First off maybe I over reacted to your starting off saying I was wrong for what I posted. So I over reacted a bit. I do not like being attack by someone unaware of the facts. I know you are new, says quite clearly you only had one the first post, 2 now. You pick one moron's problem that nobody else is having as a reason to tell us here that Cats can't take it and have a problem. I'm telling you that there is none except for one reckless guy. But you claim AC will void the warranty if you ride in rough places. Well not so, only if you do something stupid. This moron admits to running 20 mph thru the brush where he can't see what he is going over or thru and wants warranty. Not likely. No manufacture is gonna give him that. I will admit to being out of line but you must admit you came on awlful strong. But if you will notice Big Thicket disappeared into the big thicket and no one has hear from him again or this "problem".
So stick around and you will see that the AC's are great machines with almost no problems, primarily the 400 and 500s and the older 300 and 250s. The V-2 650 hafd some major teething problems, which appear to be fixed and the H1 seems clean so far. Like most warranties the dealer makes it happen so choose wisely and carefully. Oh yeah, the troll bit was a bit over the top, but I had to go into the big city today and I grew up and lived there way to long to like it and it soured my outlook on life today, sorry.

 

Apology accepted, and no need to bring it up again. But to set the record straight, I never said they would void the warranty, that was said by some guy on Page 1, I inserted his quote. Guess I didn't make that clear? My fault. But I would love to talk to you on the phone and pick yor brain on the Arctic Cats. The two complaints I hear most from the Honda diehards is that the AC's are constantly having to be "pushed" out of the mud by the Hondas and that the AC's roll over on inclines "all the time?" I have no personal experience with either of these claims. Have only ridden an AC 500 once, in a small pasture, and on Monday I drove the 400 at the dealers.
I really like the 400 and have tried to do my homework on all the models in the 400 class. I'll either go with the AC 400 auto as my 1st choice and the Polaris 500 as the 2nd? But I really want the AC and let me tell you, I am catching hell for it from all the guys I ride with.
And as I said, I don't joy ride on mine. No long cruising trips on marked trails through the mountains. I would like to do that one day, but for now, my riding is the rough kind. My riding is on rough, hard packed dirt on large ranches here in South Texas. Rarely are we in the mud, we don't want to destroy the ranch roads after a rain. And we don't have too many mountains down here to climb. I cross a lot of plowed fields and these cattle trails can jar your back loose if you don't have a smooth riding bike. And then there's the afore mentioned brush and cactus. I have 6 ply tires and a brush guard. Up and over I go, at a snail's pace, through the some pretty thick and nasty stuff. And my Honda still looks good because I'm NOT reckless. You should like an older man? Me, i'll be 43 in November. So you should know this already. The other word for reckless is "expensive!" They go hand in hand. LOL
If I could figure out how to post a picture, I'd show you my Honda and maybe some of the stuff we ride through down here. A bike has to be tough and built strong. And as I've said, if a stick goes through my cooler, my fault, I understand. But if there is a way to improve something that could be repaired or made better, isn't it in AC's best interest to do so? And that was my point. I worked on helo's for many years and we always were trying to find ways to make the bird better and more efficient. If the cooler could be protected better, everyone wins? I have scrutinized all the specs, from gas tank size to turn radius, on all the makes and models. I just want to spend my $5000 plus dollars on a machine that will last and not break down. And I really hope that you, and the other 400 owners on here, can help me feel confident that when I write that check, I'm gettting my money's worth. That's all.
And thanks again for the reply, looking forward to learning more from you. Dee Smith

 

You have semi private mail, dog.

 

I really enjoyed our conversation last night Bear, we'll have to do it again. Thanks for the AC info and hope you get a chance to check out the Devil Dog website. Semper Fi

 

AC must have been aware of the issue to some extent, check out the 06's.

 

Dog, don't know what you decided, but as a former 400 owner I can tell you that it is the best 400 class off road machine made. More ground clearance, rack capacity, suspension travel, + diff-locker that you Honda buddies don't have. I have nothing against Honda, I own one, but you can't beat Cat for off-road use. We have no trails in Alaska and have to go through some really wicked stuff too, and I wouldn't trade Cat's in for anything out here. Good luck.

 

Thanks Catterman, I have pretty much made up my mind on the 400 AC, 2005 model. I got him down to $5100 and I can't get any other AC dealer to go below $5400. And this guy is right down the road and he'd be doing all the work on it anyway. I'm like Bear, a little hard headed, so I've just listened to their bullcrap about how bad AC's are and how great Honda's are and decided to buy what I want. Honda sells bikes on the name alone. Doesn't matter if it works or not, it's a Honda so people wil buy them. And I was reading the post on the winch deal, $69 and all. Well, I asked him on Monday about a winch for it and he said he had 2 left that he had bought from AC and he'd let me have one for $269 and mount it for free? At the time that sounded great, now I'm not so sure? Sounds like I'd be paying $69 for the winch and $200 for mounting? I was going to call Bear latter tonight and ask him about it.

 

seems like that is going around my dealer sold me the winch for 69 and installed it for free, the GF's yamaha dealer said he would sell her the winch for 69 bucks install it free but she would have to cover his 220 cost for the winch, so a great deal on her quad went south, I told her to walk away but she had to have it so she got it without the winch.

So anyone know the story about the winch deals? I've heard 2 different versions for 3 different dealers

 

Cat is not running the $69 winch deal right now, so if you are getting the Warn 2.5 for under $320 you are doing good. That seems to be the going rate on ebay. Plus then you have to install it. So, if you dealer will sell you one and put it on for that price it is a good deal.

 

Any one know the real deal on that $69 winch thing anyway? I was just shopping 05 400i's (Did not like a couple of the changes for 06, another story all together) and ran into the same thing. The average around here was $285 for the winch in a box, I install. Some of the dealers were telling me that Cat raises the cost of the quad to them the $ amt of the winch to cover the cost but that seemed a little odd to me. Sort of car salesman like. A guy I worked with at a local Cat dealer on 2 quads for me and 2 others for some buddies of mine explained it to me around the time my buddy bought his 05 but that was in 10 of 04. Darn if I can recall specifics. I do not recall feeling like there was some "cost hiding" going on, seemed like everything was on the level.

Just to fill in some gaps for those looking for 05's at dealers who still have some winches sitting around from that "deal" earlier in the year. I ended up buying from the same dealership my 2, and my buddies 2, were purchased. I had shopped around becasue the guy I worked with had moved on and I was, well, having a hard time with the new guy. Upon a second trip back the new guy was more familure with the "biz" and started talking my language. I left with an 05 400 manual, brand new, right out of the crate, for $5050. Before we settled on that price I asked about the winch, he said they still had some, $69 was the price. I did not even have to ask. As with the previous 4 he installed it no charge.

To compare (again for those folks shopping) I called 4 other dealers looking for an 05 400i. The guy I bought from is like 20 min from me. The other 4 were at least an hour out.

I got one price of $5217 (negociated) (I could not figure out the $17)
2 at $5299 (cold call to the dealer quote)
And, now get this, a the 4th guy quotes me $4932. Hay, sounds good. I think about it then say wait a minute. Call back, its a VP! I cannot recall what he wanted for the I's, I did not write it down because it was out of the park compared to the other guys. He also still had, new in the crate, 04s and 03s!!! I did scribble down that he wanted $5570 for an 03 500.

Again, all of these guys avaraged $285 winch in the box, I install.

Now, as to the thread's origional topic. I tend to be overprepared for everything. Even given that I have not decided to fab up a guard for my little radiator protrusions. Just seems like a possible but rather unlikely thing to damage.