Played in the mud last night with my 99 Scrambler 400. It goes alright in the mud. Went to go get the old man's 00 Xplorer 400 for the hell of it and I was surprised at the difference between the two. Xplorer goes much better in the mud, and I can't imagine how well it would go with a bigger set of tires. I have quite a few friends that have Xplorers, Sportsmans, and other misc bigger utility bikes that go mudding all the time. I don't even bother goign to ride with them because I know my Scrambler will not go where the big utility bikes will go. I started thinking last night that perhaps I should trade my Scrambler in for a bigger utility bike. The Sportsman 500 and Magnum 500 are my two picks. My question is, which one would you recommend for mud and for genearal riding? The Sportsman is $500 more and 50 lbs more but it does have IRS and I can get it in the cool yellow color. However it does have a pile of grease fittings and would need more maintence due to the IRS. On the other hand the Magnum 500 is $500 cheaper and 50lbs lighter, but it does have less ground clearance. It would also be less maintence too. On the downside I can't get it in yellow. Of course I could put bigger tires on it and a lift kit to gain some ground clearance. What's your opinion? I like the yellow color, the IRS, and the higher ground clearence on the Sportsman but I like the less weight, cheaper price tag, and less maintence of the Magnum 500. Which one should I get? And now I'm hearing there might be a bigger Sportsman offered for 2001. Maybe I should wait till 01?

 

Hey I am in the same position as you but I'm also considering the Xplorer. If you really want the yellow, you can just get a magnum and order yellow sportsman plastic with magnum stickers and put it on. What I will probably do is wait for the 2001 models. I may even get a sport model such as a Cannondale FX450. Oh ya, did you see that April issue of ATV action? Man I was ticked off, they got my hopes up on a Grizzly 1200! Brutal, just brutal.

 

The larger gas tank is nice on the Sportsman I can get 90 miles safely which is 30 miles more than a Magnum and some times I still just make it back to the trucks and I do not carry a gas can like my friends have to.I would not care if I had to grease the bike before every ride to get the smooth ride this bike gives out on the trail it is that amazing,when I try all my friends bikes I could not see me wanting to bounce arounnd for 90 miles on these things.

 

I own both and the mag is good but know where the ride of the sp my personal choice get the sp 500 I know when the mag i have is sold i will replace it with a yellow sp 500 and the same for my green 99 500 sp. I f your interested i will sell them to you .

 

guy,
I saw the same issue. I too got excited until I read the article.

As for a Mag or SP,I'd go with the SP. I love my Magnum, but the ground clearance would be helpful in the mud. However, yellow plastic is on it's way to my home as we speak. I ordered the plastic and new decals. I can't wait to mount em to my quad!!