You see a whole lot of posts from the big engine crowd, but the owners of the smaller bore bikes seem almost absent from this forum. I love my 2001 250 2x4 and am interested in the experiences/problems that others with the same Cats have. I live out in the country and mainly ride for pleasure across farmland and turn rows. My Cat has never let me down, and has plenty of power for what I use it for. Perhaps some of the 250/300 crowd will read this and begin sharing on this forum. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Me and the wife went down to Windrock last weekend for the fall poker run. This was her first big ride. Sha has ridden around here but mostly flat muddy trails. She bribed my son into letting her use his quad a 01 250 4x4 with 25 and 26" Gators. We rode all day Friday in the drizzle and rain with no problems, mainly slow easy trails. On Saturday we rode with a Group of guys and gals from home here. All were riding bigger faster quads. A Rubi with 27" Vamps, Rincon with 27" 589s, 700 with 27" 589s, 450 Hondas with bigger tires as well, a 650 Prarie with 28" 589s and me. We rode some great muddy trails with some pretty dificult sections in them. Every time I looked back the little 250 was right behind me. In some of the tricky off camber sections when other quads would lift their tires and need added stability the 250 would just put right on trough with no added assistance. On the big slick muddy hill climbs it would put right on up hardly spinning at all. Going trough the rocky muddy sections she just put it in low gear and glided right across. Others were needing a push or pull every now and then. At the end of 60 miles we loaded up and headed for the gas station 3 gallons to fill the 450 Kodiak and 1.5 gallons to fill the 250. Twice the mileage! I let her ride mine for a little while and I couldn't believe how much better it rode, unbelievable. I had headed down the mountain with her behind me. I never should have looked back. When I did she was yelling at me to stop, she wanted to trade back. She said the power was nice but there is no way she could ride it all day or even the hour back down to the parking lot. I rode every other quad there that day and will say that the little 250 is the best rider out of the whole bunch, even the 700 and Rincon. The steering ease and the glass smooth ride make an all day ride a breeze. I've ridden the 500i and didn't really care for the ride on it but Cat needs to use the design of the 300 and 250 with a little more power.
All in all we had a great trip and she made reservations to go back for the spring ride in April. I don't know what she is going to ride or maybe I should say what my son is going to ride, he said he is going this next time. Just thought I little story about the 250 would be nice. I don't think our will be leaving the stable for a while. This is a great quad!

 

Myself and a buddy bought The 300 4X4 about 2 months ago and have nothing but great things to say about them. I did a fair bit of research before buying my quad. Kept looking for used quads, but there almost as much as new ones. I wanted something reasonably priced, not a lot of power, Selectable 4 wheel , foot guards and Cat was the only one that could fit the bill. Just an extra bonus getting a Warn 2500 thrown in. With the 3 different trans ranges who needs horsepower. When you talk about speed who really needs to faster than 25 miles an hour on a trail (It'll go 40). Everyone in the family can enjoy this quad without fear .Just pop in low for my girls and they can have a blsat cruisin' the fields. The only problem now is that I have to get another quad. I must admit I haven't done any serious riding, but I do get to experience a lot of different terrain around here. I like being able to move the bike around easily also .

I might not be first across the finish line, but I'll get there...

Hope to see ya on the trails

 

I have a 250. Bought it in the spring. It fits my needs perfectly. I wanted a smaller utility. I was going to use it mostly for slow technical stuff, and work around the hunting property. I didn't have a lot of cash to spend on another toy. The 250 was the best of the bunch for a small utility. All the features of a large utility without the price. I even added a winch, and was still well below 4k out the door. I wrote a review for another board (atv nation), but I think it has been lost since they changed over.


I agree, a lot of folks are missing out if they think that they have to have a 500 to do any work.

-jeff b.

 

I agree with the power issue. I do plenty of heavy load carrying and hauling with my 250. I just drop it into the low range and it will yank around pretty much anything. I really don't think that these smaller quads, especially the smaller Cats get the credit they deserve.

 

I have a 2002 AC 300 4x4 - still breaking it in but so far it has been an extremely fun machine. I even like the heel/toe shifter. It has a footprint that is close to the size of my Rubicon but it handles much easier. My wife is beginning to like it alot. Like mudcat says its true test will come on its first long ride - probably next spring. You get excellent value for the money here!

 

I had a '00 250 and like a fool I got rid of it for a Mojave....Since then i purchased a Prairie 360 4X4 and to be honest the 250 Artic Cat worked better in many situtions than the Prairie mainly because of the IRS.

 

Hey Mojave hindsite is 20/20

 

Yes these are greate littel ATV's. My wife and I both have 2001 300 4X4's and love them. I have modified the shifter and made tool boxes out of 50 cal. ammo boxes that slid under the rear frame were the factory one goes and work much better.

 

Hey Volvoman ....What did you do to the shifter...I know I would like to firm mine up a bit. Did you modify the frt diff also to lock up...how's the steering when its locked up...