What year did AC make the 454 and how good was it? Was it their motor or suzuki's? And, does anyone still have one and how do you like it?

 

Arctic Cat started making quads in 96 and all they had was the 454 4X4. They expanded in 97 to a 454 4X4 and a 4X2 and in 98 they went all out and we had a choice of the 500 4X4, 454 4X4 and 4X2, 400 4X4 and 4X2 and the 300 4X4 and 4X2. All Arctic Cat engines from 96 to 2004 were Suzuki Motors except the 90 cc. The 04 650 V-2 was the first, Non Suzuki motor(Kawasaki), The 650 H1 is the first and only "in-house" motor that Cat has manufactured.
All of the Suzuki power plants have been Bullet-proof. I had a 98 500 that I put 4,000 miles on it before I sold it to a friend. He put another 1,000 miles on before he sold it.

Edit: 98 was the last year for the 454.

 

1 of my friends has 1 and he still loves it. I believe that he is the original owner. He uses it for hunting and working around the house. I've riden it on trails a few times and it still runs great!!!

 

Ya the fall of 95 is when they released the first one - as a 96 model. I think they are pretty neat, had the chance to get one for $1,250 about 4 months ago and I am kicking myslef for not doing it. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

700vtm, are you thinking of getting one?????

 

I saw one a few weeks ago and the guy said he really liked it. He said it would pull like a mule due to the tranny. He also said he had another one (wife's) for sale.

 

bigdcred has one if you have ever been to the richfiels jamberee you have seen it, or if you want to look at thmy pics the atv on two wheels is bigdcred on his.

 

So, how does he like his ac454?

 

well if i had to make a guess i would say 16000 miles and alot of trophies (local mud bog/sled pull ) later he foung that trading his nearly new sportsman for it was a great move!

 

My uncle has 98. Had it since October 1999. Same basic set up as the old 500's with very slight differences than say a 99 model 500 and up (no start in gear, lesser padded seat). The carb setup on these was less than stellar. I've torn apart the carb in their 454 at least 10 times cleaning it out, and they replaced the carb entirely at one point (user abuse on that one- bad gas from a rusty can too many times). No speed demon, a pain to steer, but fairly solid. My uncle's 454 has the paint flaking off the frame and rust in places, but its been put up wet and muddy a lot. I wouldn't spend much at all on one, and I sure wouldn't buy one that wasn't in pristine condition. Its been a good quad for them for what they use it for. Extremely stable with the ACT setup, and a lot of pulling torque. A pretty good workhorse, but tiring to steer through trails for 3 hours.

The 500 was a lot less maintenance as far as the carb setup goes. I had a 99 500 for 3 years that was bulletproof. Good uphill stability on these quads. ATV magazine did a test with the 2000 models, and I believe their weight test show the AC to have 100lbs more riding on the front tires than the rear. Not something that will flip over backward very easy.

 

i know this post was about the 454, but also talking about the older 500's. has anyone seen or heard about the arctic cat that had 55,000 miles on it? i read it an a magazine last year. it was , i believe a 98 500 and was used in a lumber yard every day. 24 hours a day,7 days a week. never shut it off. it was beat up a lot but still running. the guy said he just does the normal maintnance including bushings,bearings,ect...the motor had new rings. the speedo read 55,000 miles. he also said it had stopped working about a yr ago. i was amazed.