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posterboy12
06-10-2008, 03:15 PM
Well I am back from a long night of riding the 700xx on a pretty tight 1 mile long MX track. (Wednesday)

I arrived around 5:00pm and I was the only one there so I had my change to get out on the track until everyone else was suppose to show-up at 6:00. I thought I would try and get my 15 mile of motor break in done. The track was pretty hard and packed as it had rained in the past and no one has been on it for over a week.

This track has allot of banked and flat corners. Allot of them are very tight (allot tighter than what I usually ever see riding the trails). This track also has a great table top, a huge (I am talking huge) Double down, A steep double up, a ton of regular doubles ranging in sizes, a few singles and a long woops section. There is also a alternate wrought around the double (the path in green). Many things to say about this track but I will not bore you with any more details.

I am not a pro rider nor do I intend to be. The friends that I ride with at this track race in our local district and are 1-2 in there standings and I am in no way as good or ever will be as good as them. They are crazy fast.

It took me a few laps of just strolling along until I started to figure out what gears I needed and when. This track can pretty much be ridden in 2nd and 3rd gear. If I had more balls I could easily use 4th in the longer sections. There are a few time that I tried 1st into the very tight corners if I came in to slow.

GEARING:
Here is my 2 cents on the gearing (keep in mind that I am an average Joe rider and this is my first time out coming from my UTE) First gear is very short and very snappy. 1st gear makes the front end seam very light. This will be great for trail riding to get you over obstacles. 2nd gear is a very good gear for quite a bit of speed and you can bring it into a tight corner at very low speeds. Coming into the tight corners in second you will need to keep the revs going (not a problem and I never stalled mine). 2nd gear would be better if it was a little taller (not a lot just a little more). 3rd gear is an interesting gear and I have not quite got that one down yet. There is a tom of power in third. I believe it is a taller gear. I used third gear after coming out of a corner and then going down a straight (purely awesome feel of power). I started getting pretty good using third around some of the wider turns in the upper part of the track. The nice thing about third is it is allot smoother than second for going around the corners. When going around the wider corners in second it is so snappy that the front starts to feel to light and you keep steeling weight from the front tires. I have not even used 4th or 5th gear yet. Over all this is a very tight track with only a couple of spots that you can let it breath.

POWER:
Plenty of power. Very smooth power. It did feel smoother than the 2008 Suzuki 450 that I rode. I do however think that it is a little corked up from the factory. Not that it is not awesome the way it is....it just seams like there is something hiding

JUMPING:
All I can say is WOW. This thing sails through the air. And the landings........WWWWOOOOOWWW. Completely smooth and effortless. I even came down nose first a couple of times and it landed just fine. With my 400ex I would have hit my helmet visor on the front bumper LOL. I never bottomed the rear out. The front shocks...well lets just say that they would be great on the trails but they are not at all meant for an MX track. I bottomed my Front shock out a few times. Mainly when I was being to much of a pansy and not getting enough speed to clear the Doubles and mainly the double up. The machine could very very easily do them without any effort...it was just the pansy rider behind the handle bars LOL. Also note that my front shocks are straight from the factory at the softest setting. Next time I will stiffen them up and see if there is any difference. All in all the thing is awesome for jumping and the front shocks suck for MX riding. Rezzies in the front would have been nice. But for trail riding the front shock will be excellent. I did take my friends 2008 Suzuki 450 Quad Racer out for a lap to compare the jumping. I think I went over one jump with his and scared myself to death with it so I make up my mind that I would take the 700xx any day over the SRA for jumping. Not saying that the SRA is not better at jumping, but the IRS is way more forgiving for the non flat landings. Riding the SRA around the track felt like riding a stage coach without suspension and the 700xx felt like a Cadillac...Seriously.... The 700xx is way comfy and very smooth at jumping and all around everything. Also take note not to let off the gas completely if you are in the are in Third gear, It felt like it was going to stall the motor...this could be due to the motor being new and being very tight. It never happened to me but it seamed like it was going to do it. It never did that in 1st or second. Keep in mind that this was only on a long steep down hill jump and and through the air sailing jump .

CORNERING:
Keep in mind that this is an IRS and it will never corner like an SRA. Well I would have to say that this thing sticks like glue in the very tight stuff and it is very hard to get it to break loose. It is almost like it is on rails. In the wider turn in the upper portion of the track I could get the back to break loose but I could not get it to do it in the very tight stuff. Here are a few issues that will help. First of all my handle bars are tilted back to far and I could not get my body weight up far enough to get more weight on the front tires. I am going tilt my bars up father and this should help allot. Also I need to stiffen up the suspension and this should also help allot. I will try these next time and see what difference this makes. Understand that this was some pretty hard packed dirt track with a small layer of loose stuff towards the end of the day. It did get better as the track started getting more loose dirt from the other riders. I did take my friends 2008 Suzuki 450 out to just hit the corners to compare the cornering ability. Wow... the SRA is defiantly better at getting around the corner. But sometimes it was almost to much and you had to let off the gas to keep it from coming around. Coming out of the corner is where the IRS shines compared to the SRA. The IRS just hooks up and here you are getting 100 percent traction with a wheelie coming out (if you are in second) compared to the SRA just spinning. I do believe with some tweaking this thing will be allot better. I also need to get more nerve to give it more gas through the corners. It was just glues so much that I was afraid it might want to buck me of. When it did cut loose it was awesome. I know it can do it as I could do it perfectly on my Sportsman 800. Allot of it is just the transfer of weight witch can be corrected by suspension, rider position, and power distribution..

FINAL THOUGHTS:
I am very very happy with my new quad. I am very happy that I did not get the Outlaw. The fit and finish on this thing is perfect in every way. If you are going to race PRO MX get an SRA for the speed in the corners, but personally I think SRA's suck for jumping... the SRA are just not as forgiving but they are awesome jumpers if you land correctly. I would like to note that I think the IRS would be able to out corner an SRA in a wet or rough corner condition???? The 700xx will be a blast on the trails and it is defiantly twice the bike my 400ex was. If you are going to race it I would defiantly put some money into some new front shocks.... without a question. I never had any issues with the seat that was mention in one of the reviews. I never had it stall on me as mentioned in the reviews. I will be getting Full Nerf bars and a front bumper. I am also planning on getting a K&N Filter for it. Mellow ???? I don,t think so... After riding the SRA and the IRS back to back....You could not pay me enough to trade this in for an SRA....there is just nothing that compares to the ride quality of the 700xx in the Sport class. (except maybe the Outlaw IRS, I would like to compare the ride quality of them back to back)

Hope I did not bore you and please forgive my grammar as I did not read back through this to correct my publisher is on vacation lol.

There is my 2 cents so far. Feel free to ask me any questions.

streetx
06-10-2008, 04:20 PM
Hi!
I am a Honda freak from Sweden. I just ordered me a 700XX ( wanted one as soon as I saw it ). I will be one of the first to ride it in Sweden ( yiihaa ). It will be rebuilt in Italy to be roadlegal in Swe and hopefully it will be sent too me in the end of July.
When i read you`re thoughts aboute the faboulus 700XX , You added some more butterflys in my stommac. Thanks for letting me know that i am doing the right thing.:devil:

Hope i did´nt spell to wrong:ermm:

Keep up the posting:D

x rider1291
06-10-2008, 10:32 PM
sounds like an awesome quad. alot of ppl bash on it but i dunno why i think it looks sick lol and from what im hearing it rips:devil:

Myrkk
06-10-2008, 10:44 PM
awesome review. I am in between the 450r & 700xx. Currently riding a 400ex... want more power. Now I am leaning more towards the 700xx..

scuzz
06-12-2008, 02:19 PM
I too went from the 400EX to the 700XX, wow what a difference.

redline2008
08-28-2008, 03:47 PM
I also did the same thing I had my 400ex for a month and then got the new 700xx and I love it would never go back. The handling in the trails is amazing, jumps are really nice and smooth the cornering is a little tricky but with the power it has being a little slower in the corner is not that big of and issues. I was on the track with two 400ex bikes and they were not even close to me.

vtt
08-29-2008, 08:40 PM
IRS is the way to go for sure, but try an Outlaw first before buying a TRX. The Outlaw is at least 80 lbs lighter. That's a huge difference on a quad. Read the last issue of ATV Action, you'll understand.

dynofox
08-31-2008, 04:23 PM
Originally posted by vtt
IRS is the way to go for sure, but try an Outlaw first before buying a TRX. The Outlaw is at least 80 lbs lighter. That's a huge difference on a quad. Read the last issue of ATV Action, you'll understand.

I agree, the Outlaw 525IRS is an awesome unit, the '09's will be even better.

posterboy12 glad to hear you like your new quad, have you ever ridden a 525 irs outlaw? If so I'd be interested in hearing why you went with the honda instead.