After a nightmare trip down, our trip to Black Mountain ORV Park in Harlan County Kentucky was truly phenominal. On the drive down, which normally takes 4 hours, I blew a tire on my BRAND NEW 4 place Gatormade ATV trailer. When I bought this thing, I was told it had a 3500lb payload capacity. I made the mistake of assuming that since the trailer was made for 4 ATVs, it would actually handle it. Upon further investigation and a call to the manufacturer, I found out the trailer is rated for 2990lbs INCLUDING the trailer. I was towing the 800XT, a Sportsman 500, a Sportsman 700EFI, and a Polaris Trailblazer. Do the math... Long story short, I had to make two trips to the trailer dealer, one to get 2 more wheels and another to trade up to an 18ft car hauler. 10 hours later, we made it.

The Ride Area: The park is about 8000 acres of trails, plagrounds, and camping, all throughout the Appalacian Mountains. Beautiful!! The trails like other places are rated Green, Blue, and Red. We rode all levels including many of the Reds. We rode everything from DEEP mud to rocky inclines/declines to hill climbs and everything in between. There was six of us with varying experience. I led since I ride the fastest and hardest then I would wait at intersections to make sure everyone was behind. We did camp on the mountain and had absolutely perfect weather. Since there are bears in the area, I didn't sleep extremely well. Every half hour or so, there was loud rustling through the woods. I wasn't really afraid (I was packing my Glock), but it is still annoying. I haven't been to Hatfield McCoy yet. But, the Park is supposed to be very similar without any Pangers or patrols and fewer people. Also, the park is free, no permits to buy.

The Outlander: WOW!! This machine performed flawlessly. A local dealer had a set of the ITP 12" Type 7 wheels and 26" Mudlite XTRs, so other than my custom GPS mount and wheels/tires, everything was stock. I wanted the 14"/27" combo, but I am glad that I didn't get them. The size difference between these and stock is substantial and I think the larger wheels would have robbed too much power. The stock wheels are quite light.

There wasn't a mud hole that even came close to slowing me down. At one point, what looked to be a normal hole sunk to about 3 feet deep, so I gave her full throttle and almost floated through without issue. The SP700EFI also made it through with no problem, but it was more like it just plowed through.

The power was unstoppable when hill climbing and trudging through mud, handling was excellent unless I was throttling too hard on the rocky areas. It seemed like I had to fight the torque steer the whole way. When cruising over the small whoops in the trails, a blip of the throttle at the top was all it took to get airborne and land perfectly.

The brakes worked consistently strong through the entire trip. Other than an annoying squelch after going through mud and water, they were great. Speaking of braking, the EBS is the best I have every experienced by far. We climbed and decended some steep 150' hills and going down in 4WD low, I didn't even need to use the brakes at all. The decent was extremely controlled, slow and safe. I actually had to throttle up a little because I was tired of taking so long to get down.

The suspension overall is exceptional. However, I will definitely take advantage of the spring upgrade in the front. The ride over the rocky section is in no way as good as the Sportsman. This actually made it more difficult to go fast in some sections. We rode a very tough 150 miles through the mountains, and this is really the only major complaint and it is easily fixed and hopefully free. This quad handles excellent through tight trails and is very controllable through the smooth swooping trails. You can bring the rear sideways upon command which makes it a blast to ride.

The frame and plastic held up very well. I love the SST frame. It really does glide over rocks and obstacles easily. I have the aluminum A-arm protectors and they are high quality and work exceptionally well. The plastic really is pretty solid, I don't have many scratches at all and the few that are there don't show on the yellow.

Other than a mishap (wreck) with my Sportsman 700, the trip was great and we will be planning another trip there soon. My brother-in-law bounced off trail and popped a fairly large rock that sent him flying. He will need a stitch or 2 and he, along with his pride, are a bit banged up. If not for the fact that he is built like a rock, he would have been worse off. But, the 700 is insured and he is covering the deductable. Hopefully, it is totalled.

OK, I have rambled on long enough. The Outlander 800 is an excellent machine that will be difficult to top. Bombardier did a lot right on this machine and very little wrong. Outstanding effort for a first year machine. Absolutely NO regrets on this purchase!!

 

Thanks for the review.. can not wait till i pick mine up in a couple of days.

 

That machine sounds awesome I knew it would be , I will be looking to upgrade in 1 yr. My friends and I are going to Hatfield McCoy trails this weekend for TRAIL fest and there is a fee to ride the trails and in the brochure there is patrols,and rangers we are looking to have a good time camping and partying at the camp fire.This will be my 1st time there , but there is fees by days or yearly permits.

 

Great review... it makes me wanna go out and get an outtie!

 

Thanks guys. Oggy, make sure you post about your HM trip[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

I posted a couple quick pictures last night after I cleaned her up a bit.