So, I'm new to the site, inherited a 1983 Suzuki LT125 Quadrunner, I'm going to fix up some and use while I look to find the ATV I want.

I do have a few questions regarding a new ATV.

I will mostly be using it at my uncle property at the base of mount Pleasant (Catskills) on his 100 acre stretch up the mountain.

That means, alot of climbing, and descending. He has recommended that i do not get an ATV with a "BELT" because they don't decent well and you have to ride the brakes heavily.

Is this true to some extent about Belt driven ATV's having a hard time descending? im talking probably 35-50' degree descending hills with rocks By no means an easy descent

If this statement holds value, the only quad with a Direct drive is a Honda?



The 2nd most riding will be done on Light trails, and small streams and one section of huge swampy mud..

for this, Im not sure what type of quad "features" i would need? Sealed Belt ?

This still leaves Trails and other riding spots unknown to me at this point, Which im sure once i get a new quad will find by getting together with other NY riders from this site =)


Would love some input on what you guys think.


Thanks
Drew

 

never had a problem going downhill on mine. on the sportsman they have ebs and adc. which is engine braking system and active descent control. just put in low turn on adc and it will walk down the hill in a slow pace. mine is old school i have to blip the throttle when it starts to free wheel to have some sort of engine braking.i think all the big bore quads have some sort of engine braking. they'll climb pretty good but any serious hillclimbs you'll want a sport quad

 

as far as what type of get any 4x4 would do ya.honda's are very reliable but they have the least power and ground clearance compared to the others.as far as features anything that strikes your fancy. i would suggest the polaris sportsman with adc and ebs. it'll get you down the hills safely with out alot of braking.and the new automotive paint on them makes them look sharp.

 

Sounds like you are only talking automatics here? Is there a reason you don't want a manual trans??? How big a machine do you really need??? No need to get a huge heavy monster, when a medium size might do the job.......

Personally, I am a simple time tested reliable gear-on-gear manual tranny guy, and that happily limits me to just a very few machines. If I was looking for a larger machine (work quad), it would be the Honda Foreman 500. For a medium size machine, I have the Honda Rancher 420, which had proven to be superb. The Rancher is fuel injected, water cooled, fast and powerful, and is the best value for your dollar of any quad on the market!

The Honda automatics are not belt drive. The Rincon has no engine braking at low speed, and the Rubicon is a nice machine, but the trans is needlessly complex for my taste. For me, all the automatics are a solution to a problem that doesn't exist (seeing I can shift with my foot just fine!), but if I absolutely could not have anything but an automatic, the only one I would ever want to have would be the Yamaha Griz 700.

 

My wolverine barely needs brakes to descend due to engine braking with the automatic (belt trans).

 

Are you buying new or used? For the record, Suzuki is still selling the 400 Eiger and Arctic Cat lists the 500 with a geared tranny also. Pretty much any 4x4 made within the last couple of years with a belt has some form of engine braking that works fine as well. The 125 will be a good starting point to find out how much ground clearance you might need, but I would recommend against a solid axle quad for most adirondack riding. The rocks, uh, I mean boulders are rough on the swingarms.

 

I am looking mostly at New ATV's at this point. Im only after Utility Quads at this point, As I do plan on using it for snow plowing in the winters, and general run of the mill chores around the house/moving fire wood etc etc.

For play time, it will be mostly mountains Catskill area, and lots of up and downs =o thus I wanted a quad with fairly good engine braking, cause hills can suck big time.

I do however, have a side of me that once i get into this, will im sure want to go Mudding [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

I have been leaning towards the Grizzly 700.. pretty much because its a huge beast of a machine.. however im sure reason will talk me down to a mid size 4-500 ish something. =)

 

The Grizzly is a great choice. All around machine that can work or play.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: DorsilAtv

I am looking mostly at New ATV's at this point. Im only after Utility Quads at this point, As I do plan on using it for snow plowing in the winters, and general run of the mill chores around the house/moving fire wood etc etc.



For play time, it will be mostly mountains Catskill area, and lots of up and downs =o thus I wanted a quad with fairly good engine braking, cause hills can suck big time.



I do however, have a side of me that once i get into this, will im sure want to go Mudding [IMG][/IMG]



I have been leaning towards the Grizzly 700.. pretty much because its a huge beast of a machine.. however im sure reason will talk me down to a mid size 4-500 ish something. =)</end quote></div>

Polaris makes an X2 in 500 and 700. Either one would be an excellant choice.
Rear box to haul stuff, rear seat for 2 up. Excellent 4 wheel drive engine braking! You usually have to give it some throttle to go down all but the steepest inclines. Take your thumb off the throttle and it will come to a stop.
Excellent snowplowing machine, front tires lock and unlock automatically as you plow, this makes steering easy! Great factory plow set-up, GlacierII plows.
Polaris 500 is the #1 atv for a reason.
My buddy has a Honda 300 Four trak and my Polaris will decend slower than it any day. He thinks its great though.

 

It was my understanding, that Polaris has a Non Sealed Drive belt housing, and that any dip in water and you are crap outta luck if you cant get it out of the water/mud to let it dry.. ??