I was considering a Suzuki or Yamaha 450 but I ran across a great deal on a polaris 450 with the KTM motor. What are your suggestions? Any downside to the Polaris? Thanks.

 

That KTM engine has been discontinued as a bike engine...not sure what that says?

Of those three, I would go with the Yamaha.

 

Thanks. Anyone else.

 

well what is the main purpose of the machine?

If you are just wanting an "all-around" machine then the YFZ is the way to go..... if you want an MX race machine the LT is the way to go.......

 

You just need to go sit on and ride them if possible. The Yammies are proven and a great all around quad. Suzuki has a definate advantage if you are going to ride mostly track and trails over 50" wide. The KTM engine is proven and a screamer from the factory, Polaris has been refining the chassis for a while now and Outlaws have made quite a few riders happy. Personally, I think there are still a few bugs to work out but have very little experience with those machines. If I was strictly riding mx and jumping, then Suzuki, otherwise Yamaha. I should put out a disclaimer though, I have a YFZ,an old school Quadracer, and have always had a soft spot for Suzuki(as I have owned a few other Suzuki products over the years.)

 

I do not plan on racing but I like power and suspension. They will all provide this. I am more concerned about reliability. I own a Polaris sled and am very very satisfied with it's reliability. My main question is reliability. However, I think I can get it for a lot less than usual.

 

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

That KTM engine has been discontinued as a bike engine...not sure what that says?



Of those three, I would go with the Yamaha.</end quote></div>

KTM makes their own 450 ATV so what does that tell you about the engine? http://www.ktmatv.com/

 

As far as reliability goes, they all do good. I've heard bad things come from every single company out there. The problem is that these major companies build an ATV that turns out to be a real crappy quad, for one reason or another. In turn, some poor guy ends up with this quad and it ends up breaking down on him. He then tells the world that this particular company that made this particular ATV sucks. Every company makes the occasional bad quad that gets thrown out on the market. Other than that, I would say they all are just as reliable as the next. I've heard people say Polaris makes the best quads, and then I hear someone else say they make the worst quads on the market. Basically, it all comes down to personal preference.

 

....although, I hve heard a few times that the Suzuki 450r Quadracer transmission has had some problems.. Has Suzuki adressed this problem? if it is a problem. I am under the impression that Honda makes the most reliable 450 starting 2006 and on and Yamaha is really good too. I also have a soft spot for the Quadracer. Just one of those things that carry over from when your lilltle. I'm almost 30 years old, so there's something about the name"Quadracer" that's just awesome and the fact that the new one's front fenders resemble that of the old one. plus it's just badass with that huge width!It's funny how it was one of the most expensive race quads when it was introduced along with the kawi. Now it's one of the less expensive along with the polaris and honda. ......untill honda released fuel injection, then Honda with jack up the price like Yamaha did. .........but hopefully not as much as the Yamaha. I don't know about this aluminum frame stuff on these atvs. It's cool on the bikes, but I think an atv, steel is REAL.

 

The deal with the transmission in the Suzuki 450r is that the EARLY 08s (I mean 08s bought before February or March or something) 3rd gear would break or a piece would break off or whatever. This was covered under warranty for those unlucky people. Supposedly after March, they changed the gear setup or something like that, and no problems have really been reported with the transmission in the late 08s. 06s and 07s don't suffer from this problem because they had a different gear setup, the 08s were shorter I believe, that's the reason that they are quicker off the line in 08.