07 Grizzly 660

    A few months ago I set out to find a good ATV that would kind of bring me back to my roots of riding. Back in the day we could ride all day and have a great time without covering over five miles, we would just play in some mud then play in some mud then if we had time do a little trail riding! I wanted something that I could use to play in a little mud as well as really ride on the trails so I set out looking for a big utility ATV.  In 05 I purchased an 06 Grizzly and loved it but as times changed and we got into sport quads the Griz had to find a new home, so when I found this 07 660 Grizzly it was a must have.

Stage one!

For stage one I wanted to do a little maintenance, make it look a little better, as well as make it perform better! So first off I went to QuadBoss and picked up some new shiny Governor wheels, some 26" Mud tires, a new axle, a new belt, some tire sealant, their heavy duty tie rod kit, and a big Quadboss cargo box. Then I went to James at JBS to pick his brain on some clutch work and we ended up with one of his machined sheaves, 16gram weights, a purple secondary spring, and a modified 700 cam plate. Then I picked up a Pro Design intake kit.

When I picked this bike up first thing I did was change all the fluids then I did a little riding to find it in pretty good shape but it did have a couple issues. One of the front axles had a busted boot and the CV was in pretty rough shape so I opted to replace the axle with a new QuadBoss axle instead of trying to fix the joint, the joint was in bad enough shape I feel replacing it was inevitable so better off doing it now instead of later after it broke on the trail. Then for wheels and tires the bike had some decent looking wheels and performing tires but for what I wanted I knew there was better options out so I decided to replace them with the new QuadBoss Governor wheels and their Mud tires! A couple issues with the black wheels was for one they where black, from my experiance in the rocky mud the black tends to scratch easy and it really shows when raw aluminum is shining through. Machined and clear coated wheels still scratch but they don't seem to show as bad when they do. Another issue in my opinion was the wheels on the bike was 14" and in the rough rocky trails around here with a 26" tire a 12" wheel performs better and rides better with fewer puncture issues. So I choose the QuadBoss 26" Mud tires on their 12" Governor wheels which I feel will prove to be the better option for what I want to do! Then to make the tires bulletproof I decided to add a little QuadBoss tire sealant to the package! With the bigger wheels and tires and seeing the stock tie-rod setup had nearly 2200 miles on it I decided to upgrade the tie-rod setup with the heavy duty QuadBoss Option for some piece of mind. Now with the bigger heavier wheels and tires I felt this thing needed more power and from past experience I knew the best and easiest way to gain performance was clutch work so I called James with JBS (the king of Yamaha clutches). After talking to James I decided to try one of his complete clutch kits with a freshly modified sheave, modified cam plate, 16 gram weights, and a new purple secondary spring. While I had the clutch apart I knew the bike had nearly 2200 miles and with the stress of the new wheels, tires, and clutching  I opted to replace the belt with a new QuadBoss drive belt.  Now for the intake I decided to replace the stock filter setup all together, I went with a Pro Design kit which clamps the filter in place so now I know when I install the filter it is sealed with or without the air box lid. And last but not least I needed a little cargo space for straps, rain gear, a cooler and what-not so I picked up a big QuadBoss Cargo box with a seat built in so I not only have a little more comfortable seating space but I also have all kinds of room for cargo.

Stage 2

    During the stage one build when I was installing the JBS clutch I found someone had been into the clutch before me and they had left the clutch cover and seal off as well as had been running the clutch weights with no covers. Now seeing I didn't know this before tear down I had not ordered these parts so I installed the clutch dry so I could go a head and do a little riding but for stage two I went back to James at JBS and ordered the clutch cover, seal, and bolts to hold it in place. After completing stage one and doing some trail riding I had a rear axle break so I went back to QuadBoss and picked up a new rear axle along with new rear bushings to tighten everything up. Then with the maintenance done I went to HMF looking for a little more power and picked up one of their slip on exhausts along with their jet kit. And last but defiantly not least I went to MotoAlliance and picked up a 3500lbs Midnight series Viper winch and mounting kit.

To start stage two I decided to do the maintenance first by installing the new QuadBoss Axle, QuadBoss bushings, and I pulled the clutch to grease everything and seal it off with the new parts I got from JBS! Next I pulled the exhaust and rejetted the carb, I went ahead and cleaned the carb good while I had it off and jetted it with a 170 main which is the smallest included in the HMF kit.  Next I went ahead and installed the Viper Midnight series 3500lbs winch. With everything together I took the griz for the road/trail test and soon found the jetting was a little rich so I ordered a 165 main and when it came in I rejetted the carb and found the 165 was the trick for my setup.

Stage Three!

Stage three was all about protection and not just protection for me or the bike but protection for both! First I went to Ricochet Offroad and picked up a full set of skid plates to protect the bike! Then to protect me I went to Boyeson and picked up a set of their flex grips! Next I went to Maier Plastics and picked up a set of their fender flare extensions to protect me and the bike from mud and rocks flung up by the new tires! And then I went to Baja Designs and picked up a little night riding protection, I picked up one of their 8" ONX light bars.

Now install of all of this was fairly easy and everything had a noticeable impact on when riding the bike after install. I did find that the opening in the bash plate did not line up with the winch so I had to do a little modifying there but other than that everything was a true bolt on and everything worked together with out any real  issues!

Inconclusion

Overall I got to say this bike is awesome and everything I have done to it had a purpose with a noticeable value so there was nothing wasted. I feel All three stages really complemented each other in the looks department as well as the actual useability department.  Now I can't say this bike was a disappointment before because it was not, the grizzly is a great bike to begin with but with a little work this goes to show that it really can be improved upon and made into an even better trail machine.