I take a bit of ribbing from some of my buddies who ride lighter machines. I'm not going to mention any other brands, no bashing. Anyway we were riding on some trails I made which were somewhat steep in places but were no problem for the Sportsman. The other lighter machines didn't have problems with traction but did have problems keeping the front end down and almost went over backward several times. I tried one of the machines to see if it was just rider ability and it was scary. I guess you can't beat the laws of physics and the extra weight of the Polaris is down low so the center of gravity of the machine and rider is also lower so a steeper grade can be traversed without problems. One of the machines also had a hydralic front locker system which tended to push the machine from side to side adding to the excitement when you could keep the front end down. Anyone else experience anything like this?

 

i like having the weight when it comes winter time and you need the extra traction to push snow. the extra weight also comes in handy when you are dragging a 1200lb moose out of the bush with nobody on the front rack!!

 

Weight can be an advantage. I believe my Deluxe comes in at 975 lbs. I have no issues with that. This thing goes through snow with no problems.

 

Weight matters on Sport bikes but not on a Utility ATV. My 4x4 F-150 truck is also heavier than a small AWD SUV and can out perform it in the rough stuff.

 

There is one person on this site that loves to bash the heaver utes. He thinks they are dangerous, ill handling, yada, yada, yada.
If a person charts it out, a heavy ute will be an avantage most of the time if you use it for work or even play. If you ever been to a pull off they will limit the amount of weight you can add to the machine. For pulling, or pushing, weight is an advantage.
Sometimes weight can be a disadvantage. If you are in soft sand you want to be as light as possable and have as wide of a contact patch as possable on your tires. If not, your going to sink.

If your buddies kid you to much, just whip out a tow strap and say "lets chain em up and see who gets pulled backwards."

 

I too take some jabs for riding a "tank", but I like having a substantial bike under me. My Sportsman 400 weighs in around 700 lbs dry, but there's a sense of security knowing it's not going to jump out from under me.

 

This is great! Between me and my machine we are up over 1200 lbs. Great topic! Now I don't have to lose weight!

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>This is great! Between me and my machine we are up over 1200 lbs. Great topic! Now I don't have to lose weight! </end quote></div>
Dang!!!!!! I would hate to have a pulling contest against you!!! LOL
Physics say you will win.

 

their are advantages/disadv. form the weight of these bikes. the really only disav. is that it makes it slower and maybe easier to brake stuff if you jump alot. but heavy makes it ride better and more stable and has strong parts in some cases. i dont mind the weight but a little lighter would be nice. just my .02

 

It's been my experience that it would be easier to shave 100 lbs. off my quad than a 100 lbs. off me... [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]