OHV Operations (COHVOPS)

Tread Lightly

Americans for Responsible Recreational Access

Blue Ribbon Coalition

American Sand Association

You can find out more about the course and complete it here.

Here is a basic guideline for a skill level determination of 1 through 5:

Level 1
Forest roads gravel or dirt -level, wide, easy

Level 2
Slightly inclined trails

Level 3
Steep Trail – 2wd/4wd

Level 4
Steep rough terrain 4×4 only

Level 5
Double Diamond – 4×4 only winch required