i am wondering if a manual would be good for trails and some mudding

 

Either will be good for either when it comes down to it. Both work very well. Its more of a preference thing than anything else.

 

I have both and I can tell you that they both have Pros and Cons. Here are just a few of the manual's, off the top of my head. You can figure out the rest of the Autos.
Manual,Pros
1) Great torgue in every gear. ( Lose a little with a belt.)
2) Better fuel economy. (lose a little with a belt)
3) Better at holding you back on steep down hill grades. (lose a little with a belt.)
4) More durable. (lose a little with a belt)

Cons.
1) Too low geared. ( Every auto I've raced is faster than my Manual)
2) Always shifting up and down when you are on steep, winding trails or roads.
3) Not as good in snow and sand because you lose all your momentum when you have to shift.

I will think of some more and I am sure sombody else will too.

I personally love my 500 Manual, it has been a great reliable machine but after driving the new 650 Auto, I would never buy a manual again.

 

when i had my manual i used low range for trails and mud riding and found it worked very well.
on the trails or in the mud your not going that fast, so when you need the power its right there.
then when you get out ont the dirt roads you put it back in high and let her rip.
p.s. i still have a few pics of my cat going through the mud on my page.
check them out.
it was the king in the mud.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

I've had dirtbikes when I was younger. My Cat 375 was the first auto I ever owned. I must say, it is super nice to just "point and shoot" and not have to worry about changing gears. AC uses their "Duramatic" tranny in all of their bikes except the 650 V-twin. The Duramatic tranny is bulletproof so you wont have any problems with it.

I bought my AC 375 auto because I wanted to enjoy the trails and have to think about as little as possible. My stance on it now is that I'll never own a manual.

Just like Andy said, it's personal preference. But it's nice to not have to think about changing gears.

If the 650 V-twin had been my first auto and I started having trouble with the belt, then my perpesctive would probably be to buy a manual. Luckily I cut my teeth on the duramatic tranny.

With the auto, the bike is in the right gear all of the time. It's pretty sweet.

Good luck in your decision!

-EtherNut

 

My old Yammy Big bear is a manual and I loved it. Now that I went to the AC with the Auto I love it even more.

I think the manual has better performance, if you are used to them and like to shift they are great. Now that Im older and like to just get out and ride I love my auto.

As stated before they are both good tannys so go with what you like. Try them both before you buy one and see for your self.

 

My wife and I were both ready to buy manuals, told the sales guy we wanted manuals, and tried them out. He put my wife on an auto and when she turned around and came back to the shop the grin on her face told the whole story. SHE was getting an auto. She "made" me try the auto, and when I got back, I had that same grin on MY face. We bought two auto's on the spot and have never looked back. Yep, it's for lazy people, but I love it just the same, At 58, and a truck driver who shifts all day long, this auto stuff is a little chunk of heaven.

Like Andy said in a previous post, it's all a matter of personal preference...

 

The auto I have is nice and convenient, and of course its smooth with no shifting ever going on, but I would rather have a manual if I could. And thats probably preference more than anything. Water can get in the belt and make it slip, but I've never had that happen in 3 years of owning the Grizzly. Sure I watch the water and don't go through anything thats going to be rack deep or stuff, but like I said it hasn't ever been a problem and wouldn't be enough for me to use that as a point to get a manual.

I just like to shift, and I like to be able to gear it down real low on a nasty downhill. The auto works fine, but if you were to compare the two, there is no way it compares to my 500 manual in low range 1st gear. That thing just crawled at a snails pace. Nice on those rutted out butt puckering hills.

 

I use my 500i to haul loaded trailers and lately 25' cedar logs for a Cat garage I'm building, so there was no choice at all - manual.

Practically all of my trail riding is done in high range. I only use low for towing.

 

All I've done with the 660 for most of its life is cruise dirt roads and a few trails from time to time. For that purpose, that auto is great. There are a few instances where I was going down a crap hill and wished I had that AC to drop to low range and crawl down with all the holdback in the world, but just a few times though. Not enough to ever justify a crucial switch one way or the other.

Auto vs. Manual is totally preference. Bike for bike in a drag race its hard to tell. I've never dragged 2 even machines (like AC auto vs AC Manual), but every drag I ever had with the Grizz, the manual always got the jump on me due to belt lag. I always won though, because of course there aren't any manuals over a 500. And if there were, I might own one.

like that one guy (whose wife liked the auto) said, drive them both and see how you like it. It could change your mind either way, and in the end if somebody ever rags on you because you chose one over the other, just forget what they say. There are a lot of experts out there, and 4 out of 5 of them chew Dentene.