im about to buy my first atv. im 5'11" and weigh roughly 240lbs. i went to a dealer today and rode a new suzuki kingquad 700 efi. wow! the quad was fun but had to much power and the front end dipped down when you let off the throttle. it was alittlle too much quad for me. im looking at buying something smaller. id be using the quad for pushing snow, trail riding, and for deer hunting. but for mostly riding and having fun. ive narrowed it down to four choices- the suzuki kingquad 450, kawasaki prairie 360 4x4, yamaha grizzly 350 auto irs. im not looking for a big powerhouse quad. im just wanting to have fun. any suggestions? how about arctic cat?? how good are their atv's? are they as reliable as the grizzly 450 irs or the kq 450? thanks..Tim

 

You would probably get more action if you post this in the "Utility ATVs" forum.

I can't comment on the other utes you mentioned but I have a Prairie 360 that is used for work around the farm and some pleasure riding. It does an outstanding job backfilling behind a trencher, we have a Swisher plow and bucket, when laying pipe and pulling a rough cut mower. I also use it for towing trailers hauling all sorts of stuff while building fence and such. When riding on the trails with other older fellows, I don't ride fast, the Prairie seems to do as well as any of the other machines. Rider skill seems to be the deciding factor. I like the selective 4WD and locking front differential. The quad has been used a few times for pushing snow and seems to work well but I have no experience with others to do a comparison. By the way I'm about the same size as you and the quad fits me well.

Performance wise the 360 is no hot rod. Top speed on mine, I have a box on the back with lots of stuff in it, is around 40 MPH on level ground according to the GPS. Speedometer, which is an option, shows very close to what the GPS shows. Shortly after I got the machine the engine seized up and had to be rebuilt. This was a factory problem that Kawi was aware of that affected a limited number of motors. Warrantee covered it and I actually ended up with a better engine than original thanks to an outstanding dealership. This has been the only problem to date.

I would suggest you get in touch with an ATV club in your area and arrange to go on a couple of rides with them. I suspect you will find a lot of new friends and be allowed to try different machines to see how they feel to you and get a lot of good advice.

Good luck in you search.

 

You may want to look at the AC 400 or the AC500.

You did not say what your preferance was in tranny? AUTO ot MANUAL?

I prefer the fully manual tranny like AC. Not like the electronic shift thing Honda has. With a manual you do not need to worry about a belt getting wet and slipping.

Then again, and auto is good because you can mash the throttle and go and never need to worry about what gear you are in except high or low range 4x4.

If you like to rick out or mod your ride there are mode mods available for the AC 500 than the AC 400.

The suzuki 700 probably dipped in the font because of how the shocks were set up. I think you are right in the ballpark with looking at 400 and 500cc ATV's

On a side note, I believe the AC400 is the #1 selling ATV for AC.

SJ

 

is the manual shift clutchless on the ac? how does the ac stack up against yamaha, kawi, suzuki, or polaris? have you ever had any problems with ac? im not out to buy a speed demon just want to have some fun and push snow. i do like the 3 yr warranty that ac has. the other throw in just a 6 month.

 

The manual cats are clutchless. I have a 06 500 manual and I love it. I rode it in colorado this year and was very impressed with the ground clearance and the power at high altitude. As far as how the AC stacks up against the competition, AC uses Suzuki motors in most of their Atv's (Minus the 650h1 an V2), and imo the cats are a little better built. The yamaha grizzly is a great atv as well, but has less ground clearance and is only offered in the auto. Kawi and polaris both have very competative atv's in their line up. I am on my second AC ATV and have had no real problems to speak of. I tried to do my homework the best I could before I bought both of my ATV's and both times I went with AC.

 

I have owned several ATV's (suzuki, Honda, Polaris, and AC). All have been used about the same. THe suzuki and the Ac have held up the best. I believe in making the machine work and work as hard as I want to.

Wether its pulling trees, launching 18-20+ foot skiffs, or hauling building materials through whatever it needs to. I beleive I now have over 6800 miles on my AC. I just had to rebuild the top end because I had a little issue with water getting into the oil and foze in the oil cooler and kept oil from getting back to the engine and to the top end. So it seized the cam. (my fault for not checking prior to the temp dropping). SO I think its ready for another 5000 miles.

Other than a few minor problems the machine has performed to my expectations. I do not travel fast, (40mph tops when I feel frisky). It does what I want it to.

The only thing I might add is a few guys that I work with use Yamaha and Honda right now but, I see them having difficulty when Low range is required. The AC has both high and low range 4x4 (as does suzuki I think). It is real handy when pulling stuff. Other than that they can and have done what I do.

I think the only thing bad I can say about my AC is the lack of LOW range in reverse (I think this was fixed for 2006 or 2007) and that the bottom corners of the oil cooler (on 400) and the bottom corners of the radiator (on 500) stick out past the edges of your front bumper. So a misplaced stick could possibly damage it if you are not real careful. In other words, it could be a little better protected.

Also, some riders do not like AC's foot rocker shift for the manual tranny. Which can be replaced with a toe shifter.

SJ

 

wow burnt it is nice to see someone finally admit that a bigger bore atv is to much machine for them. i have seen it to many times before where someone gets a machine that is more then they need or can handle and they end up getting hurt, so kudos to you [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] but out of the four machines you are interested in i would say you can't go wrong with any of them i know my cat is tough as nails but that is something you gotta go ride each one individually and figure out which one you like the most.

 

i got to ride today a polaris 500efi and all i have to say is WOW!!! very powerful, very smooth. heck, the dealer even looked me in the eye when we talked. i didnt even mind the single brake lever. very nice machine. he even told me that any brand might have boot problems. now i need to ride a ac 400 or 500, kq 450, and the kodiak 450. so far i really like the polaris.

 

i got to ride the ac 400 today. the dealer didnt seem too energetic or liked to talk. it seemed as it rode rough and stiff, wasnt as nice as the polaris. you could hear the gears "clunk" when going from 2wd to 4wd and back. when i opened up the throttle, it seemed to veer and wabble at high speed. i wasnt too impressed with ac. i still need to ride the kq 450 and the grizzly 450. the ac dealer told me that the polaris 4wd was magnetic powered. is he right? how dependable is the 4wd set-up on the polaris?

 

If you like the Polaris. Then you also need to check out the engine braking. I believe the POlaris had an issue with that but it may be fixed.

Try coming down a hill in any gear without using brakes and let the compression of the engine slow you down. I know the AC is good at this but I know on earlier Polaris ATV's yo had to have your thumb on the throttle quite a bit to engage the belt to get engine braking to work.

Seems a little scary to me to have to be on the throttle to get the engine braking to work on a hill. This quirk may have been fixed.

The other 4x4 test I like to do is roll up to a 10-15 inch log and rest the front tires against it and come to a stop. Then mash the throttle and see what happens.

I have tried this with a PoPo 500 and it nearly burns the belt. An AC, Suzuki, Yamaha, and Honda all get up and over it. THe AC and Suzuki do it better due to low range 4x4.

Keep testing them though. That is part of the fun.

SJ