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Had to sell my RZR...

4K views 29 replies 14 participants last post by  knaffie 
#1 ·
no need for it anymore with the new RZR S in the garage

I made the mistake of going into Monroe Motorsports a few days back to get the paddle tires mounted on the wheels that I just got for my RZR, and it just so figures that there was a brand new RZR S sitting on the showroom screaming for me to take it home...lol.


Well, after a few days of thinking it over, I made the decision to trade in my regular 08 RZR for an 09 RZR S.
I did take a little hit on the 08 because I owed more than what it was worth to the dealer, but the loss that I took wasn't as much as a new long travel kit that I wanted to buy for mine...plus now I have a brand new machine with a warranty instead of the 08 with around 1000miles, no warranty, and a few issues (see, I can justify spending money like a pro...haha).


So here is the before:

08 RZR 800...





on the dunes:







and here is the new 09 RZR S the day I brought it home, looks just like everybody elses... :fish:





all loaded up on the trailer with the quads on the first dunes trip (last weekend)...



and how she sits right now...a little "un-modding", I wasn't a huge fan of the graphics that were on it, so that was the first thing to do...plus I bolted up the paddles and smoothies from DragonFireRacing.








I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS MACHINE, I liked the old one...but I LOVE the S model....the long travel suspension, and H.O. motor make a really big difference, plus it has a better roll cage and stronger frame...which never hurts. Most of my riding is on the dunes, so the S is perfect for me. And the paddle tires make a HUGE difference, I could barely climb the big hills at the dunes with the old 26" terracross tires on the old RZR, and now with 2 people on the new one...I could stop at the bottom of the steepest hill and climb it without a problem. Did I mention that I LOVE this thing? :) After the first few rides on it at the dunes, I decided that some better seat belts were needed...something about hitting the whoops at 50+ mph with that stock seatbelt doesn't give you the best feeling, so I just ordered some 4pt harnesses from DragonFireRacing. I can't wait until the next trip to the sand, after a few hours on this...I'm considering selling the quads. It is so much smoother, and just as much if not more fun to ride.


Just thought I would share,

Kyle
 
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#6 ·
The only experience I have with the Honda Pilots was when I was a kid...my neighbor had one that we used to beat around on, and it was fun back then...but its hard to compare it now with the RZR, I dont remember a whole lot about it.

I love the RZR though, 60+ mph stock, long travel suspension, more than enough room and power for 2 people, and just plan and simple a ton of fun. I'm sure you could build a pilot to be just as fast if not faster, and put a great suspension on it, but are you still going to have a good all-around trail/dune/mud/crawling rig? IMO, the RZR (especially the S model) is the best side by side on the market, its not a work horse...but its not designed to be one either.
 
#10 ·
I am going to sound naive, but can't you build a decent sand rail for $14k? Only going by the fact you only use this thing at the dunes, that is.

Not giving you crap - I can see where this could be more fun than a rail and definitely more versatile - but that's a lot of money. (can you tell I am cheap? :d: )
 
#12 ·
state trails are supposed to be 50" or under, but all of the ones I have been on do not have any way to measure, and you could drive a damn truck down them...so the RZR S will fit just fine (at least on the ones I have been on). With the stock wheels on, the S is about 60" wide...the old RZR with the new wheels and tires was 55" wide, so the difference isn't that big, other than the suspension travel.


Scooter, you could probably build a mini-sand rail for a bit cheaper, but like you said...it wont be near as versatile. I do ride a bit on my parents property, so the 4x4 function is nice to have. I did kick around the idea of going with a mini long travel rail, but for 15k or less, you wont find a whole lot that is comparable in function. Yes, you can get the VW powered standard travel dune buggys for a few grand and build off of that, but that wasn't something that I wanted...those are much larger and wont be much good for anything other than the dunes.
 
#15 · (Edited)
No reason to run it in 4wd on the dunes...it makes it up every hill no problem in 2wd. I have talked to a few guys with paddles on the front, and all it does is make you eat a ton of sand. I did a lot of reading before I ordered the paddles that are on there (25" 7 paddle skat track extremes on the rear, 25" smoothies on the front), and from what I read...the guys running this setup made it further up the big dunes out in cali than the other guys who were running other paddle combos.

Last weekend, I stopped at the bottom of test hill on the tallest and steepest part with my girlfriend sitting shotgun, and we climbed it without a problem. On the old RZR (in 4wd) I had to get a full running start and more often than not, I wouln't make it up on the lowest parts of test hill.
 
#18 ·
The only place I have ran the stock tires was on the road, so I can't say from experience if they are any good or not. But they are fairly similar to the terracross tires that I had on the old one...and those were great for the trails and mud, but they dug in the sand pretty bad. The weight difference alone between the old tires and the paddles is enough of a reason to run them...each front smoothie and wheel was 11lbs lighter than the old tire and wheel, and each rear paddle/wheel is 18lbs lighter than the old terracross tire and 14" wheel, and the maxxis bighorns and 12" wheels that came on the RZR-S are heavier than the old setup.
 
#22 ·
Ok now you did it...

I test drove an XP, a RZR & a RZR S today...I am torn. I love the power & suspension of the S. its awsome on power & handling without even being tuned in. the XP would be great for around the ranch...thats about it. the trick here is I have 4 other quads. so I am looking at the standard RZR at 50" wide. the trick here is it rode like crap! I was really disapointed in its ride. it rode like a garden tractor at 30 and beat my guts out. my wife goes " I sure hope the other one rides better" (speaking about the S).

now heres my question. if I bought the 50" one what can be done to improve ride and suspension besides adding some nice radial tires?
 
#24 ·
You can always upgrade shocks, the factory ones are cheap on the standard model. Elka makes some really nice replacements, but they aren't cheap. Do you do a lot of riding on state trails where you can only be 50" wide? Wheels and tires are some of the first things that most people upgrade on the standard model, and most aftermarket wheels have a different offset and will make your machine a bit wider. My old one with the ITP's and terracross tires was around 55" wide, but I had no problems with it on the trails in the UP.

Another thing to keep an eye on is the tire pressure...I'm not sure what the deal is at some of the dealerships, but mine had like 20lbs of air in the tires when I bought it. I dropped them down to 8lbs and it made the ride a lot better.

Other than those, I really dont have any other suggestions...the shocks will be the best way to make it ride better. You can always adjust your factory shocks to soften them up a bit, but a quality aftermarket set will make a much bigger difference.
 
#25 ·
X2 on aftermarket shocks-- a set of walker evan or fox shocks will give you some additional tuning capabilities and then the ride/handling preference is up to you. Without going with a LT kit (wider a-arms), thats about the best you can do.

But yea, like 04 said, tire pressure will also play a big role in how it feels, it's your secondary (undamped) suspension.
 
#27 · (Edited)
There are quite a few differences between the two. The S has the 800 h.o. motor as where the standard rzr has the regular 800 (only a few hp difference, but every little bit helps) and an improved header that flows much better than the regular one. It also has a 5" over long travel suspension, fox remote resivoir coilover shocks, 26" maxxis bighorn tires, nicer wheels, a better roll cage that ties to the frame behind the bed, no clutch spacer (speed limiter), silver plastics instead of the red or green available on the regular model, wide fender flares, two-tone seats, red and black graphics (that I pulled off shortly after I got it home) and a few other things that I'm sure I'm forgetting.


Basically, Polaris saw that a lot of people were modifying their rzrs with aftermarket parts to have a better suspension with more travel, a wider stance, and adjustable shocks, so they made the S to target that market. It is over 60" wide, so it's not legal on some state trails like the standard 50" wide rzr....but really, it was made for the dunes and wide open trails where you can really use the higher top speed and suspension travel. I can float over the whoops on the dunes doing 60+ mph now, as where the old rzr would try to buck you out if you went over 10mph.
 
#29 ·
Gotcha. I also have a Raptor 700, and my girlfriend has a Wolverine 450. Total, we may have spent 30 minutes on the quads since I picked up the RZR-S, which I have put a few hundred miles on already. It rides so much smoother, and is a great change from a quad.

Actually, if you are really considering picking one up.... a guy on www.silverlakeforum.com just listed his 2009 RZR-S that is 100% stock with 13 hours on it for sale for $12,000, which is $3000 cheaper than a new one, and this one looks like its fresh off the showroom floor. He picked it up for his wife to use at the dunes, but he said they don't make it up enough to justify the cost of it.

Here is the link:

http://www.silverlakeforum.com/index.php/topic,8379.0.html
 
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