The 650 is a good all around engine size. Not the wheelie king like the 800's and 1000's but plenty of power. The only time I wished I had more was at 10,000 ft. trying to keep up with the Scrambler 1000's. Other than that it's met all my riding, working, toting, and towing needs.

 

Thank you gents for your personal testimonials and recommendations. It is down to the three manufacturers of 2 up machines. I wish there were more, but the world is switching to side by sides. Can Am BRP makes on highway vehicles as well as aircraft. I suspect they are very good at manufacturing and quality assurance. Polaris also makes on highway vehicles. The design and reliability requirements for on highway Victory and Indian motorcycles is more rigorous than off highway ATVs and snowmobiles. Hopefully the organizations spread the knowledge around. I'm from Minnesota and respect the Polaris brand. Arctic Cat doesn't make on highway vehicles as far as I know. They may be the smallest manufacturer, but their known for exciting machines and try harder to beat the competition.

And thanks a bunch for the info on snow plowing with an ATV. redrocket, that is a creative set up you made. I like it. I should think plowing and pulling and lots of shifting is harder on the drive line than "sedate" trail riding. ATVs aren't designed as tractors. Aggressive trail racing would be even harder on the machine overall; jumping, rock crawling, steep hill descents, stream crossings, driving off cliffs and the like.

Thanks again Moose for your view on engine size. Question: Is there any advantage to "more power" for snow plowing? Or is wheel slip (or belt slip) the limiting factor? Maybe "more power" just wears the drivetrain out sooner. Maybe "more power" is more dangerous for trail riding. I read a little blurb about Honda not wanting to be in the ATV horsepower wars as they say it upsets the balance of their machine. Honda likes lightness, handling and reliability. Their machines are smaller.

David

Additional comment: You know, years ago I was at a factory that made tow tractors for the airline industry, mostly baggage carts but some smaller aircraft tow tractors. One airline specification we had to meet was drawbar pull. 25,000 pounds was not an unusual spec. We had a test protocol of course. The ATVs pull 1500 pounds. Lack of traction, weight and gearing are major factors I suspect.

 

Good luck on your decision as it sounds like you are headed down a good path. I like my Grizzly but it is not the end all of ATVs for all situations and would not 2up ride it. I also rode a Can-am 650 up against my Grizzly 700 (686CC) and completely admit the 650 felt stronger. Not sure if it was gearing that got it that way... but prompted me into doing CVT mods for stronger low end without impacting the upper end.


Keep in mind it took Honda, what seemed like forever, to come out with independent suspension on the rear which turned off a lot of folks for a quite a while. So I would take some of Honda's explanation with a grain of salt as the market should dictate product advancement.

Lest I bring up Honda and the NSX

 

I went thru the same dilemma last summer/fall. Wasn't sure what to buy. As I priced out a Polaris, Can-Am and Artic cat for everything I wanted I was north of 11K. None of the three mentioned wanted to deal much (basically what ever the manufacturer was offering in rebates) this led me to continue my search. I ended up buying an ODES Assailant 800 2 up with a lot of bells and whistles. Since ownership I've put 85 hard miles on it and could not be more pleased (paid 7K cash and got a 2 year warranty). I've had the ATV just north of 70MPH once and she rode great.

I just added a Super ATV power steering system and love it. Fairly easy install.

I have noticed that there aren't many ODES owners here. I'm sure many are Leary due to the "Chinese" manufacturer. I for one am very pleased with the machines performance.

 

The Odes dealers are somewhat few and far inbetween as well. I live in southern Illinois and I think there is one in St Louis, which is about 75 miles from me. Kymco dealers are pretty spread out too. I do have one of those about 30 miles from me though. By contrast, there are 3 Polaris dealers within 30 miles from me, one of those being the one that also sells Kymco. Odes also just hasn't been making atvs and side by sides long enough to develop a reputation for reliability. They do appear to have some nice models but reliability is a bit of an unknown.

 

Agree with what you said, so far I'm pleased and I by no means baby mine.

Being that the Odes assailant was first manufacture in 2015, there's not a lot of info on them. I took that into consideration and decided to take the risk.

Odes in Dallas has been great and timely getting me things I've ordered. I'm about to install a 6 speaker "Wet Sound" blue tooth AMP.

 

Thanks mzodarg1 for the reference. Glad you are having good luck with your ODES. I have not heard of that brand, so I will take a look.

The two year warranty means they have confidence in their design and manufacturing ability. And that is a confidence builder for me.

You have some mechanical skills if you installed your own electric power steering unit.

David

 

Like yourself, I had never heard of them either. I did know that the three big names I looked at were so confident that they could sell theirs at MSRP that they did not want to negotiate, so I looked elsewhere and my search lead me to ODES.

As far as Mechanical ability, you could say that. Been wrenching on Harley's for the better part of 30 years.

The PS wasn't a difficult install, instructions could have been better. Took about 4.5 hours. Well worth the
time.

Few pics:

Purchase day


Working her.


Disassembly for Power steering.



Mike

 

Very robust looking machine. Thanks for the photos. It kinda has a Polaris look to it. V twin I see. And it is a 2 up ATV.

You've been "wrenching" for years on similar machines, i.e. Harleys. If you are pleased with this ODES "bike", well that says something.

I took a look at the UTVs they offer on their website here:

ODES UTV OFF ROAD UTILITY VEHICLE SIDE X SIDE

David

 

David,
Yes it's a vtwin 2up and 800cc's. Came with a 3500 lb winch, 2x4, 4x4, Differential Locking Switch CVTech clutch system.

Documentation says it will do 62MPH, I've had it up to just north of 70MPH.

The 2017s come with a Zues 7" touch screen GPS info center with bluetooth. Mine didn't come with it but I'm waiting for the retrofit so I can add it.

So far I have $7649 invested in her(including the Eps). The big three I mentioned earlier want at least 11K for a similar machine.

I see your in Colorado, I was born and raised there in Centennial(Highlands Ranch area).

Mike