Having just taken delivery of my new Cat, I thought I'd relate my experience for others that are facing the same choices. I am coming off of a 350 Big Bear, so if you're on a midsized quad and thinking of a larger machine, this is what you would find if you took a Cat home.

I chose the Cat over the others largely due to the ground clearance, rough ground handling, availability of a manual trans, and generally excellent reputation for reliability. This quad will perform a good deal of work on my farm, so I'd rather be working with it than on it. Much more profitable. Better rack payload than most, too. So far, the Cat has lived up to all of these promises.

At the dealer, we arrived at a 400i at $5100 - a fair if not great price. As the 500i was $1200 more, and the quads were otherwise identical, I just didn't see paying that sort of jack for 100cc. The sales dude went to find a 400i in green, and came back to say that it would take a week to get it. I was about to say 'no problem, I can wait' when he pointed at the green 500i I was sitting on, and added 'but I'll let you have that one for $5800'. Sold! As I derive income from my farm (timber, tobacco), I was even exempted from sales tax, so it was 5800 OTD, and that's what it was thirty minutes later - out the door! A bit of a struggle to fit into the bed of my buddy's Toyota, but we squeezed it in.

So what's it like? Coming off of my big bear that I've been riding for five years, my first impression is size. Not width, height. Man, this thing is tall! I would have thought it might be tippy, but just the opposite is true, it clings to hillsides, as befits it's namesake. Definitely better than the bear, which is lower, but also narrower. The wide stance inspires confidence, and doesn't seem to limit me even on my tight trails.

Trail handling? In a word, superb. A terrific handling machine, yet a surprisingly comfortable ride. Rocks and logs that would jerk the bear around are shrugged off by the Cat. A sharp downhill turn into a rocky creekbed that routinely throws the bear off line doesn't even faze the Cat - it zings through this hazard like it was flat pavement. Even with the lighter engine use during breakin, I find myself running 2 gears higher than the bear over my trails - it handles that much better. It doesn't beat you up the way the bear does on the rough stuff. You feel the trail, what you don't feel is every twig and pebble on the trail, information I could do without. A more fair comparison would be against a Prairie that I had a chance to try out, and while the Prairie rode nice, it definitely didn't negotiate the rough stuff with the surefootedness of the Cat. On the other hand, the Prairie had that terrific engine. Take that engine, and put it in the Cat's chassis, and you'd really have something.

Power is not what I'd call thrilling, more in the category of very adequate. It's no drag racer, but there is enough torque on tap to handle the steepest hillclimbs. I've yet to have it bog down, and even at low revs, it responds well. The engine is decidedly smoother than the old bear's buzzy 350. Shame on me - I pulled (slowly) a medium grade hill with a fairly rough trail, with two big guys on the Cat, one in front and one on the back. (they were helping me clear some dead trees, I could at least ride them to the top) The Cat didn't bog down, and didn't bottom out, even with a 400 pound payload. While the load was noticable, the Cat's handling characteristics were not degraded to a dangerous degree.

The shifter is kinda weird at first, but you get used to it after a few rides. Put on heavy boots, and it really makes sense.

I also like the absence of glitzy electronics. I don't need a picture to see if I'm in 4wd, and wouldn't have time to look at it if I'm booking down a trail. A simple needle speedo that you can read at a glance, and I particularly like the gear indicator. Hi/low and 2-4wd shifting are all manual, no solenoid to crap out and leave you stuck.

Complaints? The hi/low shifter is in a goofy location, why couldn't they put it with reverse like they did with the auto. The skid plate buzzes, but not very often. And the shifter is a bit noisy, clacks and clanks a lot, but that will probably loosen up with time. Otherwise, the Cat has been so excellent that these are the worst I could come up with.

A superb machine, very well balanced. It does everything well, and a few things extremely well. Sophistication where it counts, without irrelevant glitz. This is not a quad for bragging rights at the local mudhole. This is a quad for people who are serious about getting to some interesting places, and getting back home. The Cat is as serious as it looks. I set out to get a workhorse that wasn't a pig on the trail. What I got was a workhorse that eats rough trails for breakfast.

--John

02 Cat 500i
91 Big Bear, for sale
87 YZ490, grossly overpowered, I'll make you a deal.

 

Great review, I believe you tell it like it is. They are not perfect for every need but adequate. They will beat some super big bore quad at one thing or another. Maybe you should write for some of these rags that are out. If they had to use their quads rather than jumping them I believe the Cats would be more towards the top.
Good luck and ride safe on your new Cat.

 

John, that was a great review. As a first-time ATV owner who bought a 500i auto, I'm thrilled to read positive feedback from someone who knows how the AC stands up to other quads in it's class. I know that my AC is something special, and it's nice to hear from others who agree.

 

Excellent review, Mudcat is right you ought to work for the rags. The manual shifter is a little weird at first but after a while it really grows on you. Guess the only thing left to say is WELCOME TO THE PRIDE!!!!!

 

Welome and glad to hear that you enjoy the new Cat! We went riding this past weekend with a couple of 300s I think one was a kawi and the other a yam, well this one trail the kawi tried to do a wheelie and almost flipped and the yam high centered on a pipe thatw as about 8 inches off of the ground. He had to ride the pipe up to the top to get off of it. I just stepped the Cat right over it and up a big rock and on up the top. The two that were on the yam told the others 2 when we got to the top that their next quad would be a IRS Cat because the Cat did not even break a sweat and none of my tires ever came off of the ground. Needless to say I had a big grin on my face [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] I think that I could make some good sales for Cat!!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]