Spent some time at my new local dealer yesterday. They have lined up inside:
2018 Sportsman 1k Red
2017 Sportsman 850 Red
2018 1k touring blue
2017 570 EPS touring white
2018 570 SP hunter edition camo
2017 570 EPS camo
Dealer rep and I spent a lot of time going back and forth sitting on the machines, comparing sitting positions, handbar positions, foot wells, standing ergos and finally at his suggestion, going from machine to machine pushing down on both the front and the rear to compare suspensions. We went back and forth, pushing hard and soft over and over. What I found really surprised me....and I think it surprised him too.
1. The SP 570 has the best overall cushion going down AND coming back up in both the front and rear of all the 570s. He said the first 570 SPs out were so stiff they simply would not sell. The new ones are really surprising. They do what you expect them to do if you are looking for a soft, plush, yet controlled ride. (In fact, it is better in plushness than even the 2018 1k and the 2017 850, more on that in a minute) I am not sure if this is due in part to the added weight of the front and rear brushguards, winch etc but it is really nice if a good ride is what you are after. My guess is they targeted the hunter on this model who is not going to be blasting trails and jumps but rather traveling long distances to get to the best hunting spots who will want a comfortable ride on those long hauls.
2. The 570 touring had a soft initial "down" in front but then went back up fast and without control. I can see how one might think they are a more plush ride than the XPs if you are going at low speed over small to moderate chatter. However, if you hit anything large they run out of travel fast. The back end is terrible...hard and stiff like a lumber wagon. It was so bad it completely eliminated any further discussion of the model from further discussion.
3. The 570 camo (non-sp) was the same in the front but not as bad in the rear as the touring. Neither were anywhere near the pleasing performance of the 570 SP. The dealer mentioned the strut version go through tires faster than the aarms because they are always moving in an arc. Since this is a rural ag area, they sell a lot of this version machine because of price and the lower maintenance with the simple platform. "Putting around the farm" they do fine he said. The farmers and ranchers like how durable they are for pushing cattle.
4. Are you ready for this? Both the 850 and the 1k were stiffer and firmer than the 570 SP. I guess that is what they call "sport" suspension tuning. Still much better than either the touring or regular 570 but defiantly "tighter". Another thing I noted with them sitting side by side. The tubing on the arced aarms is definitely larger than the straight arms on the 2017 850 (the 2018 850s have now gone to arched) The arched also have an extra cross brace on all the arms compared to the straight. We were unsure if this was to increase the strength of the new arms vs the old or was required to make the arched versions as strong as the straight versions. Our guess is the suspension is stiffer to take the high speed hits and jumps they anticipate riders putting these machine through. Based on what I saw with the 570 SP hunter edition, I can't help but wonder if the XP1000 hunter is tuned in a similar manner.
5. Now for the big surprise....the 2018 850 touring is more plush than either the 2017 850 or the 2018 1k in both front and rear! In fact, I would say the 570 SP and the 850 touring are very similar. Plush going down and coming back up with a consistent medium speed for both. I told the dealer if this machine came with arched aarms and the 3 mode throttle it would be my choice.
So there you have it....I would have not thought the results to be so but lined up side by side the differences became clear quickly. So now my big question (that neither he nor anyone else knows the answer to) is will the 2019 touring finally get the arched aarms and 3 way throttle?
In the meantime I will be seeking out find a 2018 1k hunter edition to see if that suspension matches the other 1ks or is closer to the 570 hunter.
Hope this is helpful.
