| I had decided it was time to experience something | | | | Ice! |
| that little bit special. With no time wasted I set out | | | | It was awful to ride in a straight line and needed |
| to try some of the higher end Quad bike and see | | | | some serious modifications to keep it from snapping |
| how they fared both On Road and Off road. | | | | at the front and directing me into the side of the |
| Firstly when trying to decide which one I wanted to | | | | road - surely this had been adjusted wrongly and the |
| try I went and talked to a few of the people who | | | | apprentice had set the tracking wrong? |
| have experienced Quad Bikes for many years. Once I | | | | It appeared not to be the case. After returning to |
| had got all the basics of which ones to look at, off I | | | | the dealership I talked seriously with the technical |
| went with my legal credentials so that I could test | | | | guys and they confirmed the horrible nature of the |
| drive a couple of bikes to see what they were like. | | | | handling and told me to try a "modified" version to |
| Yamaha had only recently swapped the old 660 none | | | | get the true feel.luckily, one was at hand and within |
| fuel injection for the 700R fuel injected single | | | | minutes I was back off and testing something which |
| overhead cam - and boy how different they would | | | | looked the same yet probably looked a little lower - |
| be when tested side by side. | | | | but that was it. |
| The 660 I tried had done about 2000 miles and | | | | This was so different, you pointed it and it went the |
| sounded like someone had thrown small stones into | | | | direction you wanted it to. How amazingly different |
| the exhaust system whilst it sat on tick over. But, as | | | | from my earlier experience, this bike didn't leap |
| soon as you lifted the revs from the idle 800rpm | | | | around and was far more stable on the road plus, |
| that small tinkering noise disappeared. | | | | you could feel the front end lifting as you accelerated |
| I donned my helmet and gloves and off I went, | | | | away. |
| rolling tamely down the road to get a feel of the | | | | Off road was a complete hoot, you had the feeling |
| response, handling and general road holding of the | | | | of complete stability when pushing the back end out |
| bike. First impression was that it felt very soft and | | | | as you turned and with no fear it would lift on one |
| moved around on the front end a fair bit, but this | | | | side. |
| could be rectified for sure, and for only a few | | | | My mind was made up, I returned to the dealer and |
| pounds. | | | | placed my order that day. These are the |
| Having gone through some lanes and over a couple | | | | modifications that were done to the test bike I took |
| of fields I found it was great fun, had all the guts | | | | out: |
| needed and did run very well on different surfaces. | | | | - Both the front and read shocks had been wound in |
| Within an hour I was back at the dealership begging | | | | nice and tight so there was very little rebound . |
| for the 700R as my thoughts were very much: | | | | - Two inch spacers had been placed on the back |
| "Given the small faults I had found, they would have | | | | wheels creating the stability |
| managed those easily on the new model!" | | | | - Both the front and read suspension had been |
| Wrong! | | | | dropped by three inches. This was what stopped the |
| The engine did sound remarkably different and, had | | | | front end from grabbing the tarmac so heavily |
| only covered about 300 miles less than the 660 I | | | | making it feel like you were going into the ditch> |
| rode earlier. Again, slid on my lid and off I went | | | | The total cost of the adaptations was just short of |
| taking the same route as earlier. | | | | 180GBP - and probably the best money I could have |
| Oh my god, Yamaha had done something wrong | | | | spent on the bike. |
| surely - this Quad Bike had the handling like Bambi on | | | | |