Hello Everyone. I am looking for an ATV to take out to see old Colorado gold mines. I am new to ATVs and was hoping you guys could make a few suggestions on what to look at. I will be using the ATV in the mountains, typically in areas with elevation anywhere from 8,000 feet – 12,000 feet. Depending on what time of year it is and where I will be riding there are some water streams that I would also need to go across. I would say most of them are about a foot deep, but sometimes they can be a few feet deep. Here is a quick list of item that I am after.
1. Reliable – I tend to go out on my own most of the time and want to make sure I can make it back to the truck. I also want to enjoy riding and not working on it.
2. Comfortable – I’m a sucker for a smooth ride. As I grow older this seems to get more and more important
3. Capable – Some of the places that I like to go are off the beaten path. Also tooling around the Rocky Mountains can be just that, rocky. Something that can climb up steep rocky trails is going to be a must. I will also need decent ground clearance to go over said rocks. Looking at a few models it looks like some of them have locking diff’s? That would be cool.
4. Needs to fit in the back my Ford F150. I have the SuperCrew with the short bed. I think the bed is about 5 ½ feet long.
5. Easy to ride – This will be my first ATV. I have ridden motorcycles and am comfortable with shifting and such but I would like something as easy as possible to ride since I am new to riding ATVs.
6. Needs to fit a passenger. I really doubt that I will have a passenger very much but I want my wife to feel like she could come with me, but she typically doesn’t want to.
7. Decent Power. Going up in the mountains I want to make sure the ATV has enough power to go up steep inclines. I am not going to be bombing runs, need enough power to stay out of trouble.
8. Able to carry some gear. Don’t need to carry a lot, but I would like to be able to take a cooler with me to put my lunch in and maybe carry shotgun or rifle.
9. Looking for a used ATV. Want to stay between $3,000-$4000 (or cheaper) in price.
I would appreciate some suggestion of ATV’s that will fit what I am looking for.

 

Honda doesn't have a locker so they never make my list. And I don't think you can get a used Can-Am for that price. Maybe you can find a deal on a Sportsman 800 or a Grizzly 660 or 700. All of my friends ride Polaris or Yamaha so I'm a bit prejudiced. I would check those out first.

 

At those elevation I would be sure to get a EFI machine. IRS is a great idea for ride comfort. Look for a good used Suzuki, Yamaha or Honda all are reliable and within your price range. The Can AM and Polaris are great machinces but normally higher in price.

 

Thank you for the suggestions. I will research those and most likely be asking more questions.
Also if I am not being realistic in my prcing please let me know. I could go up in price if it was nessary, but I'm kind of cheap. I also am not sure how much I will use the ATV or if I will even like an ATV, which is another reason why I was trying to stay in a lower price range. I thought if I liked it I could upgrade to something nicer/newer later.

 

Not sure in your area. Here for that kind of money I would think you could get a deccent sportsman efi. If you aren't looking for a fast machine I would look into a 500. You always have low range if you need a little more to get up a hill.

 

a sportsman 500 is good reliable machine and very capable if the maintenance is kept up, good 4x4 system that would be good on hill climbs. a 500 has one of thee best rides and is a good bang for the buck.

honda's reliability cant be beat. i would look for a model with automatic shifting as this could cause troubles in steep hill climbs. also most honda's have a solid rear axle makes for a great work horse but do not offer the best ride.

can-ams are a supirior mud machine in my opinion great power and ride. but would need to be equipped with the quick engage front diff(09 and up)the regular viscolok will cause problems in hill climbs. the qe also comes with power steering witch is awesome. if you have the bucks a can-am 500 or 800 would be my choice.

but on a budget sportsman efi 500 is the best bang for your buck aand a very capable machine.

big horn tires are a must for the terrain on any bike in your terrain great tire for rock climbing not bad in mud

 

At that elevation maybe EFI is a good idea. The only two you may get a deal on used since they where out for a longer while then most other EFI machines would be a 500 Sportsman EFI(not H.O) or a 420 Honda Rancher(Not 350).

The Sportsman would have much more power and comfort over a Rancher. You could get lucky and fined a 800 Sportsman at a good price.

Of course I could be wrong about efi, there is a guy on this site called "Mongrol" and he rode his 400 H.O (carb) in the Rockies of British Columbia in the winter with snow tracks without a problem.
Here one of his post http://forums.atvconnection.com/pola...ng-photos.html

 

I was just in the big horn mountains in Wyoming bear hunting with a friend this past week. We got to talking about our atvs and he owns a sportsman 800 and a sportsman 500(carb). I asked what he thought of them and he said no matter who rides the 500, they are always right behind him with him riding the 800. His words are "the 500 does everything the 800 does,but the tires last longer on the 500". My suggestions for you and the terrain your gonna ride will be a sportsman of any size but EFI would be a plus for the elevation changes. Or a Yamaha grizzly 700. Both are comfortable,both have good ground clearance,both have a true 4wd system that works very well but the grizz uses a manual locker(a button). If you choose an atv with a locker EPS helps with turning it when locked much easier,but not a necessity. Polaris has a 2up model which would be nice for your wife to ride along as it has a rear seat,or you can turn it into a rack for extra storage pretty quick. The problem is that its longer so you may need to leave your tailgate down. If you find an older can am,they have a differential like a honda. In many cases it will not turn all 4 tires.(i have a 2007 outlander 500 so i speak with experience). Ive seen the newer ones do the same as well,but they work a little better. Also,its never a guarantee that you will find an atv that will not need worked on when you buy used,even new sometimes. hope you find what you want!! let us know.

 

Hey Mountain Mike, I most likely live exactly where you're planning to ride

I use a 2001 Kawasaki Prairie 400 for exploring the old Gold trails. Places like Moffat Road (East Portal), Jenny Creek Trail (the remains of the town of Eldora are back there), Yankee Hill, Black Hawk Peak, and Apex Valley/Kingston Peak. I haven't been out to the Ouray area yet but it's on my list, as is Moab. The Prairie 400 has plenty of power even at 12k feet and can easily fit 2 people although there are laws about only riding one person on an ATV that doesn't specifically have a passenger seat. Personally I haven't ever had a problem with that but I wanted to make sure you were aware of it.

You don't need EFI, but you might want it, and here are the issues to consider: If you like to work on things yourself, non-EFI is better because a lot of the EFI machines aren't easy to diagnose yourself and you end up spending gobs at the dealer. The advantage of EFI though is that it automatically adjusts your air/fuel mixture for whatever air density you currently are in. So just consider if you would rather work on your ATV yourself or if you would rather not have to think about your carburetor jetting.

With a carbureted ATV, you WILL have to re-jet it for the lowest elevation you ride at. You want to get a water-cooled ATV because they are more forgiving if your jetting is a little beat lean. An air-cooled ATV needs to be jetted slightly rich at all times to prevent overheating, so it's a lot more tricky when dealing with altitude/air-density variations.

I live at 9,240 and typically ride from 7,500 to 12k, although I anticipate riding in Moab so I wanted to tune for that as well. So, I have my main jet sized for a range of 4,500 to 8,000 feet according to the specs in the manual. The low/starter jet is adjustable on the Prairie so I have it turned super lean. This means it's a bit cold natured (doesn't run well at first until it warms up), but it gives me some adjustment range for where I want to ride.

The way that jetting works is that the low or starter jet is used at low RPM's until it gets to a point where it is flowing at it's full rate, then the main or hi jet starts adding fuel to the mix while the low jet keeps flowing at full volume. This means that you can use an adjustable low jet to affect your air/fuel mixture even at high rpms to some extent. The tradeoff is that at low RPMS it might not run very well because it will be very lean. This is how I have mine set up though and haven't had a problem with it yet.

If I do happen to ride someplace low, I just adjust my starter jet richer. As I have it adjusted now, it runs perfect up to 11k feet, then by 12k feet it is sputtering noticeably but still starts and runs well enough. I just carry a spare spark plug and a wrench in case I happen to foul the plug at high altitude, it hasn't happened yet though.

Hope that helps.

 

Touring type ATV with the extended wheelbase. These are great for hills.