Thanks Draggin! Looks like a great place to learn a lot about the sport and ATVs. Still waiting impatiently for my new steed!

 

Everyone makes great atv's, and like everyone else said, take care of it! Oil changing is easy and once you do it, it gets easier. Some atv's have grease fittings but I think most are sealed up. If you check and clean your airfilter often, you won't have to adjust the valves for a long damn time. I checked the valves on my V-Force at the required check time and they needed to be adjusted a little. I bought it in april of last yr and I ride the crap out of it and i check the airfilter all the time and clean it and have never touched the valves since. Still starts and runs great. Take care of yer atv and it will take care of you and take you where ever you want with no prob. The only atv out of the bunch you listed i have ever ridden is the prairie. Its virtually the easiest to take care of and strong as hell. Dont know much about the others. I have seen the John Deere Buck and love the looks of it. Its got some aweosme features but I'd stay away from Bombardier. I'd go with either Kawi or yamaha.

 

Not to question your opinion.. but I have to admit that as far as complaints go, the list has been pretty silent on the Bombardiers... Given there are a lot of them out there, if there were issues.. I think we would have heard about them by now...

 

Just bumping this. Which sport atv is the lowest maintenance?

 

Honda really and that's also goes for utility. they are by far the most reliable machines and really you just have to make sure the oil is changed

i've rode with all brands and the worst has to be Polaris but i'm told they have a string of bad years then 1 year where they just do everything right. i haven't heard a lot of bad about Can-Am but they do have some issues however most are small things, Yamaha i don't know a lot about but from the ones i've seen they don't age to well and i've actually towed more of them off the trails then any other brand

 

I can't say which one is the lowest maintenance, especially not knowing how or where it's going to be ridden.

I can tell you for a fact if you don't take time for the proper care, any of them can become high maintenance.

 

Lower maintenance?

A few things come to mind:

If you get a water-cooled ATV, that will require more maintenance vs. air-cooling.
Of course, that may limit you to 300cc and under, since larger quads usually use
w/c.

Valve lash adjusters that use shims instead of bolts/nuts. It takes a LOT of hours
to wear out the valve train if you keep the air filter on and clean. Shim-adjustable
valves take more work to adjust, but require less adjustment, in my experience.

If you drive thru rivers and mud, you have to clean out your brakes when you get
home, if you have drums. The "sealing" does not work. Get a quad with discs if
you do this.

A CVT quad may require belt changes as an additional maintenance item, depending
on how you drive it.

Even Hondas require oil changes.

 

I've had my 06 Sportsman 500EFI since new and zero issues even after drowning it a month after buying it. All I have done is oil changes, and replaced the battery last winter. Still on original rubber!

Every brand has its issues, but ultimately, if you maintain your gear it will serve you well.

 

I'm talking sport atvs wise. I have a TRX450ER right now and this thing just shoots reliability out the window!

 

that's weird, what issues have you had?

i don't really know a lot about sport ATVs but a friend has a Can-Am Renegade 800 which kinda looks like a cross between sport and utility and i've never heard him complain. it also has 4wd and is great on trails