I've had a Cat 500i for around a year now, it's been a terrific machine. I wouldn't worry about 'swaying' in corners, I haven't noticed it has any great tendancy to do that. The cat isn't a sport quad, to be sure, but it sounds like you need utility more than sport. There isn't a utility quad built that could keep up with a Z400 or Raptor on a hardpack trail, but then again, there isn't a sport quad built that can follow a big Cat through rough terrain.

The Cat's real strengths are in crawling across rough ground and carrying a heavy load, and mine has done both very well. It doesn't have a swaybar on the back, so the wheels can articulate better - less likely to lift a wheel off the ground when terrain gets rough. I've heard the auto trans is good on them, but I wouldn't know - mine is manual. One of the primary reasons I bought a Cat is that it's one of the few big quads that still has a manual trans. I've put around 600 miles on the Cat, and so far, nothing has gone wrong. Runs as good as when I got it? Actually, now that it's broken in, it runs a lot better.

FWIW - I picked up my Cat last summer for $5800 from... Bell's Suzuki of Lexington, KY. They took very good care of me.

--John

 

I appreciate your feedback JohnO. It sounds like our riding conditions are about the same. This past hunting season, there was so much rain that all the creeks had risen to about 1.5-2 feet deep and the mud was so bad that some of the trucks couldnt make it up the hills behind our camp in 4-low so there was a lot of walking. I f I would have had an atv, I could have avoided the roads and just went through the woods. I've called about 8 or 9 places for prices and the cheapest I have found was $5999 and the most expensive is $6999. Do you think prices will climb or drop closer to hunting season?

 

Deerhnter if it was up yo me i would go with the suzuki vinsion it has a good look and will do all the things u need.It is a kinda sporty atv but will work when u need it to there is no choice that i would go with that for ur conditions.

 

I've looked into the Vinson 500 auto, but the only suzuki dealer I went to didnt have one. From what I have read on them, they are pretty impressive. (A good bit cheaper, too.) I looked at an Eiger 400 and it didnt seem to bad. I need to locate a dealer so I can test drive one.

 

wouldn't go polaris to many belts for water crossings i would go with honda 650 rincon all the way by far best utility ever riden coming from a guy who has ridin almost everything trust me you would love a rincon.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Dont let water worry you on a polaris my old 400 will go up to the racks.

 

deerhntr the best 4x4 that you can buy is the kawi prarie 650. It will out perform any other 4x4 atv. It will also be real fun on trails. It is also the fastest utility atv you can buy also. If you have the money this is the quad u need to buy.

 

I looked at a Prairie 650 and think its a little big. I will have to negotiate dense brush and trees and pretty much make my own trails through the forest. As for speed, I don't think the quad would see much over 30 mph. I did check out a prairie 360 but I've seen some bad reviews about it.

 

Those are the quads I was goint to suggest. The vinson was in the shootout (well it was more like a cross country race type thing) with all the big bores I mean almost all these quads were in the 600 to 650 range and the vinson came in third place. The mag said it was faster than some of these big quads. So I would have to assume it's a very great quad. The eiger won all the shootouts in it's class and finally knocked the king of the 300 to 400cc quads the honda rancher off it's throne. Another quad I like is the honda foreman 450's they are very peppy and have selectable two and four wheel drive. I would go with the vinson first and the eiger second. There's to many good quad out there in the utility class so you probably can't go wrong. Good luck and God bless.

 

Hopefully, this weekend I will get a chance to check out the Suzukis and maybe even squeeze in a test drive. Thanks for the feedback Mudslinger.