I'm looking for an automatic 250 for my wife and I. This would be our first quad and the idea is to get something lower cost that she can ride and down the road I'll pickup one for me. We both weight 160 and under and are 5'10" and 5'7.

Uses
Driving around the yard with our 1 year old.
Basic trail riding
small jumps
some hills

We are looking for:
Fun to drive
Needs to be automatic (clutchless) so we hold our son with one hand.
4 stroke
relialable
good resale value
Prefer a smaller size for easier storage and transporting

What we won't be doing:
Utility work.
Big jumps

Based on what I mentioned above it looks like the Can Am DS 250 and Suzuki QuadSport Z250 are our best choices. Below are the pro's and con's.

CanAm DS 250 pro's:
Cheaper (About $2,900)
Water Cooled
We own a Sea-Doo jetski and it's been great
Has DC power I assume for a GPS.

Con's:
I'd prefer it to be a 5 speed auto
Not actually made by BRP

Suzuki SportQuad Z250 pro's:
5 speed automatic (I don't mind clutchless shifting, it seems it would give more power to the wheels)

Con's:
Costs more (About $3,300)
Does not seem to have DC power for a GPS.
My brother owns a Suzuki mortorcycle and has had problems with it. Suzuki was not helpful.

About the only reason I'm considering the Suzuki is it's a 5 speed auto and it seems that might be more fun to drive and should get more power to the wheels.

What do you guys think, Can Am or Suzuki? Anyone ridden both? Does the DS 250 feel slower, faster or about the same as the Z250? Are there any others I should consider? I'd like to stick with a sport quad because I think it would be more fun to ride than a utilty quad.

Thanks!

 

"Needs to be automatic (clutchless) so we hold our son with one hand. "

I'll apologize in advance for asking, but do you hold your son while riding a bicycle? Cause that accident would be nothing compared to a 350 lb ATV accident.
Sorry, couldn't let that one remark of yours pass without comment.

 

When I re-read it I was thinking that sounds terrable holding your kid with one hand while riding. Then I thought, he was on the mini-bike since he was 1 month old and 4 wheels sounds safer than 2 to me. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] I figured until he's a little older it might be wise to hold on to him in case he does not decide to jump off after a leaf or stick. While he's riding we'd just be riding in the flat yard very slowly like many I've seen do with a riding lawn mower. Then maybe next year we can get him his own. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Don't exclude the Honda 250EX. It has clutchless "autoclutch" shifting (just like the Zuki), but also has a left hand "sportclutch" that you can use or not use...as you wish.

The sportclutch makes a nice learning tool. Maybe then when you are ready for another quad, you can then step up to a real sport machine???

 

Thansk I will look at the Honda too. I've always been a huge Honda fan and have owned three of there motorcycles. I did not realize there sport clutch was also auto.

 

The EX sportclutch works like the Rekluse clutch, that you might be familiar with from dirt bikes. You keep the clutch lever, but you don't have to use it if you don't want. The only place I find that the EX won't shift without pulling the lever is when you are descending a hill under heavy compression braking, and want to down shift.

Keep in mid that all the machines in this class are entry level machines, and have limited suspension. Right now they may seem like they make sense, but I have seen folks get one of these and in 6 months they are tired of the tame handling and want to move up to something with more power and better suspension!

 

I bought a DS250 for the wife to replace the old Trail Blazer she had. If I could have talked into the Honda, I would have. While the DS has been very reliable, I find it very underpowered.

While the Can-am website boasts it as a Rotax engine, it is not. It is a SYM, which is a reliable Taiwan based company. They do claim it is made to Rotax specs though.

If you insist on a fully automatic, you may also want to consider the Kymco Mongoose. They have a 250 and 300cc model.