Hi All,

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.

After years of generous friends letting me ride a giant variety of their machines, I am finally able to buy. They invested in quads - I invested in Nikons, so everyone benefited.

I had my head set on Arctic Cat, until I went to my local dealer. He had several AC's in stock, but at times pointed me toward Bombardier. Now this guy is not at all "salesman-y", so I didn't feel as if he was steering me toward them to "dump his stock". He seemed to genuinely believe that for my needs, the Outlander Max and the Rally was the way to go.

I'm looking at buying two. One for myself and my wife, a smaller quad for my daughter. I'm on the eve of dropping off a chunk of change and some paperwork to the dealer and I just was looking for advice.

The two quads I'm considering are both 2005's: Outlander Max 400 HO and a 2005 Rally 200 - both automatic.

Having never ridden either, I was curious as to thoughts from other Bombardier riders out there. I was at first intrigued, then concerned about the frame. Seems as if a bent frame would be catastrophic. Are these things as tough as they seem? Reliable? Maintenence? Trail manners? The trails I ride on in New England range from dirt roads, to mud holes to steep and rocky cuts - does the automatic perform well? Pricing?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Mark

 

Outlander:

You wont bend the frame unless you hit something going really fast.. Mine only bent after i came in contact with a tree at 30mph.

Yes they are as tough as they seem.

Very reliable. Hasnt ever left me stranded in over 1600 miles.

Maintenence? Oil, Ailfilter, Lube points, pretty much it besides the non regular stuff.

Trail manners? handles like a sport quad. Climbs like a mule. Point the handle bars where you wanna go and press teh throttle.

 

We own an AC500 and an Outlander Max xt 05. The Outlander is a great bike and I would recondmend that bike for your needs. The AC lineup in the small bike category I'm talking 250cc and 300cc are really good bikes and value. The small AC's have independent rear suspension which really helps. If you purchase the Outlander Max first you can safely take them riding (one at a time of course) to see if they like the sport without dumping alot of money into it. Outlander Max's aren't cheap but at least you'll have a good machine, that if they do feel like going with you, you can take one of them. Go for the XT package it well worth the money.

 

Thanks so far guys. I'm the type who never really jumps and buys something, (especially 10-grand worth of quads), without trying, or at least researching. Everything I've read say's "GO", but your real-world advice really helps. I have a lot of experience on Yamaha, Polaris, Honda, Suzuki and Arctic Cat and had narrowed my choices, (purely based on riding experience) to AC and Yamaha. I've never even seen a Bombardier before Friday, so I'm a bit nervous about making the jump. I rode a new Polaris 500 over the weekend and didn't really enjoy the experience. Something just seems right about these quads...Thanks again. Anyone else?

 

another thing is that the ride is REALLY nice. And really easy on your body. Hardly any body roll in the turns and a stable fealing. lots of engine braking in 4wd and low gear. Hardly have to use the brakes... The seat also seems to be softer on the 05 models..
Just an overall great quad.
Mine has been through heck and back and is still going. most all of teh problems ive had were from the dealer or when i wrecked it.
As long as you find a good dealer and dont ride into a tree youll be okay. LOL

And spend the extra money on the XT. Its WELL worth it. You save lots of money by going that way.

 

[quote]
Originally posted by: powerstroke01LOL - Hope you're okay - I'll try and stay away from the treeline, (though in The Berkshires, that can be tricky) [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Yeah, that's exactly what I'm looking at 400 Max XT (winch, hand guards, tires, etc...) I have to say I really like the look and feel of this quad , (even though the parking lot is as far as I've ridden it), and NEVER thought I'd buy anything except lemons in yellow, (let alone a quad). They have it in red at the dealer as well, but I'll be damned if the yellow hasn't grown on me... I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the financing. Wish me luck...

 

Back in March, I was looking for a ride for my wife when we went to a dealer that carried four of the top brands. The owner of the store was showing us the various models of the brands I had done some research on, and we told him to go ahead and write up one of them when he said that he had one last brand for us to look at. After going through all the attributes of the 2005 Outlander 400xt, my wife said that was the one she wanted. She loves the color blue, but the yellow Outlander has grown on her. I normally drive a built up Banshee, but I love getting on the Outlander to go where I never would or could take the Banshee. It is sooooo comfortable! Even in very rough rocky stream bottoms we sometimes go on. You won't be disappointed in the 400 XT.