yeah those are great pics cat...what kind of other bikes doe you ride with? How does the 500 stack up?

 

I've rode with every brand made except a Bombardier. The Cat stacks up very well with any "Utlility Quad" made. If you are looking for a quad for racing, jumping or sand dunes, you may want to consider a Warrior, Banshee, Scrambler, Raptor or any other "SPORT BIKE" But if you want a reliable work horse for rough trails, mud bogs, hauling deer and elk or pulling heavy loads, then the 500 Cat is ideal. I once read an article in a magazine abouit a 98 400 Cat that had 51,000 miles on it. RELIBABLE!!!!

 

hey cat that was in the arctic cat magazine and that thing was beaten bad lol but you can't always just go by appearances on the atv alot of people may look at the fenders and racks and say gee this thing is perfect and buy it when it has been beaten like previoiusly said check everything underneath grab the axles and see if there is any play specially in the front end my buddy bought a brand new polaris 700 he works at polaris so he bought some crappy scrapped fenders from there and he put them on his atv and took the stock tires off and put on 28 inch tires he put over 2000 miles on it and before he sold it he put a different spedo on it with a different odometer and put about 200 miles on it put the stock tires on that looked brand new and put the fenders on it and got a rediculously large amount of money for it and you could grab the front axles and wiggle them up and down about a half an inch everything was completely shot on it for it was beaten but it looked good oh and he put a new winch cable on it the guy never test drove it he put it in the back of his truck and paid for it but that thing had more vibrations when you drove it down the road just a lil reminder of how easy it is to make a wore out atv look brand new

 

The 98 500 is a tough machine. I had a 99 which is identical other than a start in gear feature and a little more seat padding. Only other change between those years was the stock tires, which it may or may not still have. In prime running condition, I could get 52-53 on a GPS on flat ground with my 99. As far as pulling power, it was tremendous. I ran 27" Tri/Bi claws, and it pulled them fine. Steering will be heavy on it. A nuicance if you are coming off a 2wd bike, but it is managable. But in all honestly, it will be much more heavy to steer than most of the quads made today.

As far as reliability, mine was great. Only thing about those models is the rear driveshaft bearing isn't sealed good, and will go out. I had mine replaced for like $160 or something. If you can turn a wrench and have some know-how, you can do it yourself though if this was ever a problem. My uncle has a 98 454 (same exact bike as that 500 other than the engine). I replaced his rear driveshaft bearing this summer, and the part cost me like $28 or something. Yeah it was a little work, but I had it apart and decided to do it while It was like that.

For 2 grand, its worth it if its in good shape. I sold my 500 about 3 years ago for $4300. There are still pics of it in my yahoo photos. I really do miss it at times. It was the most stable quad I have ever ridden in off camber or uphill situations. The ride quality was very good, brakes were great. It was a tough machine.