I've been looking to buy my first quad, I will be using it mostly for hunting, trail riding and snow plowing. I'm not into jumping or beating on a quad(I'm partially disabled). I see Polaris gets trashed alot and was wondering what the biggest problem with them is. I like what the Magnum 500 has to offer, but because of all the negative press, may go with the new Kodiac. And since I'm on the large size(6'2"-240) i am even afraid the Kodiac 400 may be too small for me. Any suggestions will be appreciated!

 

Have you looked at the grizzly you are not a small rider and its only a few dollars more than the kodiac the polaris is a great bike when its running its one of the best but its reliability is the question at hand and i hate all that matainece that comes with them
dont let liquid cool be your deciding factor
for years quads didnt have it and if you dry up your fluid your dead a oil cooled quad will be ok to ride in a few minutes after it cools just my 2 cents


Mike Bencivengo

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99 Grizzly , Vamped & Liffed

Ride safe today,because to ride again tomorrow is Righteous!!!!

 

Sarg; I see you mention you are disabled , I have a Magnum 500 and relly like it it has been flawless. I have a buddy of mine who is a retired Police officer who lost his left leg. He bought the Polaris brand due to not being able to shift , He recently traded his 94 model 300 for the Magnum 500 says it the best 4wheeler he has every owned and he has had many prior to his accident. I believe the magnums are good machines . I really believe they are the most solid built product in the Polaris lineup ,I have seen no problems with any of the one around here. I believe the bad press is due in part to some quality problems on certain models polaris builds , the sportsman in particular which is a very complex machine. Most of them are really great machines but I can say from what comes through my shop here and from what I have heard there are some Sportsmans that are real basket cases. Another reason that you here of the Polaris problems is that you have a lot of Overzealous owners of competing brands who take it upon themselves to be sure that everyone knows when a Polaris breaks. I really see a lot of that on this forum ,there are a few people who really push the issue. You never see them on the other manufacturers Forums. I could really bring them down if I could show them my shop records from the past few years they would no doubt call me a liar when they saw which Quads I work on most often. If you are intrested in this I will Email it to you personally but I am not going to post it on here it would cause trouble. Back on track the Magnum is good give it a look I think there are a few post on it way back in the Polaris forum. If you want updated info start a new post in the Polaris section and title it Magnum 500 opinions or something like that ,I,m sure you will get a lot of input.

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Kevin Gowdy aka Kagey 1999 Polaris Magnum 500

 

Sombody mentioned that polaris "takes to much maintenance"
Now think about this,If you can grease,adj.,change,and fix most things yourself, isn't that good, wouldn't that save you money, Plus you would know how your atv works and what you can do and not do!
The dealer I worked for had a wreck on a Harley(drunk driver) and lost his leg,when polaris came out with atv's he was the first to get into them. he's been a dealer since 1986 and wouldn't go back to any one of the other brands he formerly sold.
He rode a 1999 scrambler 500 this year w/ pipe and clutch kit,high comp.piston and oh yeah Nitros oxide The only problem he had was for some reason he would keep running out of NOS. LOL

Everybody needs a little Nitros in there life

 

the only problems i have with my polaris is that i don't get to ride it as much as i would like to. other than routine maint and a broken front sprocket(this was clearly my fault and not the atv's) i have had no problems. you will love the auto tranny and the power of the polaris, oh i did i mention the smooth ride.

 

You said that you don't want speed and are partially disabled. A quad may not be the ATV for you. Have you considered the Max amphibious 6x6? It is an awesome vehicle, and does anything besides go fast. I know many disabled people that use the Max for a great way to explore the outdoors. You can buy a Max for LESS than a comparable quad! You can also use the Max as a fishing boat, hunting, and it is great for plowing snow. I have recently bought a Max II and it is by far the best ATV I have ever owned. You can check out my Max at www.homestead.com/maxatvs .