kodiak
"Honda has the Excelent reliability but part of that comes from the LACK of power and unstellar performance"
NO....I didn't take it as a insult I just found a little humor in that broad of statement. I guess the way I read it that you ment all honda machines, sorry but that dosn't describe the 400ex that I rode .

Please don't take any offense to what I said I know that when my was quad in stock form and never felt that it was underpowered, I have also rode several 300 4x4 and again never felt any lack of power in the stock form. I have owned banshees, warrior's and several "sport" bikes and yes there is a power difference, the utility machines have tons of low end power, the sport machines are aimed more at mid to top end power, different bikes, different purposes. The power is just focused in a different area. I hate to say it but in my opinion the only 4x4 that I HAVE RODE that does a great job of combining the two fields is Yamaha Wloverine (now don't shoot me! ) My friends has one and I know I was impressed with its versitily. BUT again "apples and oranges" he can smoke me on the top end, but when it comes to pulling, climbing, or just that real thick goowy mud, I got him every time, even when my machine was stock.

I have never rode around Oregon city, but would like to... I normally ride around here, Snow Peak, Shotgun creek, and sometimes Kings Valley.

Next time you set up a ride let me know, I would love to discover some new area's.

If your interested and don't mind the drive I'll let you know when we go next time

 

Thanks for the reply. Not trying to slight anyone by not replying to everyone's post, I just started at the end. I made a few parking lot laps on a Polaris Magnum today. Weird. Why does the rear rise up when you take off? It also seems like a large machine. The Suzuki 500 doesn't seem as large. So, it seems I'm back to LT-F500, Kodiak, Foreman S, and now the Arctic Cat 500. Decisions, decisions. Do the liquid cooled quads have fans for the radiators or do they just rely on the airflow from when you are moving? Thanks for the help!!

 

Well I bought my Y2K Suzuki LT-F500F Quadrunner (5 speed) almost 2 weeks ago and I love it. I asked for a lot of advice from guys on the forum and shopped around for the best price and compared all the quads I was considering like the Kodiak, Big Bear, Grizzly, Arctic Cat 500, Suzuki 500, Kawasaki 400 Prairie and Bayou. I read a lot of reviews of all the various machines out there and I went with the Zuki. I finally put the 10 hours on it tonight to take care of the initial brake in and every time I ride it there's more power than the last and let me tell ya this thing had some power the first 10 minutes of riding it. I haven't been able to ride in anything but snow from about 3" to 14" but I haven't been stopped yet and I've rode in nothing but mountainous terrain like my families land and Tasker's Gap(Ask Tree Farmer about Tasker's and he'll tell ya how rough it is up there) where there is a lot of off camber situations and steep terrain to cross along with some nice creeks to blast through. You can't go wrong with the 500 Suzuki. It's one of the very few big bore 4x4s with a manual tranny and I too didn't want a auto. Whatever you decide you're gonna like whatever it is simply because it's yours and you have a blast on it so just decide what feels more comfortable and looks good and has the power and ability to make it a good 4x4. A lot of people say that it's best to get a true 4 wheel drive but in my oppinion for the kind of riding I do it wouldn't be wanted or needed to have a front locker unless you ride only in the mud plus if you were ever on some slick stuff or ice or snow with all 4 pulling it would be easier to slide sideways if on an off camber trail since there wasn't 1 wheel that wasn't turning to stay put and not turn. Sorry if I sound biased but I just got finished doing what you're doing and I chose the best quad for my purposes of hunting, trail riding, and the occasional mudding if I can find any.

 

Hey VENOMOUS, thanks for the reply. I too am leaning towards the suzi. I think it's a pretty decent looking machine, and I know power won't be a problem. I like the heel/toe shifter & floorboards on the AC 500, but it is not as asthetically pleasing as the suzi, no offense to the AC folks out there(only my opinion). Have you tried the Polaris & felt the rear rise when accelerating? A friend told me that kawi's Bayou or Prairie does this also. What did you test ride before buying your 500? Trails aren't too rough around my folks' place, how does your ride do in harsh stuff? Gotta go sight seeing in the morning to check out more bikes!!

 

X-2, I road a friends Grizzly quite a bit back in the fall and it was a nice quad but it felt like I was trying to manuever a tank around when trying to trail ride. I rode a Big Bear around the parking lot the day I got my quad and it road good but it didn't have enough power for my tastes. About 2 years ago I tried out the Kawasaki Prairie 400 and I liked it but I don't like autos and I never considered the Polaris quads since almost all of them are autos and a few guys I knew that had them always had some sort of problem with either the front suspension or the transmissions and I myself don't like the looks of the Polaris but hey that's just my opinion so don't anyone get violent. I liked the way the Arctic Cats looked but I didn't like the heel toe shifter and since it had the Suzuki motor in it I figured if it was good enough for an AC then I'm deffinetly going to get the Quadrunner. I don't know about the sag of the rear on the Polaris or the Kawa so I can't help there. The only smooth riding I've done on my quad was at the dealership, in my driveway when I got it home and it was too cold to ride that night so total smooth riding has amount to about 3-4 tenths of a mile and I've got 73.9 miles on it now. I've ridden all on either my families hunting land which is from the bottom of a mountain all the way to the top and down a little ways on the other side. The other area was Tasker's and so far I've only managed to go 8.3 miles from parking lot to where I turned around and 8.3 back but they were some very rough miles and the Quadrunner handled it like a Cadilac on 5th Avenue. Like I said before I've only been able to ride it in the snow and it's been anywhere from 3" to 14" and this posed no problem at all even when going up some steep banks and hills. So far I've only taken it up to a little over 35 mph but this is because I just finally put the first 10 hours on it last night up at Tasker's Gap and I've been trying to take it easy. I used to ride my Banshee at Tasker's and I would have to stay standing up all the way because of the big rocks and roughness through almost and poking along in second gear trying to take it easy and not get the motor hot. I've been able to sit on the quadrunner the whole time and be able to actually hit 25 mph often through the trail system. As you can tell I love my Quadrunner and I feel I made the right choice.

 

I forgot to mention that my 500 is extremely nimble when manuevering through tight areas on trails and when making my own trails. It turns easy and although it's still 600 pounds it doesn't feel like a tank when trying to move it around.

 

What do you mean by,"not as asthetically pleasing as the suzi"?

 

BONER, I guess I should have said that I like the looks of the suzi better than the AC. This is not an insult or anything, please don't be offended. If I could get a cross between the Quadrunner and the AC500, I think it would be the perfect ride-the AC's floorboards & shifter w/ the Suzuki's shorter wheelbase, yada yada... Hopefully soon I'll have the experience to debate this a little better. I still appreciate your advice, thanks. A friend who has a Foreman S says that he has to back up some when on tight trails, where some of his group on smaller quads can just go. Do you ever have that problem on your AC? VENOMOUS seems to love his Suzuki, and you your AC. I expect that when I get mine I'll love it too! See ya in the funny pages!

 

Want the best and biggest for your money, go for the Grizzly, it is built for utility/sport. It has everything with the reliability. She runs warm in the summer but adding sinthetic oil helps. Oil cooler means less maintenance.
For the price difference i wanted power and reliability. I don't like when i have to do repairs, especially for the money we dish out.
Good luck

 

Best buy is going to be the Honda 450ES Forman, or the Rancher! Rubicon from what I hear will be on the Formans frame and I would dam sure wait a couple of years to buy one to make sure the machine has provin itself!!! Think reliability, resale, think Honda!!!