Hi,

I want to buy my husband and I ATV's for Christmas as a surprise. He has ridden once and I have never been. We have ridden snowmobiles a few times and loved that. I want to buy new and get something reliable and reasonably priced but I have no idea where to start. I think we will doing mostly trail riding and we live in Seattle so I would assume there will be some mud. I am 5'7" and 150 lbs and he is 6'2" and 235 lbs. I am not sure the difference between a 2 stroke and 4 stroke, how big of an engine, type of transmission, etc.

Any starting advice would be very much appreciated!

Thanks!

Heidi

 

Hey Heidi,
there are a bunch of us up here in the Greater Pueget sound area who ride the trails locally. Its hard to recomend what you should get to start. Allot of us like the Sporty 4 stroke machines and Others Like The 4x4's. If your riding at capitol or tahuya either are goin to be fun. How does your husband drive his "truck(guessing)? is he an aggressive driver? you? are you aggressive or do you like to just tootle along? personalities fit the machines. tis why their are so many models.

 

Might help to know a price range and intended riding terrain. You might consider taking hubby down to the dealer a week or so before Christmas in lieu of a Christmas Day surprise. He'll probably want a little say in the matter (that and he can't b!tch about what he picks! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img])

 

Heidi

welcome to the world of ATV's!! I'm just south of you in Tacoma

I started a year and a half ago, never ridden before (I'm in my early 40's) I started on a quad that was to small for me ( Yamaha Blaster), but it was a great learning quad. I sold it a few months ago and am watching for a deal on a Honda 400ex or something similar.

you'll get a lot of different answers, depends on if you want to trail ride, or head to the sand, or BOTH!

check out this thread Puget Sound/Seattle NW Area Riders Meet HERE!!! and ask your question again. a great group of helpful nuts...

I've noticed that a few of the couples that ride, he rides a sports quad and she rides a sporty utility quad, or both ride sports quads. but everyone is different......Good luck!

 

if yinz want a sporty 4x4 try out the kawasaki prairie 700. there very reliable to

 

Well HI Heidi [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] I will have to say I started out on a Yamaha Kodiak 4x4 (well I 1st rode a honda rancher of a friends) & LOVED IT & still do but don't ride it much now that I have my sport quad. I ride a Honda 300EX & it's a GREAT trail quad w/ REVERSE!!! Not real fast but can still keep up & just goes smooth down the trail, as for your hubby if he's ever rode a dirt bike he would probably like a 400EX & the 05's have REVERSE also [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] They are both great quads we own each & love them!! I am now wanting a 400 or 450 BUT I still prefer my 300 just because of the way it fits me!!t if you wanted utility quads I would say the Kodiak & Grizzlies are good quads, we would like to get a couple grizzlies for ourselves to just tootle around the trails on for the comfort & 4x4
As for the blasters they are great starter quads but being they are a 2 storke I think they take more maintanence, & the oil injection system can fail(thats what puts the oil into the fuel) but on a 4 stroke you dont' have to worry about that.
Well maybe I helped from a womans point of view [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] let me know if you have any ?? & if you guys get them keep us informed you can join us on some club rides!!!!! We'll be doing @ least one a month starting in Feb!!!!! BTW I'm in Everett [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Hi Everyone!

Thanks so much for the replies. To try and address some of the questions raised - Let's see, yes he does drive a truck but he does not drive nearly as aggressive as I do. My bad! :-) We have ridden snowmobiles before and he likes to go fast but he's not crazy. I think we will typically trail ride and have fun but I don't see us trying to scale the side of a mountain or break a land speed record. We have a trailer and we thought it would be fun to have them while we are camping. It's just so confusing as there are so many to choose from! I know he wants a 4 stroke over a 2 stroke and he said he leaned toward a sports model but since we are new to this I am not sure. I really want to try and do this as a surprise as I never am able to get one over on him! :-) Should I be able to get a good deal right now on 2004 models since the 2005's are out? Also, what is a good deal? I know the MSRP but shouldn't I try and pay less than that? What kind of terrain do you guys typically ride on in this area? Any good dealers I should know about?

So if I look to get him a 4 stroke sports model 2x4, does he need a certain size since he's a big guy? I figured his would be more than mine as it would be bigger but I don't want to get left in the dust either. I have seen the Yamaha Blaster and the Polaris Phoenix and the Polaris TrailBlazer 250 that are all pretty well priced but I think 2 of those are 2 strokes and I think he will want me to have a 4 stroke too. Any ideas?

Also, what kind of warranty is good? How much does insurance run? Do we have to license the ATV's in WA with tabs or anything?

Hope to hear back and see you all on the trails soon!

Heidi

 

Hmmm well Big boy he is about my size.. ok maybe a lil taller... ok he has 20 lbs on me too. dam im a runt [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] anyway. I ride a raptor660, also have a warrior 350(btw I only recomend yamaha's [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] dont listen to them other guys [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]) My buddy i ride with allot is 6'3 3?? lbs and he has a warrior but thinks the raptor is night n day more comfortable. big guys for trail sport quad tend to favor the raptor as its taller. as for you if ya dont mind shiftin a manual quad id recomend a raptor 350 for trails. my cousin is about your size and she can fly on em. although my brothers roomate at 5' 105lbs handles my 660 pretty good (for a Girl [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img]) although the LTZ 400 i can say nothin bad about. its a very capable trail machine and with an added Rekluse Clutch Quite easy to operate [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] We ride narrow Rutted trails in wa Capitol forrest is primarily gravel and slippery clay, and Tahuya is kinda a variety of Gravel, sand, rock, dirt and they are a lil wider trails. walker valley sounds like MUD. I just say most of the sport quads are very trail capable. it just comes down to whats comfortable for the operator.

 

Ok I think I have narrowd it down a bit. I want both of us to have a 4 stroke, 5 speed, electric start, and reverse. I think I may look at sport-utility instead of going one or the other. I looked at the Suzuki Ozark 250 for me and the Suzuki Eiger 400 4 x 4 manual for him.

Any input?

Thanks so much!

Heidi

 

Hi Heidi,

I am 6' 230 lbs and I ride a Ozark 250! This is a great machine, the best in its class. I think it would be the perfect quad for you to start out on. It has plenty of power and handles great. Good luck!

Chris