Good quad for the girlfriend
#21
2003 Yamaha Breeze ATVs
Seems to be the Grizzly without racks and different plastic,its shorter because the Grizzly is measured from rack to rack overhang. The Breeze sure has long suspension travel and is alot lighter though.
heres a adult riding one to give you the size idea.
Seems to be the Grizzly without racks and different plastic,its shorter because the Grizzly is measured from rack to rack overhang. The Breeze sure has long suspension travel and is alot lighter though.
heres a adult riding one to give you the size idea.
#22
Thanks for the info. Yea, I guess I didn't check the actual suspension travel on the Breeze, seems plenty enough then.
The pic of the lady on the quad looks decent size, would be nice just a LITTLE bigger though in my opinion. I have read some good things about the Breeze however. I've been looking at a lot of pictures of the Grizzly 125 and Breeze 125 with adults on them. A lot of the pictures in they look suitable.. But then I see pictures of the quad up next to another quad 250cc+ size and you can notice more just how smaller they are once comparable to a larger size atv.
I've also been looking into the Phoenix 200 and from the specs it looks about PERFECT, but I've been reading more and more about how crap quality it is and how often it breaks and is real underpowered on its bottom-end. I used to have 6hp go-kart when I was a kid.. That thing had NO power on hills whatsoever and broke an insane amount of times. I do NOT want to relive those memories with a quad as crap as that thing was with the Phoenix.
Here seems to be my options from what I've gathered in the range of quads that would be a good choice. AUTOMATIC being a MUST.
Yamaha Grizzly 125 - (enough power, little too small)
Yamaha Breeze 125 - (enough power, little too small)
Polaris Phoenix 200 - (Perfect in size and cc, crap quality, underpowered)
Polaris Sawtooth 200 - (Same as Phoenix, crap quality, too heavy, underpowered)
Can Am DS250 - (About 50 pounds heavier than needed)
Polaris Trailblazer 250 - (Much heavier than needed, too chunky)
Bombarider Rally 200 - *EDIT (just discovered. Specs look good, need to research it now.
If only most 250s were automatic my choices would be widened so much.
The pic of the lady on the quad looks decent size, would be nice just a LITTLE bigger though in my opinion. I have read some good things about the Breeze however. I've been looking at a lot of pictures of the Grizzly 125 and Breeze 125 with adults on them. A lot of the pictures in they look suitable.. But then I see pictures of the quad up next to another quad 250cc+ size and you can notice more just how smaller they are once comparable to a larger size atv.
I've also been looking into the Phoenix 200 and from the specs it looks about PERFECT, but I've been reading more and more about how crap quality it is and how often it breaks and is real underpowered on its bottom-end. I used to have 6hp go-kart when I was a kid.. That thing had NO power on hills whatsoever and broke an insane amount of times. I do NOT want to relive those memories with a quad as crap as that thing was with the Phoenix.
Here seems to be my options from what I've gathered in the range of quads that would be a good choice. AUTOMATIC being a MUST.
Yamaha Grizzly 125 - (enough power, little too small)
Yamaha Breeze 125 - (enough power, little too small)
Polaris Phoenix 200 - (Perfect in size and cc, crap quality, underpowered)
Polaris Sawtooth 200 - (Same as Phoenix, crap quality, too heavy, underpowered)
Can Am DS250 - (About 50 pounds heavier than needed)
Polaris Trailblazer 250 - (Much heavier than needed, too chunky)
Bombarider Rally 200 - *EDIT (just discovered. Specs look good, need to research it now.
If only most 250s were automatic my choices would be widened so much.
#24
#25
I just went thru this for my wife. She is about the same size as your GF. She has ZERO experience. SO I wanted automatic, easy steering, min one rack, simple brakes and adequate power. This really narrowed things down. The Trail Boss/Blazer is what I kept coming back to. They are easy on the wallet, popular with a very good following. This means parts are readily available as is expertise on the boards. Used parts on EBay are multiple pages deep.
Last week end I decided I was buying one. I had 5-6 machines to look at after swapping emails with a couple of there owners during the week. All looked pretty good, but I decided on a 2001 Trail Boss 325. It needed a couple things, all easy to fix but worked to lower the $$. @ $800 I think I did OK. It needed the carb rebuilt, steering shaft bushings, brake pads, front bumper bent back, Rack bent into proper shape then re-welded, lower A arm replaced, (I bent it back and welded in some angle iron reinforcement.) chassis greased and oil changed. Just finished the repairs sans the carb rebuild and I'm into it for just a bit under $930.
Here it is last Saturday:
Here it is today:
They are available is 250 (2 Stroke) 325 (4stroke) and 330 also four stroke. Do yourself a favor, lighten your weight restrictions and at least look at a Trail Boss/Blazer!! I am very pleased with it, more importantly, so is my wife!!!
CW
Last week end I decided I was buying one. I had 5-6 machines to look at after swapping emails with a couple of there owners during the week. All looked pretty good, but I decided on a 2001 Trail Boss 325. It needed a couple things, all easy to fix but worked to lower the $$. @ $800 I think I did OK. It needed the carb rebuilt, steering shaft bushings, brake pads, front bumper bent back, Rack bent into proper shape then re-welded, lower A arm replaced, (I bent it back and welded in some angle iron reinforcement.) chassis greased and oil changed. Just finished the repairs sans the carb rebuild and I'm into it for just a bit under $930.
Here it is last Saturday:
Here it is today:
They are available is 250 (2 Stroke) 325 (4stroke) and 330 also four stroke. Do yourself a favor, lighten your weight restrictions and at least look at a Trail Boss/Blazer!! I am very pleased with it, more importantly, so is my wife!!!
CW
Last edited by cwlongshot; 09-18-2010 at 04:41 PM. Reason: added pics
#26
You have a great first quad for your girl already with that Honda. I wouldn't worry as much about the shifting, maybe it is time to upgrade your own ride. Otherwise I would go for something 250cc plus. That Rally is a decent machine, but I don't like how they have single a arms which hamper handling. I would suggest looking at the Kymco Mongoose 250/300. They are also the same basic machine as the recent Arctic Cat DVX 250/300 and the 300 ute.
#27
@cwlongshot
Trailblazer is a good quad, and perhaps I will have to broaden my weight restrictions then. The nice thing about the trailblazer like you said is that it's widely available. I did a quick search on Craigslist and there are a handful of them for cheap around here as well. That's definitely nice. Even if I do widen my options for weight, the Trailblazer/Trailboss weighs in at about 490lbs, I'd imagine I could find something at least 80 pounds lighter than that in the 250 range though. Still not a fan at how bulky the trailblazer is.
@scooter
The Recon would be a decent machine for her, I still want something she doesn't have to shift. I know it's not that hard to shift really, but I'd like the quad I get her to be perfect so she really enjoys it. As for me, yes I am looking to upgrade too. Wanting to get a Renegade 800 myself.
But anyway, thanks for the suggestion on the Kymco Mongoose 250. I've checked the specs out. It weighs around 390 which is lighter than all of the other auto 250s I've checked out. I've watched a video review of it, sounded like it was a good atv with some stronger bottom-end unlike the Phoenix 200.
The bad thing about most of these reviews is that they only test the ATV for a few days or so. What I want to know a lot about is reliability of some of these. Coming from owning a Honda they can take a beating. Can all of these other makes take a good beating too? I've never heard much of Kymco either. =/
So here seems to be some choices with the weight limit broadened and looking at 250s.
Can Am DS 250 (although I thought the one guy said his wife didn't like it)
Arctic Cat 250 DVX
Kymco Mongoose 250 (sounds good from what I've seen)
I'm looking for a cheap used one. So perhaps I'll just keep on the lookout for all of them and take whatever I can get.
#28
#29
The Kymcos are good to go. They have tested them at endurance races and such, they are making quads for some of the bigger names like Arctic Cat. I would say they have had the quality under control for at least the past 5 years, and the Mongoose has been in production for all of that. Having a local dealer/shop to fall back on would still be important for me, but not a deal breaker if you find one.
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