Hey everyone. I know absolutly nothing about quads, so bear with me. My life situation at the moment is preventing me from getting another project car, but I have just enough money to squander on a fun little toy. I've been thinking of getting a used quad. I'll list my situation, hopefully someone here can tell me what a good choice would be:

- Only have about $2000 USD or ~2500 CDN to spend
- MUST be a manual tranny
- 4 whl drive preferred, will be using it primarily on mountain trails and frozen lakes (Ice fishing)
- Must be very reliable and cheap to fix as I don't have all that much money.
- Easy to work on... I have a solid knowledge of auto mechanics, so I would'nt mind getting my hands dirty fixing or modding stuff... but I fear something like a 2-stroke may be a little to foreign to me?

Another question I have is, is there good manuals out there for basic mechanics and mods of these machines?

Thx

 

When you are buying a used quad it's obviously harder to buy a specific model. It depends greatly on the availability in your area. If you could find a TRX 300 utility in your price range it would be a good choice. Maybe something like a Bayou 300.

The specific dealerships have manuals available for more money. Clymer and Haynes also sell manuals for atv's at a lower price.

 

With those parameters I'd go with the Honda TRX 300.

Jaybee

 

i would go with the yamaha wolverine 350. Its a sporty utilityquad. i think they use the warrior 350 and ad 4 wheel drive. and im not sure if its a manual or not

 

you can mod the hell out of a wolverine, wide variety aftermarket, its been out for so long. i wanted to get one cause i was told it was the best of both worlds but if you dont need 4 wheel drive id get a 300ex soooo cheap and can easily mod thatas well. i got the z400 instead.

 

My preference would be a Big Bear. Stay away from the suzuki king quad or quadrunners, since you say you want to run in freezing conditions and the front drums like to freeze on those models. I know I had a King Quad for 9 years and still have 87 quadrunner.AlaskaBoy.

 

i know they are cheap cause i used to have an old 90 something 250x for my second quad and i got it for like $1000 and it ran like a champ. How big are you cause i think you would grow out of that so fast

 

Thx for the responses.
There's listings for pretty much all the models you guys have listed except the wolverine. Lots of old 4trax and trx's especially (250-350cc). How about Polaris's? There's a few of them listed.

Do the 2WD models usually come with diff locks or limited slips? I should expect cause a 2wd open diff (even 4wd open diff) quad would seem kind of useless to me.

How about Yamaha Blasters? I know they're 2-stroke 250cc, anyone have a link to more stats? They seem to be the only newer quad that could be in my price range.

I'm 200 lbs, not growing anymore [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

In your first post you said you would be riding frozen lakes and mountain trails, well this would seem you would be leaning more to the four wheel drive wheelers, but from your last post it seems you are most interested in the sporty quads and they tend to not like slippery conditions unless you are going to stud the tires. That is going to add some cost to your overall price, chains are affordable and I would suggest going this route as it is easier to take on and off. As for the Blaster, I do not think they have alot of carrying capacity for gear, since you did list icefishing as use idea, are you thinking aftermarket racks for it?{more cost} unless you know of one that has been modified already and if you are planing on towing a sled is there a hitch on it. Just some questions to get a better feel on what you are realy looking for. I have no experience or interest in the sporty quads as they are not work horses for me and I use the utility sleds which are more suited for everyday life up here. Camping, fishing, hunting all require gear and sport quads just do not give you options to take it with you and I do not like camping next to my truck. AlaskaBoy.

 

There are only a couple of quads out there, with a differential in back. And niether would be on your list.
The rest are all solid axle, or spooled, in the rear.