Hey, new to the forum but long time reader. I'm in a bit of a quarrel on which bike I should be looking at. To start off, I should probably tell you of my ATV woes and all that has gone wrong with the equipment I've owned.

First and foremost, I'm 19, 20 in March and am about 6"2, 235. My last quad was an Alpha Sports Summit 180 and I purchased it in 2004. Alpha Sports has been since bought out by Tomberlin. While an ok quad for a 14-15 year old (I would even get a bigger one for this age group), I had quickly outgrown it and had many problems with it and the power that it was getting. Things started slowing down, I couldn't make it up hills I used to be able to..all this until it stopped turning over. Recently I have made friends with a guy at work whos helped me to since get it to turn over and run, while the power issues are still there. It works fine going in reverse but forward it doesn't even move in the least bit..he says it's a CVT issue which could be right but I'm not sure. Plastics on it are kind of beat up, cracks by where the kick start are from kicking through the plastic, but minimal rust and regular wear and tear. Barring we get this thing to work pretty good, what would be a reasonable price to list it at in this struggeling economy? We paid $2900 for it brand new and still have the title in hand etc.

Secondly, I'm going to be purchasing a used bike for myself to ride in trails and also hopefully plow my driveway and neighbors driveways. I want something with 4x4 and able to mount and winch/plow combo but obviously without breaking my wallet. I'm looking into the Sportsman 500 series, later years like 2003-2004. I have a budget of about $3500 for a used bike..the plow can be bought later and possible maybe it will be included if I find the right seller. Do you guys have any suggestions for 4x4 bikes that wont break my budget if and when I decide to buy used?

Thank,
Ryan

 

Welcome to the forum!

As far as you previous woes all I will say is you get what you pay for! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

The Polaris Sportsman 500 is a great quad with ton's of capabilties with a great power and even better ride. I used my 600 for plowing for many years and it did a trmendous job at that paticular task. The 500 has been around a long time and is the backbone of the Polaris lineup. Its a solid engine with great reliability and one that will last you for many years to come!

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: DODGE57HEMI

Welcome to the forum!



As far as you previous woes all I will say is you get what you pay for! [img][/img]


The Polaris Sportsman 500 is a great quad with ton's of capabilties with a great power and even better ride. I used my 600 for plowing for many years and it did a trmendous job at that paticular task. The 500 has been around a long time and is the backbone of the Polaris lineup. Its a solid engine with great reliability and one that will last you for many years to come!</end quote></div>


Truth, you try to save a buck and it bites you in the **** in the long run..hopefully I can get a little bit from selling it.

 

Hi there,

I think a Sportsman 500 will suite you fine. It is a fairly reliable quad, and should have no problem plowing the driveway. I would check out dealer's used lots and craigslist.

You probably won't get much for an off-brand to begin with (used), and the fact that it only goes reverse.... you would probably be lucky to get $500... maybe even $400. I lucked out, when I got my LTR 450 the dealer gave me a $1000 for my Baja 90cc that was under a year old... we paid $800 for it... but this is a very unique situation! It was an 08, and it was at an ATV show, they were trying to sell it, so they gave us $1000 for the trade in, a 1 year warranty, and 1 free skid plate. Not bad.

Good luck with everything!