Archive for June, 2006
We are heading into a great Holiday weekend. I hope everyone has a fantastic and safe Fourth of July. I am heading out myself to a family get together. During these trying times I am grateful for a free country. A few years ago after the September 11th attacks and then we invaded Iraq, I came up with these special God Bless America desktop backgrounds. I think it is fitting to post them again and give you something cool to dress up your computer screen this week.
On this same line, the reason I am heading out this weekend for a family get together, is my wife’s brother is getting ready to go to Iraq himself. He is part of a special team and will be on a 3-4 month tour. I can’t say a lot about what he is going to be doing, but let’s just say you won’t be hearing much about it on the news. I just want to say, Thanks Scott, and God Bless you and your family. We will be praying for your safe return.
Let’s all download one of these free wallpaper images (or something else you might find) and devote this time to the soldiers who are continuing to fight for our freedom, family, and country. Thanks!
Click on image above or below. Once larger image has downloaded, simply right-mouse click on image and select “Set Image as Desktop Background” (or something similar)
June 30th, 2006
Here is a compiled video clip that I took while on the Yamaha Grizzly 700 FI ATV Introduction in Montana in June. This video is just captured from my digital camera, but it gives a very good look at the new Grizzly 700. I go through many of the new features and really show you just how it all comes together. Excuse the lame commentary, but I was basically videoing as I was seeing it for the first time as well.
For those of you looking to decide if the new Yamaha Grizzly 700 is right for you, this may help you out. You can catch my earlier “First Look” review here.
Look for a more detailed test ride review a little later in Hunting Illustrated Magazine after we get some more ride time on the new ATV.
June 29th, 2006
New 2007 Yamaha Grizzly 700 with FI and EPS
The long wait is over. The “no disclose” date is over and I can finally tell someone about this new ATV from Yamaha. I had the opportunity to attend a Yamaha invite held in Montana at the Paws Up resort. I was able to be one of the first to ride this new ATV, but have had to wait until today to be able to disclose anything about it. My original guess was right on. However, Yamaha did have a new feature up their sleeve that I would have never guessed. The new ATV for 2007 is the Yamaha Grizzly 700 EFI. Yes, that is right, it now has fuel injection. However, on the stickers, Yamaha is just using the “FI” for fuel injection instead of EFI for electronic fuel injection (even though it is).
I will give you a quick rundown for now. I will be posting more photos and maybe a video clip in the next while. However, my full feature review of the new Grizzly 700 will be in an upcoming issue of Hunting Illustrated and after I get some more ride time on it. I had one full day of riding the new Grizzly 700 in Montana and put about 60 miles on it. Let’s get to the good stuff of what is new. I know I have missed something but here are some of the main things:
What’s New
- bumped up to a 686cc engine (now called a 700)
- included fuel injection (improved performance, cold starting, high altitude riding)
- improved suspension front and rear
- added more padding to the seat (it is very soft and comfortable)
- moved gas tank under seat and centered for lower center of gravity
- air filter has been moved up to where the gas tank was originally with improved design
- improved tires
- motor and transmission has been beefed up to handle the bigger engine and power
- brakes have been improved, especially the rear brakes (big improvement here)
- battery has been moved to the front under the plastic for easy connection to winch, etc.
- bigger and brighter head lights
- front A-arms have been widened to allow more width on the ground clearance
- rack system has been changed. Still has the powder-coated racks, but they can be unbolted and switched out for cargo boxes, etc. Instead of tying down your box, just unbolt rack and bolt on custom fit box and other Yamaha accessories.
- redesigned plastic and stickers all around
- we were riding full-production ATVs, so dealers should have these fairly soon
- available colors are green, red, blue and also a Realtree camo version
- MSRP is looking around $7,900 U.S. (don’t quote me on this)
- A big surprise feature never before seen on an ATV…EPS (keep reading)
How’s the Ride
First impression is very positive. A good increase in power but nothing that is going to blow your socks off. Power is very strong from start to finish. Yamaha claims to have given both the high and low range a slightly higher RPM for smoother riding. I felt there were two weak points on the older Grizzly, the soft brakes and gushy suspension that tended to roll a bit in corners. There are good improvements in these areas. The brakes are much improved and the suspension is very smooth and more controlled in corners.
Yamaha put a lot of effort in making the 2007 Grizzly 700 all-new. Not just a change in engine displacement and throw in some EFI, this ATV has a ton of new features and refinements that really show Yamaha has done their homework. There is much more to say, but am giving just a short review at this time. So what is the new feature that Yamaha included on the new Grizzly 700? What is EPS? It stands for ELECTRONIC POWER STEERING (EPS). That’s right. They put power steering on a quad. Does it work? Yes it does. There are two areas where I really saw the benefit of EPS. We were riding in an area with a lot of small tree stumps. The EPS really helped on bump steer, especially at higher speeds. The second and most noticeable area is when the ATV is in four-wheel drive, with differential lock engaged. Before, the Grizzly 660 was a bear to handle in diff-lock and speeds had to be kept to a minimum. The EPS totally helps on the “pop-steering” and manages to control the aggressive front tires in a way that makes using diff-lock more usable and safe. I was able to push and hold in the override button and go over 40 mph while in diff-lock. Those of you who know what I am talking about will be hard-pressed to believe that.
This photo taken of a Grizzly 700 cutout shows the
new power steering (EPS) component (red circle)
Yamaha has put together a very solid ATV. It is the not the biggest or fastest, but having an ATV that is packed with features and comfort and still being just over 600 pounds is quite impressive. I can’t wait to get my leg over another one shortly to do more testing and really see if my first impressions will hold up and how it compares to the competition. Yamaha is not interested at this time to be the biggest, but focusing more on refinement on a complete package. In their presentation to us they gave the basic sales figures of the big-bore ATVs (ATVs bigger than 500cc). Even though there is interest in the big 800cc motors, the majority of sales are coming from the 700 class ATVs. Right now the Grizzly 660 has been the best selling big bore ATV out there. I think with these improvements and the added FI and EPS, the Grizzly 700 will continue this reign.
I have some more photos and I actually took some video with my digital camera that I will try and get posted that will give you a full scan of the new ATV. I will do this in another post. Much more will be seen in a future article in Hunting Illustrated.
David King
Editor
Hunting Illustrated Magazine
UPDATE: Here is a link to the new post with the video clip on the new Yamaha ATV
June 25th, 2006
I am heading out for Missoula, Montana. I have been invited by Yamaha on a special invitation to ride a brand new 2007 utility ATV that is not yet been disclosed. All they tell me is that it is an all new ATV for 2007. However, I have a pretty good idea that it is going to be their new Grizzly ATV. I am taking a guess, but I think it will be an updated Grizzly with a 700 cc engine and EFI (electronic fuel injection) and some other goodies. I am very excited to see what it is it. The Yamaha Grizzly 660 has been an outstanding ATV for the last few years and with the new competition it will be interesting to see what Yamaha has come up with to keep the Grizzly on top as one of the best selling ATVs on the market.
I will be coming back on Tuesday and hopefully on Wednesday I will be able to post probably one of the first sneak peaks to the public of this mystery ATV. Stay tuned…
UPDATE: I just returned from my trip with Yamaha in Montana. What a fun time. Unfortunately since I was one of the first to test ride this new machine, I had to sign a “no disclose” agreement until June 25th at 9pm PST. So I don’t even want to toy with the situation since I signed my life away and devulge any details at this time. I will be posting more details after June 25th.
ANOTHER UPDATE: You can read about the new 2007 ATV here
June 11th, 2006
On January 17, 2006, the U.S. Repeating Arms Company, makers of Winchester firearms, announced it would be closing its New Haven, Connecticut facility. Rumors have started circulating that the famous Winchester models 70 and 94 are gone forever and that Winchester is going out of business. We sat down with Scott Grange, the director of PR at Winchester and Browning to get the whole story.
(Originally published in the May/June 2006 issue of Hunting Illustrated)
Can you tell us a little about the beginnings of the Winchester Company?
Oliver Winchester purchased the New Haven Arms Company in 1866 and promptly changed the name to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. At the time, all major firearms production was taking place on the East Coast with the exception of a little unknown shop in Ogden Utah Territory called Browning Brothers. That is a fascinating story in itself, one we can perhaps cover another time. In 1931, Olin Corporation purchased Winchester Repeating Arms Company and merged it with the Western Cartridge Company.
How did the U.S. Repeating Arms Company come about?
In the mid 1960’s, Olin started struggling to make the firearms segment of the business profitable. For the next twenty years, things continued to deteriorate and in 1981 Olin divested of the firearms portion of the business. At that time, the employees of Winchester Repeating Arms Company purchased it lock, stock and barrel and formed U.S. Repeating Arms Company (USRAC). They simply purchased the facility along with the license to use the Winchester name. It was basically business as usual.
How did Browning and Winchester merge?
With limited resources, it was immediately apparent that the well meaning folks of USRAC would not be able to turn things around from a profitability standpoint. The company continued to struggle and in 1985, a French group called GIAT, who owned firearms giant Browning, conducted a study here in the U.S. to determine which firearm names were most popular among the people. The top three names from the study were Winchester, Browning and Remington - showing that anyone that knew anything about firearms at least knew these three names. At that time, the U.S. Repeating Arms Co. (makers of Winchester firearms) was struggling and was up for sale. The owners of Browning thought it would be a good move to own two of the three most popular companies and purchased U.S. Repeating Arms Co. in 1991.
Why was the decision made to close down the New Haven Plant?
Following the purchase of the U.S. Repeating Arms Co., Browning brought back some of the classic Winchester designs and did a lot of neat things to boost the revenue of the company, but we just could not make it profitable. The owners of Browning tried and tried to save the U.S. Repeating Arms Co., knowing that we had such a good and powerful name to work with. Our owners were gracious and allowed the losses to continue longer than most owners of businesses would; but, in the end, the company would not cash flow. So, after a long struggle, our owners decided to close the doors on the plant. The closing of the New Haven plant took place March 31, 2006. It was a business decision to realign resources and to help make the U.S. Repeating Arms Co. profitable again in the future.
What does this mean for the general public?
It means that three firearms are going away. The model 94 lever action rifle, the model 70 bolt action rifle, and the model 1300 pump shotgun have all been discontinued completely. There are some legal issues that completely prohibit us from even making those guns right now. In the meantime, we are moving forward with new ideas that will give Winchester a bright future. We are a worldwide company and are taking advantage of all of our resources.
The Browning/Winchester company has introduced a couple of new models to the Winchester line-up this year with the Super-X rifle, a semi-auto rifle like our Browning BAR, the Super-X3 shotgun, the select over/under shotgun which is also a Belgium-made product, and a beautiful little .22 rifle that we have coming from Russia. We have great plans for the future and we are preceding the best we can. We are alive and well in every aspect of our company. There has been absolutely no change in customer or product service. We have an obligation to our customers to continue servicing all products including those that have been discontinued.
For those people who own one of those firearms that have been discontinued, they should be very happy. The value of those guns probably just went up significantly because there will never be another Winchester rifle made that has “made in New Haven, Connecticut” stamped on the barrel - and, to collectors, that means something.
Are you seeing an increase in sales due to this announcement?
Absolutely! In fact, our complete inventory was gone in a three-hour period the day we made the announcement. It was unbelievable how fast that stuff went out of here.
What has been the public response from this?
Anytime you start ripping icons out of people’s lives, there is going to be emotion. And, what two greater icons are there in the firearms world than the model 94 and model 70? The human element and emotion has been enormous - everything from outrage from those people who simply do not know the whole story, to those who are very aware of the situation and who have said thanks for trying to make the company successful these past few years. It has been an emotional roller coaster. Are we happy to have made these guns go away? Absolutely not! It makes us sick! Eighty-percent of our Winchester production just went away. It has been rough, our internet site and our consumer department have been overloaded. The rumor mill has just gone crazy because people simply aren’t getting the real story. Winchester is not going out of business; we are alive and well and have a bright future!
Can you speculate on what the future holds for Winchester?
The biggest hurdle we have to overcome at this point is securing the license from Olin to continue to use the Winchester name. Negotiations are going on right now and everything should turn out just fine. I can’t speculate at this point on our new product ideas, but we are excited about the future and we are going to do some great things to show people that Winchester is still alive and well.
June 5th, 2006
Last night I had Eric Stevens stop by my house to show me some of his great mule deer sheds he has found. He let me hang on to them today so I could score them up. The set below Eric found just two weeks ago on public land in Central Utah. The right main beam is broken off about four inches and the antlers score 180 gross. If the beam would have been intact they would be around a 185 class typical with an estimated 19 inch inside spread. Not bad!
I ended up taking a short video clip of Eric and this set of sheds with my digital camera.
About ten years ago Eric found his best set of sheds to date. These dandy antlers score 195 gross non-typical. The left side has two abnormal points that equal about 8 inches. The right side is a perfect typical with great mass and tine length. A great set of mule deer sheds.
June 1st, 2006
