best/worst atv

J

jeffo

New member
I'm looking to buy a used four wheeler in the 3000 dollar range. I want it for utility, not speed. I want 4 wheel drive but the rest is all optional. I've heard good and bad things about almost all of them, especially the auto transmissions. My question is not what you think is the best, but what should I avoid and why. Thanks.
 
I wanted simplicity, manual shift,no buttons to engage into 4 wheel drive but a hand lever,electric start, with a pull starter just in case.No straight rear axel,rides rougher.
 
Well I'm sure the mechanics that specialize in hondas/yamaha/Artic Cat/Ect. all make a good living working on those machines.... Regardless of the make/model/serial number, it will eventually break....
 
I bought myself a YAMAHA Grizzly 600 in 1997. Two years later I bought my wife a YAMAHA Kodiak 400. Both have automatic transmissions and on the fly 4 wheel drive. Both have a pull start but we have never had to use them. I would rather "ride" my wife's Kodiak than my Grizzly most of the time as it has a tighter turning radius and is better handling in both 2 & 4 wheel drive. But we use the Grizzly for most small "farm work" and the Kodiak for help doing "other stuff". If I had to buy a "less than 500 cc" ATV, I would buy the Kodiak hands down. The best in all catagories IMHO. I used my Grizzly to carry a nice (approx) 185 lb., 8-point buck out of a pretty steep draw a couple of years ago. I couldn't have gotten him out without the 4X4 tranny. It was just too steep for my buddies 2X4 to get it out. He had to take me back to my ATV so we could get it out of there. But, then again, that was an extreme case. I still like the 4X4 best especially when it is "on-the-fly".
 
Originally posted by Moose57:
[QB]Stay away from Polaris. QB]
Click to expand...
2nd that. In Highschool I worked at a dealer that sold all makes. Polaris' had more problems than others.

In fact I passed a Polaris getting towed down a trail in Florence yesterday morning. After asking if they needed a hand I sped off on my CR500R.

Hondas are good. Yamaha makes a good product also. May parents have two Kawasaki quads, a '86 Bayou, and a '02 Prarie. Regular maintenance for the auto trans on the Prarie is a few hundred dollars. I don't think the oil in the tranny of the Bayou has ever been changed. If a were buying a quad, and I wanted a durable one, I'd stick with the clutch-free manual style tranny(They're bulletproof). An automatic will cost big $$$ in the long run.

Of course, If you want to go everywhere you gotta stick with two wheels. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
I THINK THE REASON THAT MOST PEOPLE ARE GOING AGAISNT THE POLARIS IS BECAUSE THEY ARE BELT DRIVEN... IN WHICH IF THEY GET WET I BELIEVE THEY SLIP AND I JUST DONT CARE FOR AUTOMATICS ALL THAT MUCH... I'D SAY THAT THE 2 MOST POPULAR ARE YAMAHA AND HONDA, AT ONE TIME HONDA WAS WAY AHEAD OF THE PACK AND THEN YAMAHA CAUGHT UP IN A BIG WAY AND NO THEY ARE PRETTY CLOSE(QUALITY WISE)....

-PPH-
 
JEFFO: If you want a tough no problems 4X4 get an early Honda 300 or an early 350 Honda Rancher. They are simple and TOUGH. I think the best riding new 4X4 is the Yamaha 450 Kodiac. It does it all and is a blast to ride. High-Low gearing,lockable front end,auto trans,great ride. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif Ter
 
This is a timely topic for me, as I am considering buying an ATV. I know that the Polaris is a belt drive, and I also think the Yamaha is. I know lots of folks with Polaris' who love them. Do the belt drives slip when they get wet? (Polaris or Yamaha?) I will say that I duck hunt in AR in the sloppiest muck around, and I have a buddy whose Foreman 300 has NEVER had a problem in it. I am very impressed with Honda; however, my experience around here has been that the dealers are difficult to deal with. The features I'd like are: automatic, push button 2wd/4wd. So... is a shaft drive the way to go? Does anyone have any experience on the Honda Rincon, and is it designed for utility, or more for play?

Blake
 
Our hunting gang has 3 honda 300 4x4s that work good with one person on it. Flipped one of them on me when I let a 350lb guy drive the steep mountains of PA hunting bear thinking he knew what he was doing. The four wheeler started to die down and he dropped it into a lower gear and let her rip. I was not fast enough to tell him to stop SSOOO ( needless to say I ripped my acl 50%- physical theropy and 2 months later I am fine and would stay with honda (PS-stay away from riding with anyone who weighs more than the 4 wheeler-) Mountain Experience talking there. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

By the way we left a 120 cub go that day( No Luck- rain like cats and Cows( dogs are tooo small for that days weather)). /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

We had a suziki 230 quad sport that was fine but wore the cluth out hunting groundhogs. Going too slow.

Also we used the hondas to hull my brothers bear out 2 years ago. Honda 300x 4x4 the beaar weight 230lbs(a beautiful sow- still waiting to get the mount back from tax- thats another story. I have noticed they are harder to turn because of 4wheeel drive is locked. :eek:

I have beeen looking for another four wheeler and was leaning to polaris- I think i will stay with honda after reading this site. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
Guess we are lucky here. I have had a Polaris 500 Sportsmen for 6 years now. My friend and I each bought one at the same time. Couple other friends have bought them since. We have all had 0 problems with them. I had a 3 year old Honda 300 at the time I bought the Polaris. The Honda is a very reliable ATV but after I got the Polaris the Honda sat in the shop. It also had a seal leaking oil when I sold it. My Honda road like a cattle truck and lacked power. My wife and I would fight to ride the Polaris. It rides like a limo. I have used the Polaris for trapping, wood cutting, snow plowing, hunting, fixing fence, pulling stumps, hard recreational riding...in other words it gets worked hard. Can throw a deer on each rack and haul it out of draws with ease. No problems as of yet. Can ride it all day and don't feel beat up. I will buy another one soon. Nothing against Honda. Mine was definitely reliable and they have a good reputation.
 
Curt, I was waiting for someone to defend Polaris. I've never had a polaris, but know some people who have, and have also had no problems. My next purchase could possibly be a polaris when I get out of school.

Bake
 
Polaris' are made for takin' rough terrain at high speed. That they do well.

For me, though I'd keep it simple. All the push button, independant rear susp, auto trans stuff compromises reliability. Plus it costs more.

My advice is to stick with a basic tranny, shaft drive, four stroke machine for hunting. Forget the nifty gadgets.

Frankly I'd have less fun with an auto anyway. My wife rides a Honda 250SX 1985 model 3-wheeler. It still runs like a champ. If I were to replace it I'd stick with a similar design, like the Honda Rancher.
 
Oh yeah I forgot. I was talking to a buddy who got back from Afhganistan the other day. He was on a special forces team over there. He was an ops seargent. Anyway, they used several different methods to get around over there. Besides the basic helicoptors and hummers, they also used horses at times and atv's. He said they had several Polaris 700's with machine guns mounted on them. He said lots of guys got purple hearts, but only two guys were seriously messed up, and one of those was from running a Polaris 700 into a rock wall. He said those things have way too much power. Other than that, he said they stood up real well to racing all over the mountains.

He also said they had a John Deere gator over there, and somebody got bored and mounted a .50 caliber machine gun on it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Bake
 
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