IRS or Solid rear axle which is better?

[QUADZILLA]

OK guys lets hear your views on this topic.

My opinion is obvious, I think you can ride at least 20% faster in all conditions with IRS and the ride is uncompareable, there is no going back.

I even think that if they could make a sport quad with independent as light as the solid axle that it would prove to be faster.

OK What do you guys think?

IRS!!!! expecially when you have a second rider.... the machine doesn't want to buck them off... and takes the bumps and trails like a champ...

[camoman]

Great on the back.. handles corners good! nothing better in the Mud and snow that's what counts! :)

and if you really want to pull somthing with a heavy tongue weight then you can get a bar to lock your suspension like sra. Best of both worlds!

[Snowman]

well I didnt even vote cause i think they both have thier advantages
SRA, flat corners at high speed, stability when sideways on steep hills, ability to rock side to side when your stuck, comin out of a angled hole your back and doesnt sink to one corner and put your lead front wheel way in the air. to mention a few

IRS, uncomparable ride ! the rear wheels are allowed to drop down independantly to find traction, GROUND CLEARANCE, and more.

so I bought a foreman with a SRA, if it wouldve had IRS i woulda bought it too.
the suspention is way better than my 350, and the new trail rubicon is smoother as well. but it still dont compare in any way to a IRS,
i do alot of plowing with my Honda's and they hold up, but so does Mailman with his Poo and it holds up too.
as i get older, all i can say is, i hope honda goes IRS soon, my back feels it.
in other words, it not a deciding factor in buying a quad for me........ yet.

well for now i am enjoy riding gas powered wheel barrows.i for one am thankfull they don't have irs it is tippy enough already; imagine it tippyer,...but wouldn't it be cool if i came up with one, anyway i hope by the time i go quad, honda will have a IRS foreman but if they don't i'll still buy one. after all it is a honda!...i am with snowman on this one.

[Bad Company]

Originally Posted by straight pipe

well for now i am enjoy riding gas powered wheel barrows.i for one am thankfull they don't have irs it is tippy enough already; imagine it tippyer,...but wouldn't it be cool if i came up with one, anyway i hope by the time i go quad, honda will have a IRS foreman but if they don't i'll still buy one. after all it is a honda!...i am with snowman on this one.

Didn't Kawasaki make a prototype three-wheeler with IRS around '85, or '86? I remember something about it in Dirt Wheels way back when.

hmmm.not sure.

[Maxter]

Originally Posted by snowman

SRA, flat corners at high speed, stability when sideways on steep hills, ability to rock side to side when your stuck, comin out of a angled hole your back and doesnt sink to one corner and put your lead front wheel way in the air.

I'll give you the flat cornering at high speed snowman as an SRA advantage, but I disagree with the rest of your statement of SRA advantages...I would have to say IRS all the way

[Snowman]

well, just go around a tight corner and hit the gas, the inside front wheel wants to come up. works the same way climbing out of a hole.
on corners the quad wants to body roll, just like when the wieght is shifted to one back corner while climbing a slanted hill, more body roll, the more the center of gravity gets shifted.
I'd take a SRA for those situations way sooner. I've tried both in those situations and on IRS it feels like its gonna tip way sooner.
and rocking side to side, i can rock my quad just with my body wieght and get either back tire right off the ground, same as when im stuck and pushing, i can tip it up on the side and get one wheel out of the hole much easier than IRS.
IMO :)

[QUADZILLA]

Originally Posted by snowman

well, just go around a tight corner and hit the gas, the inside front wheel wants to come up. works the same way climbing out of a hole.
on corners the quad wants to body roll, just like when the wieght is shifted to one back corner while climbing a slanted hill, more body roll, the more the center of gravity gets shifted.
I'd take a SRA for those situations way sooner. I've tried both in those situations and on IRS it feels like its gonna tip way sooner.
and rocking side to side, i can rock my quad just with my body wieght and get either back tire right off the ground, same as when im stuck and pushing, i can tip it up on the side and get one wheel out of the hole much easier than IRS.
IMO :)

I hear what your saying snowman but the key word is "feels like". There is usually more body role on independant bikes especially the older ones but until you get used to riding one it "feels like" its going to tip. BUT because of the body role IRS will keep all 4 tires on the ground with the power on. The fastest way around a corner with IRS is dive in to the corner with the brakes on and as soon as you start to turn pour on the power and it will fly around the corner. This has proven to be faster that any solid axle power slide because all 4 tires are on the ground and pulling not spinning. Now depending on how much power is on tap this can be turned in to a power slid with a little shifting of some weight and some more power.

To drive an IRS machine like this an unnerving experience for most solid axle riders to say the least and takes a few rides to get the feel of it. But once you have this mastered then there are few riders on SRS that could keep up and if they could I think you would find that they have to work a whole lot harder (More leaning) to keep up.


And as for Nacho keeping up to Andy or Mark on a tight windy trail on his 400 he is on CRACK because I doubt he has even riden with Andy on a trail like this and for sure hasn't raced him and Mark. Just goes to show that you can't believe everything you read.

[NachoMan]

comon Quadzilla man u know I have riddin with Mark and Andy. Andy and I rode on a few Eastman rides and when I helped at the derby friday night . He had said how suprised he was how I kept up on tight trails. Mark and I have ridin around Ross and U know that too, because U have been on some of the rides too. Like I said in a straight line they blow my doors off.........Now I don't know why u are bad mouthing me? this is not the battle grounds. I was simply trying to vote for IRS.

[QUADZILLA]

Not trying to bad mouth ya bud! just saying that when you get those 2 hoooligans together and with the old sibling rivalry etc. there is no keeping up. There is a big difference between that and an Eastman ride or a afternoon ride with either one of them and when they go head to head.

You'll have to trust me on this one.

[NachoMan]

Your right QM.......when those two hammer down on a trail they leave me in the dust......they have alot more experience and driving ability than I do.......But it is fun to ride with them.

Sorry for off topic..........
Buy an IRS quad you will thank us in the end.
if u are thinking of buying a BF650....spend a little more and get the BF750 it is worth the extra $1000

[Snowman]

I'd have to agree with ya Quadzilla Feels like is a frame of mind and a measure of experiance on IRS, go the other way though, drive a SRA for a day, youll be surprised at how stable it "feels".
Like i said in the original post. I'm looking forward to IRS, for the ride not the other feelings. on the hills with SRA, you know exactly where your at. - again experiance with IRS you would know as well i guess.

[NachoMan]

Even though I am a big fan of IRS and could not live without one.....you have alot more moving parts on IRS. On SRA You don't have CV boots to tare or joints to brake, or bushings to ware out on the sway control arm. Food for thought

[QUADZILLA]

Originally Posted by NachoMan

Buy an IRS quad you will thank us in the end.
if u are thinking of buying a BF650....spend a little more and get the BF750 it is worth the extra $1000

This is exactly my point. Thanks Nacho

[Ramco]

I cannot vote for this thread because it says which one i think is better. For me and my personal opion i don't think one is better, I think they both have there place. I am a fan of less wearing parts because i ride in the most of extreme places, if there is no trail i make one, and it's one less thing for me to worry about when i am in these kinda senarios yet the clearance of IRS would be nice. On the rough trial i do nothing but wish i had IRS or even just a little cruise around home it would be nice.
To me and my personal ridding style they are equal and that just because of my ridding style. no one can say i'm wrong because again it's my personal ridding style and what i need out of bike.
But let me tell you this. if there was a kit you could get that you could switch a Irs suspention over too a SRA just like you would change tires, i would be the first in line to get one.

Just my 2 cents
Ramco

[QUADZILLA]

Hey snowman, you know what would be weird? ..... you ride SRS right?, so trade for the day with someone you trust to ride your bike who also has an independant bike and at the end of the day trade back for the ride home.I think that would freek out both of you. If you ever what to try that let me know and I'll ride with ya.

Better yet switch for the day and at the end of the day before you switch back ........ RACE! Ha that would be pretty funny, then switch and race again. would that be funny ........ I wonder what would happen, wait till I get my new bike and we should try it, I have no idea what would be the out come of that game hehehe

Of course I am presuming that you would trust me with your new wheels.......

Maybe not eh! ....... ha

Any hooo! all I wanted is some results from this pole to help the fella asking about the BF650 decide if he/she really should consider the BF750 for the IRS???? Thats all.

Thanks everyone for your input, I agree to respect everyone's opinion and I understand that I am the only one that I can absolutely speak for. Everyone is different and wants something different from their machine.

But because of this I am surprised at how one sided this pole was.

[Mooseman]

I've read lot's of good points from both sides of this arguement. Sometimes we have to accept the fact that people like what they like without justification. Another example is - what's your favorite colour. Mine's red; why - because! I'm not trying to put down any of your opinions, it's just that we can argue until we're blue in the face and people will still have their prefered suspension. Mine is SRA. I have some experience with IRS and I feel (like Snowman does) that SRA are better controlled at higher speed cornering then IRS. I also much prefer the feel of SRAs in general. I simply don't like IRS and doubt I will ever get a bike with it. SRAs feel more sporty and I can't stand the mushy-couch feeling an IRS has. When you go over a bump or something I want to feel it. I feel my steering and balance is more connected with the riding surface. Another reason I like SRA is the towing capacity, I had to haul my 16' Edson boat full of water out of the lake last summer. The tongue weight was extremely heavy, the rear tires buckled and wrinkled down but the Kawi hauled it out, no prob. The nieghbour who has a IRA wouldn't even touch it for fear of breaking his rear-suspension or snaping off his hitch. So my recommendation is to assess what your priorities are and make an informed desicion on what you need your ATV for.
Ok, end of speech.

Mm

[camoman]

Well MM I beg to differ.. I can tell you that I have put more strain pulling with my quad then anyone probably has on this site.. and yes I have IRS.. not to say that SRA couldn't do this and stand up to this extreme strain but let me tell you from FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE that an IRS quad is as strong if not stronger when pulling then an SRA.. The reason I would say that IRS is stronger is that my hitch is connected directly to the frame.. in any SRA setup the hitch is attached to the rear axle which in my opinion is the week point.. not to say it is "week" because it's not but in no way is a IRS quad weeker then a SRA.

Pictures to prove it.. This boat weighs over 2000lbs (18ft) the way it sits.. the trailer was sunk in the sand and so was my bike.. The tongue weight is over 200 lbs as well ( I can't lift it).. I had to hook my winch cable to my Dad's truck to get it out..
I couldn't tell you what the total pull wieght was of this but I can speculate that getting it unstuck out of the sand was well over 5000lbs if not over 7000lbs..

I think that anyone who really knows me knows that I am the first to step up to try the limits of my bike.. It's been their and back and it's still a live and kickin.