Riding around yesterday I saw someone selling a Polaris XPlorer 4x4. I had never heard of it. It is 400cc, but it is 2 stroke. I had never heard of this either, I somehow figured once you got much beyond 200cc, it HAD to be 4 stroke. So I learned something new.

The unit appears to be in great shape, probably needs a tuneup as its idling was rough and she wanted lots of throttle to stay running. I had a similar problem with my Honda 250 (four stroke) and it just needed a solid carb cleanout.

My question is: will a two stroke take a harder beating than a 4 stroke? Or are two strokes pretty dependable? I'm a little against it since it means the old "oil and gas mix" but for the price and the shape the unit was in, it was hard to walk away...

 

the 400cc 2 stroke has massive amount of power compared to the 4 strokes for sure. when they are running perfect they are alot of fun. you do have to maintain the oil(i would go to full syn oil) and make sure to keep the air filter clean if you ride in dusty/muddy conditions. also make sure to do maintenance on the grease fittings and chain and change the oil in the hubs as well as the harmonic balancer. imo

 

Its the same engine that was in the old Scrambler 400 Polaris made. Dependability like on any other quad, depends on how much it was abused before you got it. I had a Scrambler 400 4x4 before and it only lasted about 3 months before the engine blew apart. The previous owner had done a rebuild but used cheap parts and did a crappy job. I'd probably buy one again if I could get it cheap enough though. The explorer is a bit bigger and heavier than the scrambler but still has some get up and go in it.

 

No and somewhat.. to your questions.. All depends on condition as well as any machine,but there are so many parts in this engine that you have to keep on top of. This parts break down pic doesn't even show the water pump parts and counter balancer assembly. Just so many more parts than most 4 strokes you have to keep on top of. Plus this doesn't include all the chains and sprockets as well as the front hubs. If you get it it at least it will keep you on your toes.. My favorite old Explorer was the Explorer 250 that was only made a couple years. Old dependable 250 with chain rear drive and prop shaft drive going to the front diff.

 

One of my riding buddies had an Xplorer 400 for a long time and over the years he did a lot of work on it. It's a complicated design and if you plan on keeping it long be prepared to work on it. Personally I'd skip this one and get a Sportsman 500 instead.

 

I'm going to disagree with most everyone here as I've personally owned 3 (2 Scramblers & a Sport) and my cousins have also owned several. It's a very good motor that accepts modifications very well. Mine have been VERY dependable and they are/were monsters! (Mine was my plow vehicle for several years and my driveway is pretty big...)


Any machine & I mean any machine if not maintained will fail prematurely. I'm from a snowmobile background...so 2 strokes are my thing...I've seen them go 6,8 even 12k miles (uncle's fan cooled Indy) before needing a top end rebuild.


I purposely bought a 30y/o quad for my son's first machine because it was a 2 stroke...I just rebuilt the motor in that...didn't need it, but wanted too...everything was in great shape...and this machine was used for 30 years!!


Everyone will have their opinion...mine is based in 30+ years of experience owning them...

 

I guess I base mine on 23 years of repairing these machines on nearly a daily basis.Give me an old 4 stroke anytime. A mechanics perspective will almost always differ from an owners perspective.

 

I owned 1 Polaris 400 2 stroke. Bought it with low miles. Spent 10X more keeping it running in about 500 miles than I have driving my AC 4 stroke bikes for thousands of miles. It was a zippy machine that handled nice, but used 2x the gas as my AC'S. 0-40 MPH it was quick, but after 40 mph, the 400 AC and 500 ac left it in the dust. Hated the 3 drive chain design.

 

I always hated the chain drive that the Scramblers had, both the 400 2 stroke and 500 4 stroke. At least the newer ones finally have shaft drive and irs. The older Scramblers were basically auto sport quads with 4x4 added. Just not enough ground clearance to get through the ruts other 4x4 quads made. But the reliability issue isn't just limited to Polaris 2 strokes. Try finding a used Yamaha Banshee that hasn't had its engine modified. You basically can't. People did run them hard, to be fair. They would blow the engine up, modify it, and then blow it up again a couple years later. It was a constant process. But they were lightning fast.

 

Yeah...must have been a real POS considering it's incredibly short (lots of sarcasm) production run...


I literally couldn't kill the ones I had/have...in there time they were the BEST sport 4x4's on the market...and the later ones are drive shaft/chain driven (my '99 is)...


A mechanic will always have a different perspective as they deal with a little something called consumer neglect...and warranty...