I’m looking to get a new ATV and I have it narrowed down to three, but need some input. Mainly used as a trail riding, in the woods, light mudding, hill climbing machine, also some yard work pulling an aerator and spreader. I owned a 2014 Polaris Sportsman 850xp for about 5-6 months. I never had any problems with it, but I was a little pissed because the tabs that held the brake lines to the frame I had one broken within a day or two of owning just riding in the yard then another one on the rear. It was from the screw head breaking off making it a pain in the **** to get out of the frame, somebody overtightened the cheap screws. Not a big issue just not something you want from a brand new several thousand dollar machine. I also put some frame brace on the rear where it was known to have possible cracking issues. Nothing really holding me back from getting another Polaris, but nothing really making me feel that that is the only atv to have.

I’m considering the Kawasaki Brute Force 750, Polaris Sportsman 850 SP, and the Suzuki King Quad 750. Obviously I would like to get the best for the least amount of money.
2015 Brute Force 750 with EPS $8198
2015 Brute Force 750 without power steering $7298
2015 Sportsman 850 SP $8498
2015 Sportsman 850 $7198
2014 Suzuki King Quad 750 AXi with power steering $7998, not sure of the 2015 price yet

The first big question is do I need power steering? Is this something I will miss having, since I had it on my previous sportsman? Is power steering worth $900-$1400 extra? I have heard horror stories about all of these machines and the ongoing joke is about the Popo’s reliability. I think overall the reliability of the Suzuki is the highest of these three. Will I miss the power of the 850? To me it didn’t have insane off the line power and you had to try to make it wheelie, but it had grunt when I needed it, seemed really stable, I could climb steep hills with confidence, rode like a Cadillac because it’s a tank. It seems the Brute Force has the most wheelie making power, I hear the suspension is stiffer( not sure if that is good or bad), I also hear they run hot. It seem like the KingQuad has gotten a lot of praise from online reviewers. It seems like it’s not the best at one thing, but it does everything well. Not as snappy as the Brute Force but supposed smooth power band. I know the KingQuad won’t sound as good with it’s single cylinder. I dislike the single brake lever of the Sportsman, dual brakes are just safer on the hills to me. I like the headlight configuration on the Sportsman and KingQuad, wish the BruteForce had a light on the handle bars too. Looks wise the Sportsman has the other two beat, the plastics have the automotive paint, and the plastics on the Brute and KingQuad are just standard. I plan on buying a new set of wheels 12” or 14” and with a little bigger tire 27”-28” maybe.

Ok, I know it’s long and wordy, but your comments and suggestions would be great. Any must have upgrades or major downsides? I will be posting this in each brands respective forum to try to get all angles.

Thanks in advance

 

Go with a Suzuki King quad 750.

 

Do you need PS? No.

Will you ever regret buying it? No. In fact, after trying a machine with it, most regret NOT getting PS. IMO, i would never own another ATV without it.

Go for the PS. On a Suzuki King Quad 750. It really is one of the most underrated (and under-appreciated?) ATV's on the market. The "do it all" type of machine you had heard about pretty much nails it.

Personally, i prefer the sound of a single over multi's.

 

Yes I second the powersteering. Kingquads lacked one thing from being perfect prior to powersteering and it was bump steer. Before powersteering the A arms had very little camber this made the handle bars tun easy but every bump, rock or root you hit would literaly try to rip the bars out of your hands and made handling extremly twitchy at moderate to high speeds! This was causing many accidents. With powersteering the camber was adjusted back now they are darn near as perfect of a machine that you can buy. Yes most machines with this displacement will have more power but not much can match the kings top end speed. Some run close to 75 on black top!

 

IMO: Anything but the Polaris.
Chinese parts is why.

 

am currently on my 2nd suzuki and have no regrets. let us know what you ended up with.

 

Its nice but for that money so it nice aftermarket wheels and/or a winch and gas money.
I rode a lot of ATV and never found them hard to steer, but I sure got stuck because the stock wheels sucked or I had no winch. Better hope that P.S does not puke and die after the warranty runs out.

 

Power steering seems to be something that you didn't know you needed until you ride a machine that has it. I've rode a Grizzly 700 that has it and it is indeed really nice. Not a necessity but it does make the machine a bit easier to manuver. The Grizzly 700 is one I would add to this list, it has almost the same amount of power as the King Quad 750. The new 708cc engine has slightly more power but its going to be more expensive too. If you can find a leftover 2014 or 2015 model with the 686cc engine, you might be able to score a good deal. I believe a Grizzly 700 would be more reliable than any of these. A Can-Am Outlander 650 actually has more power than either the Brute Force or King Quad. But the price is higher too. Might be able to find one of those in the $8000 range but it will be harder to find.

 

Like others, I didn't think I'd really care that much about the power steering. Now that I have it, I would avoid buying a quad without it. Not only is it easier on the arms, it soaks up a lot of the hit from roots, rocks, and other obstacles out on the trails.

Polaris or Brute Force if you want the power and speed. Brute is more off the line, Polaris nice and smooth on take off. Both will make you grin power wise.

Suzuki if you want a reliable quad that's not better at any one thing than other quads but is a good, decent priced, overall package with decent power.

 

I would go with Kingquad too for reliability, with of course the power steering. You know the trail you will taking and it worth if you know they are very challenging. With you new models coming, you can certainly haggle for better deal on left overs.