I'm in the market for a new Quad for my wife. Basic uses would be a Desert support vehicle, Ranch hand, and tight, rocky trails.

Most important points for her:
Auto Trans
Smooth, Stable platform off camber and at speed
Good handling in the tight stuff and at speed
Plenty of rack space/storage
Reliability (of course)
Range
All around ease of operation

My old man has a pair of Polaris Sportsman 700EFI that she has ridden and likes very much. My concern with this bike is the weight and size. Is the Sportsman 500 the same chassis? If so, does it seem underpowered?

Kodiak 450-Looks great, price is good...is it a good ride?

Vinson 500-Looks to be the best suspended, most nimble of the bunch which is great. How does it stack up to the others?

Any and all opinions would be appreciated. I live in the Bike world, so 4X quads are a bit out of my range of expertise.

 

i would stay away from the kodiak- only because its not too stable in off camber situations or at speed-it likes to 3 wheel
the 500 sportsman is not at all underpowered, but yes it is heavy-which only matters if you are goin real fast or when its on top of you
i dont know much about the vinson
also look at the bomb outlander-generally women like a nice cushy ride, and it definetely delivers, it has good power, isnt too heavy and has all of the stuff you mentioned
good luck on your search..........450kodman

 

The vinson 500 will be the best handling of the three. Its a great trail quad.

 

To toss another one in there, the Arctic Cat 500 uses the same engine as teh Vinny, but has a much bigger gas tank, more rack capicity with MRP attachments, more suspension travel, and more ground clearance. However, due to these features it also won't corner like a Vinny. Everything is a trade off. Good luck!

 

i have heard nothing but good about the vinson and well don't know much about the kodiac and i know alot about the sportsman 500 and i am not gonna bash any machines so i will keep my mouth shut. the 500 cat is a great machine but you won't be flying around the corners on any trails with it but would make a nice recovery vehicle excellent ranch hand and excellent rock crawler but it has less power then the vinson and less then the sportsman even though it has the same engine a the vinson.

 

Thanks for all the advice fellas. Mama ended up getting the Sportsman 800. We took it to the Ranch for the weekend and she is very happy with her purchase...So happy that I think I may never get to ride it!

 

Ok haha, now that is kinda funny. Worried about the quads weight and size, and she gets the heavyeist quad out there? Owell hope she likes it. And do you own a wheeler?