Need ATV opinions

[ray1970]

Thinking about buying a couple of ATVs for me and my wife. I have always been more of a dirt bike kind of a guy and really don't know what I should be looking for. She and I have ridden a friends Honda Fourtrax 300 and I think we would both like something with a little more power. We will be trail riding up in the mountains mostly. The Fourtrax we were riding were full time 4 wheel drive. I am sure that comes in handy for mud and snow but how well will a 2 wheel drive do and dry, rocky trails. Since I am looking to buy two of them I can get the 2 wheel drive ones cheaper. Any first hand experience from any experienced ATV riders would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Mtn.man]

Polaris.
we have em in both 2 and 4 wheel the 2's do great up high, and have gone everywhere the 4's have gone except in the winter.
have 500's and a 700. faster than you need to go.

[Colorado Luckydog]

Polaris all the way.

[n8tive97]

Polaris.
we have em in both 2 and 4 wheel the 2's do great up high, and have gone everywhere the 4's have gone except in the winter.
have 500's and a 700. faster than you need to go.

+1, I have 3 4X4, all have been very dependable and have worked great over the years

[DSB OUTDOORS]

Polaris!! Have 1999 Sportsmans 400. I beet the hell out of it rolled it once, still going strong!!

[Ronin13]

We must be in a cave, I hear an echo! Polaris... I used to work for Excel in Lakewood and those were the best of the best... same goes with Sleds too IMHO.

[BPTactical]

Well I will be the different one here. When we were looking I spent about 4 months researching ATV's and comparing. I never gave Polaris a second thought, we have them at work and I was less than impressed. I compared Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Can Am.
Ended up buying a King Quad 700 and an Eiger 400-both Suzuki's. Great machines and the King was an absolute torque monster. Snow plowing SOB!
Unfortunatley the next summer I blew out 3 disc' in my back and the Doc put the Kabosh on the ATV riding. Sold the pair that winter.

[ray1970]

Thanks for the info. I only know a few people who own/ride these things and they were all steering me away from Polaris. Fortunately, I don't trust their opinions very much so I seek as much information as possible to help me make an educated decision. [Beer]

[jmg8550]

And why are they steering you away from Polaris?

[Mtn.man]

Never had a problem with them owned them since 90'.

[xiondavis]

If yer a dirt bike guy, look at a Honda atc 350x.... Helluva lot more fun than a four wheeler, but the 350x is trail worthy too. (3wheeler)
http://www.bob2000.com/atc350xs.jpg

[Great-Kazoo]

And why are they steering you away from Polaris?

probably because the cost of repair parts is obscene compared to honda, yamaha, suzuki etc.
I like the yammies but found through time their parts becoming obsolete sooner than later was a negative. the honda's have a parts availability that last an easy decade over yamaha. suzuki and kaw are nice, however resale for them is lower than honda or yamaha. YMMV

[Mtn.man]

dats cuz all the rest are always being repaired, you don't have to work on a Polaris...

[car-15]

I have rode 4 wheelers since the late 90's and all my friends that have bought into the polaris hype have always switched to suzuki's and kawi's after the repair bill's start showing up. which come to soon and to often, I just sold my 98 quadrunner 500 about a year ago,(bought new in 98) and picked up a new suzuki, I never had to do anything to it but replace the tires once, and change the oil twice a year, the guy who bought it rides the crap out of it and has had no poblems yet.

[ray1970]

If yer a dirt bike guy, look at a Honda atc 350x.... Helluva lot more fun than a four wheeler, but the 350x is trail worthy too. (3wheeler)
http://www.bob2000.com/atc350xs.jpg

Lol.... I would kill myself on one of those. Nearly did several times when those things first came out. [Coffee]

As far as being steered away from Polaris, parts cost was brought up quite often.

[sniper7]

I'll chime in here. You can consider me an expert on ATVs as they are my thing I love almost as much as guns.

Polaris: Good machines, I hear a lot more noises coming from them, they are definitely the most prone to leak, and most of them are not a true 4x4 with differential lock like some other brands. I have had a 99 500, 2005 500 and 2007 500, 2003 600, 2005 800 and driven my friends pair of 2011 XPS 850s with power steering. The biggest thing i dislike about them, particularly on the newer ones is the plastic. While I like the storage boxes and lock and ride gear I see those plastics broken more than anything. They also eat belts more than any other machine I have seen. Their stock tires are decent and last a good amount of time as long as you don't do much paved riding. oh, and the old camo pattern that looks purple is horrendous and I hate it.

Yamaha: My Favorite machines (the new canam is neck and neck). Now the earlier Kodiak models are not the best of the best machines, built a bit cheaper, those have been phased out. still good machines, good power and get you where you want. Grizzly is my machine. I have had an 03, 2 05's, and currently have an 08 camo, efi, power steering ducks unlimited. absolute badass machine. The 05 models I had were amazing, the camo one was my favorite, doesn't show scratches at all, halued out my elk last year with 3 guns on it, me and my buddy and didn't have a single hiccup.
The EFI would have done even better since it compensates for altitude. The power steering is not necessary but if you are going on a 30+ miles ride you will truly appreciate the power steering. 07 the power steering was introduced. If you go for one of these, make sure you really work the steering back and forth a lot when test riding to make sure nothing feels super tight or jerky or catching. until 2009 they had a air vent in the power steering component that if the ATV was sunk (drowned under water) and not drained properly it would rust up and it is about $1500+ to fix. You shouldn't run into this here in CO as not many people are big on mud riding or swamp riding and we don't really have the humidity so 99% of them here are safe, just ask questions. Some of the only issues I have seen with yamahas are replacing the wheel bearings and brakes a little sooner than some other ATVs. both are extremely simple, do it yourself jobs and cheap.

Honda: bullet proof engines, the rest of them are tried and trued but have some issues. if you want to plow, honda isn't the way to go unless you get the rincon. ride comfort is decent on these but almost all the hondas are solid rear axle and I like the independent rear suspension much better. My dad has a 2001 honda rubicon 500. very plush machine, tons of power, doesn't have power steering but it feels like it even though it is all time 4x4. doesn't have differential lock again which i don't like. I have had a few hondas 01 450es, 04 450es, 05 650 rincon and 06 680 rincon fuel injected and a 07 foreman 420 efi es. They don't have diff lock. The rincon is IRS (independent rear suspension) which was really nice. The ES models are what I hate. most of them have to have the ES worked on in one way or another, usually with a simple $80 part replacement, but they are finicky at times. a quick google search will explain what I mean. The thing I love about hondas are the shaft drive. no belt to deal with which usually isn't a big deal at all with other atvs, but it is one less thing to worry about.

Kawasaki: I have less experience with these, but have had a Prairie 650 model 2003. good machine, but the V-twin was finicky with dual carbs that I had to rebuild, then sync to get it to run right. It has the nice v-twin power and was a good running, nice shifting machine. has diff lock, but I didn't like how it was used. you have to grab and extra lever with your right hand and hold it in (while you are trying to maneuver around some gnarly terrain). not IRS so I didn't like the ride as well. they also have a brute force but I have no experience with those and can definitely tell the resale value is much lower on the kawis.

Suzuki: My first true love! I learned to ride on a 1993 Suzuki King Quad 300, foot shift so I have a soft spot for the king quad. That 1993 was still running like a badass with no maintenance ever done to it when my dad sold it last year. I rode that thing from 3rd grade till last year. it needed new tires as the originals with 2700 miles were finally ready for a change, the shocks were on their last leg (jumping a 4x4 all the time as a kid doesn't help), it always hauled me and my buddy and towed all of us and his sister and my sister on sleds and all kinds of fun stuff. I bet it had 3 oil changes its whole life, never a single problem. the rear brakes definitely needed fixed as well. It also needed a battery every couple years because we never charged it and it sat outside all year. If I would have taken care of it as well as all my others (I didn't know since I was a kid) it would look brand new and never needed a thing other than brakes. I have had an 05 and 2 08 king quads. All were badass, fuel injected, IRS, torque monsters with what I like to call "retard strength". the 08 750 I could punch it on hard dirt or pavement and it would pop a wheelie every time. this machine has a ton of power and deserves respect. my issue was how high it sat and it would tuck under when steering (non power steering models). I didn't have them long enough to tell much for maintenance. the 05 models had issues with the gauge cluster going bad and needing replaced so question any used ones actual mileage if they are around that age.
I have also had a couple vinsons and they are good machines, a lot like the king quads but not nearly as much power or torque. overall good machines.

Arctic Cat: I have had a couple 650's. My mom has one of them now and they are really good machines. definitely seems like they are built cheaper and seem a little cheaper than other brands, but go everywhere the rest of them go so that is a testament. i hate the stock tires. the decals usually suck. they sit higher and have great ground clearance but also gives them a more tipsy stance so they are easier to roll and not as stable on really rough terrain.

Canam/bombardier: absolutely beautiful machines (canam at least). I have had several 05 through 08 and the newer canams (07 and newer) are amazing. the older bombardier models are okay but once you get before about 04 the looks and quality and resale value drops significantly.
They are the most expensive machines, but the new ones give the best warranty. The Carlisle tires are by far the best stock tires available, even compared to a lot of aftermarket machines. The XT models come with bumpers, handguards and a winch. my 08's were fuel injected and the exhaust sounds amazing. their biggest claim is how much power they put out. the 500cc models keep up and beat most other 650's. their 650 and 800 models are just absolute power houses.
they have 2 up models which are awesome, very comfortable and easy to drive and maneuver. the 400 and 500 models lately have had issues with the shocks in the front. they will bottom and top out and make loud clunking noises. they will be covered under warranty though. the 650 and 800 use struts and are much better. The 07 800 models had so much power that the frame (not conventional) was actually bending. so watch out for that. new ones have that issue worked out.
What I hate about them are the fact that the maintenance schedule is built into the machine and when you hit the hour mark it tells you it needs MX. which is fine except for the issue that it can only get the message cleared by the dealer so you have to take it in to get it cleared (even if you do the work) and hope they clear it for free.

well I am tired so off to bed, but feel free to ask any other questions and I will give my input.[Beer]

[BlasterBob]

The Honda brand of ATV's are my favorite - as you can see and RED ones at that.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v310/bobjan/Inventory6-14-2011034.jpg

[ronaldrwl]

I use my Honda for hunting and riding. Starts and runs great all the time. Also have a Kawasaki for just trail ridding and messing around. What I did was just find the best deal on Craigs List. You can find amazing deals where people have purchased ATV's and only ridden them a few hours.

[Irving]

http://www.4wheeloffroad.com/featuredvehicles/131_0711_suzuki_samurai_vs_yamaha_rhino/viewall.html