Jeff,


My 11 yr. old started riding his grandpa's Polaris Trail Boss when he was 9 and did fine. (Under close supervision and on flat ground) At 10 he jumped from the 50cc, 90cc to the 200cc Blaster (manual clutch). Of course he has no intrest in riding the 50 or 90 anymore. Your boys would be probably be happier with something over 90cc. I know mine would not trade his Blaster for anything.

 

Hey armyman my daughter is very similar in hieght and weight to your son and we were just looking at the new Poloris 50 and 90.They are well sized machines and she seemed to be able to reach every thing very well.Price quoted in the 1800 range.It was at a Bass Pro shop were we seen them they had the Polaris factory truck there.Have you looked at these.What is your opinion on these compared to the ones you have discussed.Thanks in advance.

 

I am currently in almost the same situation as you. I am moving my kid up from a Suzuki LT50 to something a little bigger. While I have not made up my(or my kid's) mind yet, I would like to offer a suggestion that has worked for me. Earlier this year, I purchased 2 Chatterbox helmet mounted radios for my son and myself. While we ride, we stay in constant communication with each other. I set his up for voice activated so he doesn't have to worry about keying the mic. He just speaks and I hear it, good or bad. The thrill of hearing his voice as he climbs a "monster" hill, or splashing through a "huge" creek is worth every penny spent on the radios. It's also great when I have to slow him down a little bit. I can instantly let him know if he is doing something wrong or right. I consider myself very safety concious, and this brings ATVing with your kids to a new level. Good luck with your search for a new quad and remember if you instill safety in them now, it will be much easier when they get older.....

Rick

'01 Rancher 4x4ES
'01 80-90cc ?????????(to be determined)

 

BadBayou,

Sorry, I can't help you on this one. I have not looked at the Polaris mini-quad. Also, I have too many nagging doubts about Polaris quality.

The Polaris mini is a new machine this year. The LT80 has been around nearly unchanged for 15 years. Any bugs in the LT80 manufacturing line have long since been worked out.

Yes, I know Polaris has supposedly cleaned up their quality control processes. But I'm personally unwilling to bet $2000 of my money that they have. This is NOT intended to be a slam at Polaris, but merely a statement of my personal preferences.

In fact, I’ve moved my LT80 buying timetable up in order to take advantage of the $200 accessory promotion Suzuki is offering between now and the end of the year. I stopped at a Suzuki dealer this past Saturday and negotiated just about the best price I’m likely to get, $2399.

Every dealer I’ve been to tells me the same story about discounting the LT80, to wit, there is not enough margin built into the list price ($2499) to leave room for any kind of real discount. Most dealers flatly refused to discount the LT80 so much as a penny. The dealer I visited on Saturday initially offered me a $50 discount. I looked at him and said, “it seems strange that I can buy a $25,000 car for $100 over invoice (which as we know is not really true, but it served my purpose), but do you mean to tell me I can’t buy a $2500 quad for $100 over invoice?”

That comment caused the salesman to pull out the “official Yamaha dealer price sheet” and show me that the dealer cost on the LT80 was $2208. He said the dealership needed to make about $200 profit on the LT80, since Suzuki is only giving their dealers $75 towards the $200 promotion, hence the dealer eats the other $125. The dealer also told me that every LT80 he had except one had already been sold, with most going as Christmas presents. I told him I didn’t really need the quad until next Spring, but that I would probably give him a deposit some time this week to be sure of getting in on the $200 promotion.

For my intended use, the LT80 represents the best bang for buck. I will most likely close the deal this week.

Army Man