Sorry I'm new here. I'm goin to buy a new bike (500) what's the advantage to the automatic. This will be my third cat. Had a 98 300 2x4 and a 500 4x4 both man. never had an automatic. Any opinions would greatly be appreciated.

 

don;t have to shift. other then that there isn't any.

 

They use a lot more fuel too. I ride with a guy who has my machine in auto and his gas is gone almost twice as fast as my manual. And welcome to the forum.

 

most certinly get the manual there is more get up and go on them

 

I'd run over a manual shift quad with my truck to collect the insurance money and go buy the automatic. Manual riders are never in the right gear, allways slowing down the group with having to pull over to down shift or screwing around somehow with a missed shift. I ride motorcycles and I know shifting - and I have the Honda ES on the Recon and I wouldn't wish the ES on my worst enemy. I wish I would have rode one of the ES models before I brought one home. Complete POS in my opinion. I've had 6 quads and I'd never ever in a million years consider going back to a manual transmission. Might as well get out the horse and buggy or start using kerosene lanterns again.

And I ride with manual shift quads and they don't get as good as gas mileage as my automatic - so there bear you old know it all varmit. (lol)

If you look around you will see guys trading manaul quads to get into an automatics but they are a rare type that have a auto and will trade it off for a manual. But then again there are more people now days with strange thoughts and decision making skills. At least more of them are free to walk the streets nowdays then when I was younger.

 

If a rider is used to using a manual and keeps his head out of his a$$, plans ahead by reading the terrain and selecting the proper gear ahead of time, there should be no problem. Besides I thought you could shift these things on the fly. hammer71 says he's never had an auto before and I will bet you unless he gets a 650 he won't be happy with one after riding a 500 with a manual, which he has done.

 

You must be riding with some dimwitted folks if they can't shift good enough to not slow up the group. I'd get a manual any day over an auto if both were available on the quad I was looking at. The list of reasons is endless.

 

I believe we are all on the same road in life but some are running at different speeds. I wouldn't put it the way you did but I do find myself thinking in a simular way at times. But I try to stay grounded in recalling that there but by the grace of God go I....

 

Still, you said people actually have to pull over and stop to downshift. Are they shifting the foot lever with their hand or something?

And as long as we're on this automatic thing, remember that the quad I own is in fact and automatic, so it not like I'm bashing here. This is my opinion. I'd rather it was a manual.

 

No - using the foot lever via the foot.

I don't really know why other than we all have different abilities. Why questions are really hard to answer for other people. I do know that manual shifting is not for everyone and should you be blessed to be in the 20 percentile range of mechanically coordinated people that understand clutched or clutch-less shifting without doing great harm to the hardware - count your blessing and bow as you pass the graveyard of transmissions that have suffered dearly from the others.

I sell clutch-less manual shift mini-bikes very similar to the old Honda Trail 70. It is often with grievous pain that I suffer through showing people how to shift the bike and I watch in horror the abuse that is bestowed upon a otherwise fine piece of equipment by a majority of the proud but mechanically challenged new owners. Some get on and ride like they stole it. Others...I fear have a long and arduous future before them.

For whatever reasons - my experiences with riders of manual quads all seem to suffer on more than an occasional frequency the need to pull over and "re-shift". I also enjoy to no small degree the number of vice grips employed as foot shifter replacements. American ingenuity at one of its finest moments

Last weekend I found myself in a situation where I could not move my 5,000 pound enclosed car hauler trailer. The neighbor’s lawn was to soft for the 1 ton to drive across and my cousin left his trailer blocking me in. The wife had the exploder that day. My TRV with the often disparaged "rubber band" drive and automatic transmission moved that trailer around the yard very well. You could never make me believe that the AC automatic has any less ability to transfer power to the wheels than another machine as it has proven itself impressively here