I just got back from a weekend trip on the XX. This was my third 2-day outing on it, the second in the last 3 weeks. I put on my Pro Tapers and Trail Tech clamp. I must say that PosterBoy was dead on, the aftermarket bars make a huge difference in handling the quad, especially if you ride really aggressively. This past trip had a LOT of rough stuff, rutted out, rocky, real tight, downed trees, some real nasty trails mixed in with some really good ones. After really getting comfortable with it now, I will say that I can ride the XX just as fast as my Raptor on the trails, faster in some areas. I put that thing thru hell yesterday on an about 40 mile loop that had everything you could imagine. It was awesome riding, going thru ruts, rocks, over logs, blasting down the fire roads, climbing loose gravelly hills, and shooting thru trails lined with little trees so tight that it was like going down a tunnel. The XX is awesome!! I'm loving this thing more with every ride.
I switched with my buddy and his Outlaw 500 for a bit. That thing felt like a little kids quad after getting off of mine. It really wanders around on the trail, and the front end does NOT come off the ground. The XX rides so much straighter, and has such wider gears...and SO much more power. The Outlaw gets loose in the rear end really easy too, whereas the XX is constantly gripping the dirt. Sometimes almost too much! I did notice that the Outlaw did not push as much in the corners as the XX, but I wonder if that had more to do with the tires than anything else. When you ride the XX hard thru turns, the tires seems to scrub, or push a little. He had ITP GNCC's on his, and I think that those would make a big difference on the XX. When he rode the XX on the fire roads, he was grinning ear to ear. He wasn't as sure about it on the trail, but I could see why after riding his. They ride similar in the simplest form, i.e., they are sport quads with IRS, but other than that, they don't have a lot in common. This was the first trip where I really left him in the dust at times.I am SOOOO glad i bought the XX over the Outlaw, although the 525 Outlaw would have a much better engine.
I am still a little less than enamored with third gear and the bogging issue it has, but that is a small wart, and I hope that a pipe/efi controller may cure that a bit. I realized this last trip that the XX almost seems like it has two engines. It is calm, a bit soft on the bottom, but when you hit about half throttle, it just ERUPTS to life. The power is really nice.
That's the latest...more to come...
The next mods for me will be rear grab bar and hopefully a front bumper!
