been into ATVing for many years. owned a few honda 300's and been riding a raptor 660 for the past few years and would like to get back into the 4x4 market and lost tabs with everything. all of our friends own honda's and swear by them, none have had any troubles whatsoever and same goes for me with previous honda's.

looking for wheeler in the 2001-2005 year range

I like the polaris sportmans because they have awesome suspension and ground clearance, but are they still heavy like previous years before have been? do they still have quite a few problems? and any complains about the belt drive? What size sportsmans have plenty of power, i was thinking 500. whats the biggest size tires you can run on those without have clutch problems, 26"? complains?

Yamaha seems to have decent atv's also. are the grizzleys from the years i am looking at heavy like previous years also? hows the power? how would you compare the suspension to the polaris's? yamaha also has belt drive. any problems here or with anything else on the yamaha's? complaints?

Arctic cat when they first came out were junk, but i have heard they are decent now. i drove an 03 500 and i didnt think it had all that much power, hard to get over 35 mph and seemed to get there slow......

Honda's have always been reliable and all arent belt drive like the foremans. how are the rubicon's and bigger than 450CC bikes?

Can Am-are they still heavy? hows the suspension on them and power? any problems?


also, which of these i am looking at have the best ground clearance and would be a good hunting machine for in the woods and taking through mud. when its hunting season things get wet and muddy and i dont want to be getting stuck all the time, so i dont need a really heavy machine. some high speed riding might be instore also, never know.

 

Here is my theory: It depends where and what conditions ur going to ride ur 4x4 at. I live and ride in a mountain area with narrow trails thru thick woods where you have to go slow, the bigger atvs do have more power and a faster speed, but thru most areas that additional power and speed is never needed, there are some rough areas between trees, along narrow cliffs that the bigger atvs won't fit. The bigger ATV's are more powerful, but the smaller 4x4's can go anywhere the bigger ones can go. The smaller 4x4's are easiser to handle where they can be controled by ur body weight. If you ride in an area with straight, level, open areas the bigger atvs rule. I was out riding with my Eiger and there was a tree half way down blocking the path, my small 4x4 was small enough to fit under that tree, but the bigger ATV's had to find another path to go around.

 

Arctic Cat has the highest ground clearance, and they have the speedrack, and one of the strongest rack systems available. They can be converted from stock, to a hunting atv, to ice fishing, to work ,...... in minutes. There are an unlimited amount of things that just "snap on" to the speedracks. Like a cargo box, gun scabbard, hunting blind, ice auger, chainsaw, fishing pole holder, ect.......... Many more. AC also has a top rated 4x4 and diff locking system.




Can-AM is the most powerful ATV available right now, and also the most exspensive. But they make a good ATV, which is said to be worth the money. They use a Visko Lock system, which is like AWD, and many people like it. They are also lighter than AC.


The grizzly is a great machine also, and now has Power steering. I dont know alot about them, but a friend has one, and loves it.

These would be my three choices, and out of the three, you can see what i chose, but thats because i am an avid outdoorsman, and even Can-Am owners will mostly agree, AC has a better set up for Hauling all of your equipment around. But if you want to do 80mph, the can-am wins that dept


Last, Can-AM and AC both have standard 3year warranties, which is a huge plus

 

Some honda guys are switching to yammi's line now....seems the kodiak 450 is popular

 

Look at this site and read what people say about there own ATV ,you chose the year and make.Texthttp://www.powersportsnetwork.com/enthusiasts/review_list.asp

I was not going to by Polaris but they really are fairly reliable,Even my dads 97 SP500 with 6000k on it is still running strong. Look up the Suzuki Eiger or Vinson the owners of those just swear by them.

All ATVs are rather reliable. I sold a 2000 Forman 450es that was rock solid dependable but thats not enough for me anymore. It was too slow on the wide logging roads,had no low range,was full time 4x4, have a really rough ride and not enough ground clearance for the rocky trail I ride. Thats just to many things to live with for just more dependability.

My thinking now is I would rather have a 5 year dependable ATV I like ,rather than a 10 year dependable ATV I don't like.

Now I come back from long ATV rides with a smile on my face,not beaten up thinking about just getting to bed. That feeling is worth alot to me.

 

riding is done in Northern Minnesota where we have old mine roads, grassy trails, mud and water which is unavoidable, and some trails through the woods to get to deerstands and such.

i'm leaning towards a sportsman, i would be buying a USED ATV, so warranty's dont matter all that much. whats the oldest year CAT you would buy? i knew some of the first ones had problems and i rode one and it felt top heavy and didnt have much power.

 

When I bought mine all I looked for was mileage not the year. I look at the owner more than the machine to tell me whats its been through. I looked at a 2001 and a 2004(same price) but the 2001 had less miles and had the original tire still in good shape,the same could not be said for the 2004.

Arctic Cat owners seem to be loyal followers and they do use Suzuki motors so get one if you find a deal.

 

I think you would be suprised if you rode 04 and up AC quads, they are about perfect for Minnesota outdoors people

 

i will look at the 04 and up ac quads, seems the sportmans are highest rated by all the magazines and test riders on them.

but i heard from friends to stay away from automatics as the belts can get wet when going through water and such, and i do alot of this and mud. so right now not too sure what i want

 

how often to belts need to be changed on automatics? do they seem to have quite abit of maintainence and problems?