Looking at buying a ATV real soon but not sure what to buy. Thinking along the lines of a sporty 4x4. Such as wolverine, scrambler or renegade. Can Am is pretty heavy and expensive. my buddy just bought a Kawasaki 450R which is fun but he's into jumping the damn thing and that's not really my thing but I do think I'd probably hit the trails and such sometimes. Kinda new to the whole ATV my only experience is on a few bigger Polaris 4x4's just going through the woods and basic stuff (which was usually more of a chore than fun) and then a few rides on my buddys 450R which was a blast but not sure how well something like that would do in the woods and trails. My other buddy is gung ho wanting the Can Am 800 but I think that's major overkill and probably dangerous for him seeing how it goes on two wheels and sideways so easy. That being said whats the goods and bads of these and any other suggestions are welcome.

 

I like the idea behind this class of machine! Most folks are just trail riders and don't need a full on big bore farm work tractor utility, yet they could use 4wd once in a while in case they get into trouble out on the trail...and maybe a minimalist rack. And sporty handling...is always a good thing!

But....I can't say I have much use for any of the current designs, except maybe for the "old" Wolverine. They are all to heavy, and borrow to much from the utility end. And absolutely nothing that claims to be at all "sporty", should ever have a foo foo automatic transmission....leave those for beginners and little girls.

I hope the other manufacturers will jump on the bandwagon and come up with some better designs! Until then, I would rather be on my Rancher than any of these machines...when I need 4wd. And, when I don't need 4wd...I would rather be on a full-on sport quad....

 

If you dont really need 4x4 and your worried about weight, just go with a sport bike. If your looking at the 450's, go with the 450R. The renegade is not a heavy quad for a 4x4 at 604lbs.... for a sport bike, then yes. Look up the Renegade on a eBay. There is 1 for a good price with skids, aftermarket rims/rubber and maybe some other goodies.

I dont think the 800's are dangerous. Atv's dont have the jam that sleds to. 08summit packs about 170HP (stock) with weighing only 430lbs.

 

I love my wolverine 450, I can slide it around corners stock without any problem the "old wolverine" 350 you had to add the warn 424 to use it in 2wd. The 450 should lose a couple of pounds and gain about 50-100 cc of engine, then it would be perfect. But I would not trade it for the can am renegade or the polaris scrambler. I ride mine like a sport quad most of the time. But I also ride creeks that are pretty deep so I need 4x4 once in a while.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: reconrangerAnd absolutely nothing that claims to be at all "sporty", should ever have a foo foo automatic transmission....leave those for beginners and little girls. </end quote></div>
I guess the Can-Am Renegade is also a full out utility quad too. Nothing sporty about that, nope.

 

yup.... its a workhorse

 

The Renegade is a 600 pound PIG. That's the same weight as the big bore Japanese utilities! What's the deal with the North American manufacturers (Can-Am, Polaris, and A Cat), that they can't build a machine that isn't pure lard?

 

I would also suggest the sport/ute quads lose some weight, but when you have a lot of power then having a little extra weight helps sometimes.

 

sounds like a easy choice on my part the wolverine since it's the lightest and "sportiest" of the 3. For $1000 they make a BBK to make it a 500 from what I've heard so if it's not enough I add $1300 after machining fees and still have less than a scrambler. As for my buddy looks like I can't talk him out of the Canam 800 guess he has a small one and there's no fixing that problem. Thanks guys.

Oh one more thing since I've never actually owned my own before what I some necessities for the quad after buying it? I've heard some say only use certain tires, beed locks, rear end guards skid plates that kind of thing.

 

Who has the bbk to make it a 500? I know that in the past there was one for the 350 wolverine but the 450 (actually only 421) has a JE Piston kit to make it a true 449cc bike.

On my wolverine 4560 I have all of the GYTR skid plates (I ride pretty rough and I want the machine to last a long time). The tires so far have held up good without any flats yet. I have not bent any wheels beyond repair yet so no need to upgrade there yet.

I did add the EPI clutch kit, GYTR pipe, K&N air filter and the Dynojet jet kit to make the bike a little more powerful. I would like to go with a little bigger bore sometime in the future(maybe quite a while down the road though)