my dad has a yamaha bear tracker and wants something with a little more supension travel. but is this a good dependable bike overall? i have heard that polaris' can't take beatings like yamaha's and hondas can. i don't want him to get the bike and then start having trouble with it. how dependable is the auto tranny? is there lots of maintanaince with the auto tranny? hows the power of the bike? it would suck to get a new bike that is slower than what he has already. thanks alot.

 

I dont know where you heard that Polaris cant take a beating. There is very low maintenance and they are great machines. They have improved 100% over the past 5 yrs. The 330 is very dependable, almost no maintenance needs to be done and the power is much better than the beartracker. I know this because I drive 330 and my nephew has a bear tracker. No where near the same ball park. EVERY company is going with auto trannies. Polaris has used them for 20-25 yrs now and everyone else is following. Polaris is at the top of the game when it comes to utility quads and they just keep getting better. If Polaris was not a trusted dependable quad then the military would not have chosen them for their military vehicles.

 

Hi,

I bought a Trail Boss just about 2 months ago. My son is in his mid-teens, goes about 165lbs. He rides it 75% of the time and absolutely loves it. Compared to my Sportsman, the Trailboss turns with minimal effort, and I think it has more punch off the start. The seat is great, as most Polaris seats are, and the ride is plush, but can corner a heck of alot better than the Sportsman. I have not adjusted the suspension yet - he and I think it's doing great at the low factory setting.

We trail ride all of the time with some light to moderate mud sections - I can say that the Trailboss goes anywhere the Sportsman goes - it has not been stuck yet. The tires they put on get us through everything. It certainly won't have the top end that the big bores/sport bikes have, but he rides second in line in a group of Sportsmans, Outlanders and Ranchers - the Trailboss goes evrywhere the others go and keeps up with ease.

No issues at all quality-wise, nor have I had any issues with the Sportsman. I have been very satisfied with both quads so far.

It's think it might be the best buy for the money in that class. Ask your dad to take it for a ride, then maybe compare it to a Bruin 350 2x, and an Outlander 330 2x, then take a look at cost. Of course, you're looking at one bike with more power, and another bike that's probably got more features, but he may be willing to pay a little more for one of those if he's got reservations about Polaris. Buying a new quad is such a great problem to have !

 

Here is a Canadian dealer that has their inventory online for price comparison of Polaris ATVs. It may be too far away for you but it is good for comarison. They have very competitive pricing: Polaris ATV dealer

 

i had just heard from various people that we would be dissapointed with the quality of polaris after having owned a yamaha. just basically my dad is getting a little older and his back just isn't what it used to be so he wants really plush supension and a comfortable seat. he is an upholsterer by trade and can make any seat comfortable but he just wants something that is nice stock. so just to get an idea of the power of the bike does it acclerate as well or better than a 250cc bike with a semi auto tranny? do they actually have power on demand at any speed like advertised? is the auto tranny going to be a limiting factor when it comes to climbing long steep hills? it's just that the beartracker will climb everything in first gear and we don't want something that is not going to have the same low end grunt.
thanks

 

If he has back problems the IRS sportsman is the way to go. If power is an issue get at least the 500 ho as the 400 is underpowered for this size machine. Polaris does have the plushest riding machines including their SRA offerings as complaired to others.

 

I'm not sure I agree that the Sportsman 400, which is actually 425cc's, is underpowered. I have one, and I've tried models as big and bigger from just about all of the main brand name manufacturers, and I've owned a number of bikes over the years. Compared to the power of your 700, it surely can't be measured. But to say it's underpowered is just simply incorrect. If you can remember, it wasn't altogether that long ago when a 400cc quad was as big as they came. Can't we agree that in your opinion, the 400 isn't as powerful as you would like. Your broad statement about lack of power, I don't believe, is accurate at all.

To answer the gents question...

The Polaris seat is excellent in my opinion. Combined with the long travel suspension, in either the IRS Sportsman or the rear axle Trailboss, the ride is very good. I'm not an old man, but old enough to be looking for those qualities as opposed to the sport-bike type qualities I enjoyed years ago. The Polaris gets it done when it comes to plush ride - and I will tell you that , in my opinion, the Outlander is very comfortable too.

Power-wise... the Tboss has more than enough grunt to go anywhere we've taken it so far. I no longer do the major vertical hill-climbs, so I have no plans to try it out there. The thing the Tboss doesn't have is a big top-end. Best thing I suggest is a test drive - it's free, and it's the only way you and your dad will be comfortable with your decision to spend that kind of money. You need to feel good about your purchase, regardless of what brand or what size or what the "Smith's" opinions happen to be.

 

And sorry about the "Smith's" generalization. I didn't do that on purpose - just trying to make a point. Would've been better had I simply said ..."who cares what the neighbors think..."

Sorry again. Didn't pick up on your last name until just after I posted the reply.

 

lol that's not actually my real name. i just registered and wanted people to give us some input over on thumpertalk.com about some quad bashing. i didn't want them to track me down and then ban me for cross referencing you guys over there. my real name is ruben.


well it seems that overall the trailboss is what we are looking for. i do wish a friend of ours had one to try but nobody own polaris' around here. i'm almost sure that we wil like the bike and that it will be an improvement over the beartracker.

 

Lon,
In compairison to the other 400 class utility atv's, it has been written many times that it is "underpowered". It may be powerfull enogh but compaired to the other lighter machines (most with less cc's) its not as quick or fast. I'm sure it can tow or work just as hard or harder than the others.
Jim