Hey, I resemble that remark! Except, I don't drink, I live in a town of 50,000 and I'm a good old New England Yankee...
If you can, try out some of the quads that look appealling to you, Chadly. I rode a Renegade 500 and it has some serious zoom. Not a true sport quad weight-wise but throwable, at least for my large body. I also rode a Grizzly 550 that was pretty nice. I found it tippier than my X2 but the power steering was cool. Felt like you could drive it all day without your arms getting exhausted. I imagine the same can be said for the Sportsman XPs and Suzuki King Quads and others that have power steering. Lots to choose from.

 

Is the Can AM Outlander 500 a mid size ATV? That ATV only has 80cc more then a 420 yet makes 13HP more even more then a 680 Rincon. Honda's low reeving OHV motors just are not for making mid to high rpm horsepower.

I can smoke a 420 Rancher and 500 Foreman in a straight line drag to a faster close to 60mph top end while they top out at little over 50 plus mph and I have only a 80cc and 25cc advantage with a extra 200lb and 100lb weight disadvantage and so called lose of power tranfer of a belt drive.

Honda better put there OHC motors they have in there sport ATV in a Utilitiy chassis to make a serous sport/Utility.

I would love to see a more powerful ,yet not concidered a big motor, 35hp 500 H.O motor in a midsize 420 Rancher or 450/350 Grizzly chassis. Of couse the Rancher needs rear disk brakes and a diff lock as well while the mid size Grizzly does not.

 

You have a thing about this, don't you! Read and learn!!!

The Rancher does have an OHV engine, which is driven by short stubby pushrods and a cam placed off to the side, thus keeping the engine short for a lower center of gravity. Pushrod engines make their power down low, where a utility needs it! Screaming OHC engines are for sport quads.....

OHC engines are tall, so that raises the center of gravity. A big deal in a quad, but a really big deal in a dirt bike. Honda sport quad and dirt bike engines are SOHC, to minimize weight up high. DOHC engines (the majority of what is out there) are heavy on top, raising the center of gravity even more.

 

Except for Honda Utilities no other manufacturers uses OHV motors on anything even the Auto industry .
I rode the 420 Rancher and 500 Foreman and had a 450 Foreman if they do have a power band advantage it must be at just above idle and your out of it in the first 3 ft when you pin it because I did not feel it, and a SOHC with a low range would make that small edge mute.

Just saying if some one wants a Utility ATV and some wheel spinnig power look else where. Just hope Honda puts there XR650L SOHC into a foreman or Rincon someday.*Crosses fingers*

 

I think your choices for "mid-sized" ATV's are based more on budget than anything else. It seems that currently, most of the mid-sized quads (400-550cc range) have exactly the same chassis as the big-bore machines but just have smaller motors. While this does make them a little easier to handle in that the motors are a little more tame, the rest of the bike (length, height, width and even weight) is exactly the same at the 'larger' big bore. If you want a smaller size, the Honda Rancher 420, Yamaha Grizzly 450 and the Artic Cat 366 are all slightly smaller machines. The 500 cc Can-Ams are exactly the same size and weight as the 800cc machines, as are the 'smaller' machines from Kawasaki and Suzuki.

It really boils down to what feels right to you and what fits your budget. In reality, a mid-sized quad can do virtually anything that a big-bore can do at a cheaper price. The only real advantage those extra cc's give you is faster acceleration, a higher top speed and more power to handle things like deep mud or larger tires. For normal trail riding and working, there is not much of a need to all that extra power. Remember that only a few years ago the 'big bores' had massive 500 cc engines - "enough power to do whatever you want" - according to the magazine reviews from back then. That's my opinion and I drive one of RR's favorite 'pig-like' IRS machines.

It is fun to outrun most sport quads, but that's just a guilty pleasure.

 

Nice that Honda doesn't just crank out the same old cookie cutter machines that everybody else does. Variety is good, because it gives the buying public more choices. If you don't like the design, just don't buy one.....

I for example don't like rugger band drives, so I don't give those companies that make them any of my money!!! Nice and simple.

 

The original poster said he is interested in Can Am, Arctic Cat, and Honda ATVs. He also said "if he could get a sport quad down the trails he rides he would own another one". Well, the Can Am Renegade 500 he mentioned is going to be the closest to a sport quad of his listed choices. I have found the Renegade 800s we own to be the best extreme terrain ATVs I have ever owned, or ridden, and I would think the Renegade 800 would be just as capable. The original poster also mentioned that he rides in wet conditions, and with a Renegade you are going to be wearing what you ride through, ... something to consider. One other thing that struck me while reading this is that the original poster keeps his ATVs for a long time (more than just 4 or 5 years). With that in mind, the Arctic Cat on his list may not be the best choice. Arctic Cat ATVs tend to be more crude and un-refined compared to other brands, and are less reliable.

DV

 

curiousity here......why are you not considering one of the brute forces? 650/650i/750i

 

+1 !!!!!

As for reliability, our Outlander 800 has been nothing but bulletproof! No issues at all! Don't forget that Can-Am has the standard 3 year warranty with all of their ATV's, so if anything does go bad, you have full warranty for 3 years!

Where are you located in Canada BTW (OP)?

 

if you want a utility with speed go with polaris,or bigger yamaha. a 450 wolverine or a 500 polaris scrambler would be a good choice