Up until several years ago, the only ATV I had ridden was my dad’s 97 two wheel drive Timber Wolf. It wasn’t a lot of fun as it was uncomfortable and with small tires, bad brakes and foot shift I was always playing catch up with my friends. I didn’t dare go where they did for fear of flipping over.
Well, that finally happened trying to load it on a tip trailer. Messed my arm up bad and after that I knew if I was ever going to ride I would need something heavier with 4WD. Right about then my neighbor put up for sale his 09 Honda Rancher. It was a honey with IRS, power steering, a new trailer only 126 miles on it. Turned out he did the same as I did and flipped it on the first weekend ride. He came home, parked it and decided to collect stamps instead.
After one ride my wife fell in love with it and declared it hers. I had noticed another neighbor selling his ATV as we pulled out on our way to our week long camp out so I rode up to the top of a mountain into cell range and called him. He said it was a 2004 Grizzly 660 which meant nothing to me but the price was right so I told him I would take it and be home Monday to seal the deal. My thoughts were to use this for a year until I could find a matching Ranger for my ride.
First ride out I knew this was a terrific bike. Unlike the Honda there was no shifting going on at weird times, it was really stable and a very plush ride. This all came back to me this week as I was changing oil on both bikes, which lead to detailing them out with SC1, which lead to comparing rides in my back yard. Putting aside the fact that 660cc is ahead of 420cc this Grizzly is the bike that the Rancher should be. While I think the Rancher is a better small trail bike, especially with that power steering, I would be nuts giving up the big platform Grizzly for another Rancher.
Bottom line is, don’t let the glitz of a new ride and a matched set idea sway you from quality and superior engineering. Besides….after a can of that SC1 spray, the old grizz is looking pretty sweet!
Well, that finally happened trying to load it on a tip trailer. Messed my arm up bad and after that I knew if I was ever going to ride I would need something heavier with 4WD. Right about then my neighbor put up for sale his 09 Honda Rancher. It was a honey with IRS, power steering, a new trailer only 126 miles on it. Turned out he did the same as I did and flipped it on the first weekend ride. He came home, parked it and decided to collect stamps instead.
After one ride my wife fell in love with it and declared it hers. I had noticed another neighbor selling his ATV as we pulled out on our way to our week long camp out so I rode up to the top of a mountain into cell range and called him. He said it was a 2004 Grizzly 660 which meant nothing to me but the price was right so I told him I would take it and be home Monday to seal the deal. My thoughts were to use this for a year until I could find a matching Ranger for my ride.
First ride out I knew this was a terrific bike. Unlike the Honda there was no shifting going on at weird times, it was really stable and a very plush ride. This all came back to me this week as I was changing oil on both bikes, which lead to detailing them out with SC1, which lead to comparing rides in my back yard. Putting aside the fact that 660cc is ahead of 420cc this Grizzly is the bike that the Rancher should be. While I think the Rancher is a better small trail bike, especially with that power steering, I would be nuts giving up the big platform Grizzly for another Rancher.
Bottom line is, don’t let the glitz of a new ride and a matched set idea sway you from quality and superior engineering. Besides….after a can of that SC1 spray, the old grizz is looking pretty sweet!
