I have never owned a wheeler in my life, although I have been riding enough with friends to have a good idea of what I want. I am a senior in high school, and have a group of around ten friends that go riding alot in Iowa. There wheelers range from a 250R three wheeler, prairies(all two wheel drive) and a 400EX(I have all ready come to the conclusion I will not be able to keep up with him, but I have also pulled him out of a creek) I have been riding my uncles 300 Foreman, full time 4x4 with a set of super swamper vampires, needless to say it goes just about every where and takes its sweet time gettin there. When riding trails I have decides I dont want anything to do with a manual transmission, halfway up a hill and having to downshift while the praire automatics fly by is a little imbarissing. I know manual has its strong points but I think auto would suit me fine. The other point I have been thinking (remember little experience) is 4x4. With the little time I have spent wheelin with my friends I have already pulled 5 of them out, which is a good thing. But I have noticed alot of manufacturers produce full time 4x4, I dont really like that.
Any how, when I put together what I want from a wheeler everything points to a Polaris Scrambler 500 or Sportsman 500, but I have heard bad things about the automatic belt, is this really a problem? how do they handle compared to my friends rides? Should I look stronger into other wheelers?

 

I own a Yamaha Kodiak and the bike is small enough to play and fast enough to keep up with most quads it runs 55 MPH. It has disc brakes all the way around and great engine breaking, a push button 4x4 switch, with water cooling for the engine and a Hi Lo trans selector. This is a mix between sport and utility quad. If you haden't made up your mind on which quad you are going to get take a ride on one its fun. Good Luck!

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My belt drive has been very reliable on my Trailblazer so it would probably be good too on a 500. The only prblem I can think of is getting the belt wet I did this onece and it slipped bad for about 5 minutes until it dried off.You can fix that problem by extending the transmission vent up farther with a hose. But besides that the PVT is great.

Greg
96 Trailblazer

 

I'd go with a Scarmbler 400 or 500.

The automatic is great. Very Reliable! I did get my belt wet. But i was playing submarine with it so it was my fault.

The way i figure it, if you go out burn up a belt it's not hard to replace or expensive. But if you smoke your clutch it's alot more to replace..and harder!

 

Karter16,sounds like maybe the Polaris 4X4 400cc oil injected 2 stroker with auto trans is the one for you.If you want to stay with a 4 stroker,than the Kodiak sounds right.With the Kodiak,you'll have less suspension,and only a limited slip front end,compared to all 4 wheels spinning on the Xplorer.The Xplorer does weigh about 40ibs more.GOOD LUCK---BILL

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Thanks for the help, I havn't really looked into the yamaha units to much, but I guess I should before I make a decision. The more and more I think about it the 500 Scrambler is the way to go, I defenitly want four stroke for the towing, and easy mantainance. Also the sporty ride when I want it will be there along with the utility of the 4x4. I am glad to see that the belt issue isn't as big as my friends make it out to be.
Again, thanks for the help and I hope to hear from more of you.

 

How bout the Artic Cat 500 automatic...has great speed will do over 60 can be put into 2 or 4 wheel drive, disc brakes all the way around. When in 2 wheel drive is a pretty sporty and fun machine for a sport utility. In 4 wheel drive pulls great haven't found a hill that I couldn't go up that my friends have been climbing with ease also pulls great in the mud went through a swamp the other day with water and mud up to the seat all 4 wheels spinned and came out of it easy.
Might pay to look at the Artic Cat 500 auto...

Artic Cat 500 auto...the right choice for me

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I think he is looking for some that has a sportier look..the AC doesn't fit that

Go with the scrambler 400 or 500

I say go for the 400. It is easier to take care of. No Oil changes or anything. Just dump some 2 stroke in the tank and take off. It's no big deal to keep a couple extra plugs around. You should do that anyways.

The 400 will give you more speed, more power, and a lot more room for mods.

Last night i got to ride all 3 models. I thought the 400 was a lot more powerful Wheelies were nothing!

The 500. I didn't think it was as 'snappy' then again 4 strokes normally aren't(autos)

The 400L(Scrambler 2x4..sounds like a piece of wood!) is a really quick quad.

That's what my next will be!

Polaris has the only fast sporty 4x4 out there.

 

i would get the scrambler the 500 is faster on the top but on can hop up a 2 stroke really easy. and you said you want tow and with no low range it will burn up a belt on the scramblers. and about the 400ex he is not that much faster than the 500 i can beat one off the line. i could probabley beat him if my pipe was not messed up. but i still really like the 400ex it handles a lot better than the scramblers and it is alot littier

well what ever you pick you will like

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99 500 scrambler with hotseat pipe and clutch dg bumper soon to have pistons and air box mod 93 yamaha t-wolve with a broken taillight soon to be fixed tailight is now fixed now need to fix headlight

 

I own a 2000 400ex... I ride with a 2000 Warrior, 2000 Scrambler 500, and a 2000 Wolverine. The Scrambler 500 is definitely the best comprimise. My brother loves his and can really go through some tough stuff. You will be a good deal faster than a Warrior and a bit behind the 400ex. I only have a couple complaints about the quad: it is heavy (you will really miss on big air), tough to wheelie (it's heavy, remember), it is tall which means subpar cornering in tight conditions, the quad is much harder to work on than say a Honda 400ex. I would definitely recommend the Scrambler 500, but please don't let the manual clutch thing turn you away from the 400ex (I know it's different, but once you get used to it, it is great!) ride the 400ex more and don't let the manual clutch affect your judgment, just tell yourself, after riding two months I won't even realize I'm shifting. Ride the 400ex more, get some air with it, get a nice wheelie going, rev it up and let the clutch go in a mudhole and cover your friends in mud, race, swing your rearend around like no tomorrow.... you will soon realize that these little items tend to be the funnest things to do when quading, and the 400ex will do them all better than the Scrambler although you will need to get towed out and hop off and push (Barney Rubble Reverse). In life there is always compromises, you have to pick what is most important to you. For me the 400ex gets me where I want to go 99 percent of the time and 90 percent of the time it is the best for the particular situation. Good luck.