Hello all. I'll use my first post here to ask a few questions about which ATV would be the best choice for me.

I live in Utah close to the world-famous Paiute trail, and I also do a lot of hunting above 10,000 feet. Those areas aren't all that extreme, but I also explore some desert trails in southern Utah throughout the year while looking for desert bighorn sheep and those areas can be very tricky. A lot of those trails are old, uranium mine access roads from the '50's and have become washed out and very rugged. We're always getting into off-camber, steep areas littered with boulder washes and loose sand.

I have been using some late '90's Yamaha Wolverines for the last few years for this type of use and like them a lot. But they are fairly rough riding, and lose too much power at high elevations, especially under heavy loads. So I'm looking at getting into some of the newer big bore ATV's with EFI. Possibly something with independent rear suspension too. So here's my first questions: Am I going to increase my chances of roll-over going with independent rear vs. a solid rear axle? Do the shocks and springs want to "push" you over when going up off camber-trails?

Secondly, what brand/model best suits my criteria of importance below?:
Most important-#1. reliability
#2. ease of maintenance
#3. good ride/rider stamina for all day use
#4. ground clearance
#5. adequate power
#6. fuel economy
#7. how the lockers work
#8. cold starts
Less important-#9 acceleration
#10. top speed
#11. looks
#12. bells and whistles
Oh yeah, It's gotta have racks too! And not the wimpy ones.

Additional info:
I don't ride dunes very often and I never go looking for a mud hole to drown my ride in. If I come across a mud hole in the trail and there's no easy way around it, fine, I'll go through it but I won't back up and do it again. I also don't care about drag racing or trying to tractor pull my buddy's atv across a parking lot (amazing how many video's on youtube deal with this nonsense).
I basically use ATV's to get me and my gear into the back country safely, and dependably. Very utilitarian usage, but I do admit to enjoying a good scoot down the flat gravel roads once in awhile. Took my buddy's 800 Can Am Outlander for a spin in the Grand Staircase Monument last weekend and lost my hat in a big hurry! What a machine!

Any help appreciated. Thank you.

 

welcome to the forum.
All the new big bores have irs, plenty of power, reliability and will fill your needs fine.
You should stroll through the forums and read what other's have to say about their atv's, because I could spend a day writing about pro's and con's on atv's. There's no perfect atv that get's the "best in class" for the 12 points you list above- there's trade off's on each one.

 

Using your criteria I would go with the Can-Am Outlander 800 Max limited. Best power per cc, good fuel economy for a big bore, 2-up machine is longer for greater stability in steep terrain, etc.

 

Thanks fellas. This seems like a great site so far.

So, the Can Am 800 Outlander was mentioned. It has independent rear suspension with an impressive 9" of travel. Is this much "comfort" a disadvantage on side-hill trails or rock crawling? And is it better to have automatic lockers than levers or buttons?

And how are these "big bore" machines for gas mileage? I know my Wolverines use a teaspoon of fuel for every gallon the 650 Kawasaki Prairie goes through. Does upping that 150 cc's make it even worse?

 

CanAms are very thrifty gas-wise. My son's Renegade 500 gets about 32 mpg compared to my X2 500 getting about 22 in like driving circumstances. Travel will help in rock crawling. I don't think IRS is any better or worse for sidehilling. If you feel it's too soft just dial up the shocks for more preload. The newest version of the CanAm Visco Lok is pretty good from what I've heard. I don't care for the older versions because they took longer to spin up to full lock. The newest version is said to be much quicker locking than the old ones.

 

my 09 rene 800 got about 20-22 mpg- my 850xp gets between 18-21 mpg.

 

Well that's not too bad. I guess I could always throw an extra can on the racks if I really needed more range.

One last thing on the Can Am; I've heard that they are pretty reliable but if a part does break, it takes forever to get it replaced and is extra pricey. Any truth to that?

 

I've never broken any part on my can-am's- but if I did, I'd just order it online and replace it myself.

otherwise- it really depends on the dealer how fast it gets done- really no more / less expensive then any other quad to repair. Can-Am dealers all over the place in new-england.

 

Try snowmobiling where 12 mpg is doing good. LOL

 

but you're also pushing twice the hp