Man,come on,please.
An Arctic Cat aint that great.I cant see how their way better that any other ATV.
My brother has a Polaris Sportsman 500 and I have seen him do some pretty awsome stuff with it.
I believe I have room to talk cuz I do have an Arctic Cat,and I dont think its built as tough as I thought it was when I bought it.
It's a 2001 v300 4x4,I know it dont have the ground clearance like the newer ones,but at the time it was one of only 3 to have I.S.,the King Quad and Sportsman 500 where the other choices I knew of then.Sportsman was too much $.

It has never left me stranded though,might be last gettin there,but I still make it.

About the worst thing I can think of really bad of this 300 is the wheel bearings.They are not sealed,water and mud get into them and eat them up.It has seals,but the mud tears rite thru them.
Is there an after market sealed bearing for these things?

As for the first of this post,I cant believe that an A.C. is better than any other quad.

 

If you want to continue discussing the contents of another thread, please post in that thread.

 

Sorry,I'll try to remember that next time.

 

Find a bearing store in your area and get some quality sealed bearings. I bet you will save some money also. They should have seals too.

 

Based upon what you are saying, and you have a 300, When you get into the 400, 500 and up you are in a whole new demension. I can talk because I have personal experience riding with people that have Sportsmans, Grizzly's, Honda's, Suzuki's etc. The only other machine that I would consider owning is a King Quad 450, and even still my AC has a good inch advantage on clearance, and I have the full 10 inches of wheel travel. Yes I may have to play catch up on flat, hard roads (50+mph) but when we hit the trails then I usually have to wait for them. And I do get stuck less than they do - and some have 27" tires and one even has 28"... Just keep in mind that the 300 (a very good machine, for what it is) is not in the came category as the 400 and up AC's.... That is my 0.02 cents worth - but I am only a dummy.

 

Check my pictures out and check the third picture down in the center column and tell my where the Polaris or your 300 would be - flipped right on the side. I am not high centered or stuck and if you look closely the bottom of the left tires are higher than the tops of the right side tires (this is what 10 of wheel travel and 12 inches of clearance can do for you). And if you don't think the 400 has any power I drove out of there and got a rock jammed in between my wheel and the mechanical foot brake and broke an axle while driving out - as well as the foot brake housing. And driving out of that mess it was dragging the right rear as it was locked up.

 

Thanks for the input guys,I have looked at a bearing store,they didnt have anything to match,sayid A.C. probly did it so you have to buy from the dealer.

When I first got mine,it was badder than alot of them.I put on a lift kit and made it posi-trak,alot of times I could go thru mud or ruts better than others with more ground clearance cuz it was posi-trak.Now I go around most holes cuz I know I cant make cuz people with 13'-15' ground clearance and 27' mud tires done put ruts in it and I bottom out. And now most others have posi-trak.

And as for buckaroo50,that pic 1/2 way water,if it didnt have the ground clearance it does,it couldvt bottomed out and slid on over.Plus I bet the wheel spacers helped.

I do love the I.S. on mine though,I can go over stuff and not fear of flippin,and it rides smoother than a straight axle.

 

I am sure the spacers helped - precicely my point. AC don't need tons of mods or tricked out stuff to go. Still 25" wheels, still stock engine, still stock suspension. Other makes with less clearance would have rolled and/or been high centered. For example a Polaris would have to run close to 28" tires, then they need to have the engine to turn the big tires. I doubt seriously that even a Polaris 500 without some choice mods can turn the 28" wheels effectively, and even still the Polaris doesn't have the wheel travel. Also, my friend on trails that other brands can drive at about 15 to 25 mph range, the AC's can generally travel those same trails a little faster, because of the suspension.
There was a pull between a 650 AC and a 700 Grizzly. Do I need to tell you who won, not only did the AC win but the Grizzly blew the differential and broke an axle and CV joint in the process ($1100 in repairs). I bet that guy wishes he had not challenged the AC....
So in answer to your openstatement that "AC's are not all that great", well I for one happen to think that they are, and there are several other people that feel the same way because they have seen the results and experienced it first hand.
Not to say that some other brands can't out do an AC, but they have to spend alot of bucks on mods to do what AC's can do stock. I hope our chat has been enlightening for you.

 

Made your point,
I think I would need a 400 to really know how they compare.My 300 would have flipped,its only got about 10' of ground clearance and 6.5' shock travel,but in '01 that was alot.But Im not ready to spend $6,000 on a 4 wheeler.I'll stick to what I have for now.
I would want front diff lock,and manual speed,dont like the auto's.

 

Seriously, Arctic cat are no better or worse than any other company, I actually think I would really like to try one out but since I ride with a bunch of arctic cats I can clearly say my Polaris can go through anything they can even w/o mud tires.