Hi! I'm new to the forums and I joined because I need help =P and you guys seems to be the ones to ask to!

In a few days I'll be buying my first ATV ever and I've got two excellent offers (price, condition and so on) but the qads seems to be very different in between.. one is a trail quad (bayou) and the warrior "i think" it's a sport quad.

Would you recommend me a Bayou 220 or a Warrior 350?? I've driven the Bayou and felt in love with it, not to mention it's not chain-driven (i like that), but never ever drove a Warrior and 350cc seems to be much more than 220, a little extra power can come in handy.

So this is the main question, wich one would you recommend and do you have numbers for these bikes? HP and top speed stock on both, and it's the Warrior much bigger than the Bayou?

I will greatly greatly appreciate this help because I can't decide!

Oh... thanks in advance and please forgive any misspellings, englis is not my native language! =P

 

The Bayou is a pretty unremarkable machine! If you like it, it will be OK as a short term starter quad, but I would find a Honda Recon or Rancher instead!

Stay away from the Warrior! I rode one for years (many years ago), and it was the absolute worst quad I ever owned! The chassis is old school, and the rear suspension linkage has never been right on those things. The engine is reliable, but that is no tradeoff for clunkey handling. If you want a sport quad, find a Honda 400EX or Suzuki Z400.

 

Between the two you mentioned, I would go with the Bayou. As ReconRanger pointed out, it is an "unremarkable" machine in that it is a pretty old design and not particularly powerful, but it is as tough as a boot. It has adequate power for someone new to the sport and would be a good machine on which to learn, but it all depends on what you expect out of it. I rode a Yamaha YFM225 for almost twenty years and was happy with it as it did what I needed it to do. Many however will quickly want something with more power and performance if that is what is important to them.
If it is a decision between the two bikes mentioned, I would go with the Bayou, but have to agree with ReconRanger that you may very well be happier with a little bigger bike of more modern design. As to the specs, you should be able to find them on the web and in the end specs aren't as important as your seat of the pants experience and it is really hard to compare a sport to a ute; just my opinion and good luck.

 

i myself have had good luck out of the warriors, this was my first bike that i owned and i put it through h@@@ and back many,many times and it never let me down and was always a blast to ride,the extra power would be a plus over the bayou if using a clutch isn't a problem. as far as reliabilty i think they are both very reliable bikes, given the warrior will require more maintnance due to the chain drive, but when it all comes down to it see if u can ride them both and decide which one best suites you. just my 2cents worth

 

I would personally pick the Warrior.... even though the design is VERY old, it (should) still be more fun to ride than the bayou. Yamaha still makes the Warrior, but as a Raptor 350 (well some minor tweaks but from what I have read it is essentially the same bike, if not very similar).

 

Thanks for the replies, but I still haven't decided, I think I will ride them both and then decide.

As this is my first ride I don't want to spend a lot of money into something I don't quite understand, but I do know that 220 or even 350cc are not quite the best out there. I am saving money for a future modern ATV, but here's the thing, in my country for some reason ATV's are sooo expensive.

For example, a 1998 Warrior 350 sells here for 4.500 US$. A Bayou sets off for something like 2.500 US$. a Banshee is 5.500 US$ "if you are lucky", 7.000 US$ if it is in excelent shape (1998 banshee).

So, any good quad bike, like something with a 450cc engine, is on the 10.000 US$ side, a bit less or a bit more depending on brand and model.

I am willing to spend that much on a gooood ride but not before I learn as much as I can with a "cheap" one (they're offering me the Warrior for 2.000 US$ and the Bayou for the same price). That's why I am considering them both.

There is another option, a ride with more modern look that is built in my country (the parts are from USA I think) but I am still gathering info about ir, I'll post a picture ASAP so you can see it, it's pretty nice and the spare parts are everywhere (maintaining a warrior or a bayou here is very expensive too, or any other ride). But.. it's not from a known brand so...

 

Riding both is usually the best choice! Know what you are buying!

BTW what country are you in?

 

Taking a test ride on both is always a good idea as they are very different machines.

I am sure glad I don't live where you do.

Your command of the English language is quite good, probably few of us here have even minimal familiarity with a second language. I took Spanish for a couple of years many years ago and remember very little of it.

 

I live in Paraguay, wich is located in South America. We do speak spanish over here, but my studies requires that I speak at least 4 languages by the time I get my title so.. I'm trying =P

Anyways, here's the pic of the ride that's rocking right now here, because it sells new (0km) for 2.000 US$. All the prices I've listed for the Bayou, Warrior, Banshee, are for "used" ones. So you can imagine how much does a new one cost.

This is a nice looking ride and is not expensive, but is only 200cc, I don't think 200cc will be enough to get fun so I am not considering it that much.. anyways take a look at it. It comes in yellow/black or red/black painting and it's assembled here (parts are from USA).



So i have one last question and this goes for every quad bike in general: are there ways to improve HP, torque, speed and so on without spending a loooot of money?? For example if I buy the Bayou wich is 220, can I make it run like if it was a 250 or 300 with mods?

Once again thanks a lot guys! you're really helping me out here =]

 

You are casting a pretty wide net there. Some ATV's can easily be modified to increase performance while others cannot. ANYTHING can be modified to increase HP and performance, but cost and parts availability will ultimately be the limiting factor.

As to the Bayou in particular, we have had a 185 and a 300 and while these are very reliable machines fully capable of years of good service, performance is not one of their strong suits and due to their age and design, there are very few if any performance parts readily available, so they would have to be custom made or adapted from something else which may very well be compromise their reliability. If you are looking for performance, you probably need to look somewhere other than the Bayou, but that is just my opinion and Buenos Suerte.