hi yall i have a new 500i manual with 28 laws. i do not have but about 58 miles on the bike and have not had a good enough chance to make an evalutation of how this bike compares to some of the other big bore bikes: 700, rincon, 660 grizzly as for as pure mudriding. anybody want to tell there stories on there experieces riding with some of these bikes please report. give it to me straight. i am comming off a polaris and am new to arcit cat. now i did break a cv joint this past saturday and have since removed the lift, angles look alot better.

 

I purchaced strictly for hunting and plowing heeps of snow . All out speed is adequete but not gut wrenching . power and low end torque oh yea got that . good in the muskeg too. mud ... not too much of that here. People around here shy away from automatics prefer to shift seem like theres more oomph

 

I've heard from people at HL that the Polaris' are the king's of the mud holes. I also don't think that the AC has a locker available for it. But they have a lot of suspension travel, and BIG ground clearance. I think that it would be better if it had a locker for sure!

 

Been ridin for several years on several diff bikes. Now on a 03'500i with Laws and Vamps. You will not be able to hang with the big boys with the lockers. Limited slip will never equal a locker even if you have the ground clearance advantage. It is a good 4X and you can smoke solid axle Honda's all day long, even with lockers. In fact, it's kind of fun smokin em.

 

CAT500I

I beg the differ

This is my second cat to own

Today i was out donr by a 03 450 foreman with 27 vamps

my bike a 03 500i manual with 26 zillas

scenario:
After talking my friend into going through a small 6x6 pit of sandy mudd with water setting on top of it he got burried no chance:his bike 400 auto 02 kodiak

Next my other buddy 03 450 foreman 27 vamps

he went down into the pit and as his front made it to the bottom lights were not visible he slowly tipped inch by inch untill he started sinking. As he dug down eventually tires were just spinng in water. He went from side to side rocking and floating until he reached the hard slick angled bank. He then hammered it and climbed up the other side.

My Turn

Same thing. I have 14 inches of GC also. Went in headlights gone inched slowy toward the bank just before it i couldnt move an inch. I rocked and rocked and rocked,stood on the side stood on the front and finally made it to the harded slick bank.

I couldnt make it up. I had to be pulled

You know why?

The front diff. The honda when you tap the front brake, all fours will grab,and I mean they sling em!!
The AC will not or at least mine will not.
I was so pissed i couldnt hardly stand to ride any more

To make things worse.
He went trough it again after me.
To make things even worse

I went through it on his bike. I am so pissed right now I cant hardly see straight!

Why wont the ACs front diff work like the hondas!

I could smoke him if i had all 4s going like his. I hear the this front diff is called a inner lock system. It suppose to lock up when you grap the brakes. The honda has two seperate brakes. One stricly for the front and one for the back. The ACs diff is supposed to give the tire with the most traction the power..NO WAY! right the opposite!! the tire that the traction just sat there limp the tire that was in slick mud and could spin would spin. I think this is the biggest POS diff I have ever seen . I mean come on!!! its a three wheeler not a four wheeler

I am going to weld my diff together soon!! Bottom line

 

What size tires was the Honda running up front (wide or skinny)? What size do you have in the front. I got smoked one time on my 500HO. Grizz660 with 28x12.50 all around went through and slowly climbed out the other side (no lift kit). Went through on the HO with 12.50's rear/9.50's front/big lift kit-couldn't make it. It was so bad I had to use the warn2000 to get out. I never could hang with the Grizz in the really deep stuff with the big laws on the front.

 

his tires 27 12x12 vamps no lift

My tires 26 12x12 zillas no lift

My measured GC 14 inches
His measured GC 10 1/4

Also the kodiak that got stuck so bad in this same hole, had to be hooked to me and the foreman to get him out. This hole was terrible

 

I think big wide tires in the front and front traction (locker, lim-slip) makes more difference than overall ground clearance. How are the zillas in the front, are they hard to steer in 4wd?

 

no not really. They are as any wide tire in the front. You loose some steering but you get use to it.
What do you mean by your comment.
Why does hondas diff lock when you tap the brakes and the ACs will not

If i had 4 wheel drive and not 3 There would be no comparison. He has trouble keeping up with me in deep staight mud even though i have 3 wheel drive. But where he gets me is getting up banks orcrossing ditches and such

 

That Honda diff is really tight. I had an 03'450ES with the switchable 2wd/4wd. I also had a 01' 450ES. There was a night and day difference between the diff's. The new diff would never stop turning either tire. A lim-slip (cat) will stop turning on the side with traction and let the side with no traction spin like crazy. I found that the new Honda diff--the side with traction would spin slower than the side with traction but it would always keep turning. I was very impressed with it. The Cat diff seems like all the other diff's. The side with traction stops. I never had any luck with using the brakes to limit spin.

What would be really sweet would to be add another brake lever on the right hand side. Use the left lever to stop the left front brake and right for right. The problem u run in to is the resuvoir would be upside down. If it could be worked out it would be the best of both worlds. That's how they set up the brakes on alot of older tractors. I know, I grew up on one. U hit the brake for the wheel on the inside of the turn and u can cut the turning circle in half.