Hi everyone, hopefully some of you can help me out with my decision on which ATV to buy. I have wanted an ATV my whole life, but due to life circumstances, (Collage, Wife, Kids) I have had to wait. Now at the ripe old age of 33 (in a few days), I can finally get one! But the problem is, there are now so many choices.

I live in Las Vegas NV, so the terrain is mainly desert, but we have mountains as well. I would assume lots of desert trails, dried up riverbeds and desert type rocky mountain trails. I have only ridden Utility type 4 wheelers and the old Honda 185S 3 wheelers and the like. But a sport machine looks like lots of fun :-) But I don't want to finally buy a new quad and then be disappointed with or limited to a specific type of riding. I think I would enjoy playing around in the dirt on some dirt trails or riverbed the most, but the idea of climbing up some rough rocky mountain trail sounds fun to. Please help me pick the best-suited quad for my area and interest.

The Quads that I'm interested in are: Yamaha Raptor, Bombardier DS 650, Honda Sport Trax 400EX (although I don't really want an air cooled machine) Polaris Scrambler 500 4X4, Polaris Scrambler 400 2 stroke 4X4 (these two machines seem to maybe be the best of both worlds) Yamaha Griz 660, Honda Rubicon 500, Prairie V-Twin 650 (although I don't really like the looks) and maybe the knew Polaris SP 700 once I can get more info on it. To many machines to choose from for someone who has been waiting way to long. I have ordered over $100.00 worth of back issues of ATV Action and Dirtwheels so that I can get up to date on all these machines, but I need your help?

Thanks for you input,
Brian

 

I'm not the best one to ask on this but maybe I can help. Everyone is ranting and raving about the Cannondale's, they are very nice from what I've read, they look good too. But!!!!!! I've never seen one in person! The DS 650 is Awesome looking, it looks mean sitting still! I had a couple of Bombardier Sea Doos (HX and XP 800), I hope the DS 650 is more reliable than they were. They were nothing but problems. I've seen the DS 650. But!!!!!! I've never riden one! I'm new to quads so I'm looking for something used to make sure I really want to get into it. More than likely I'm going to get a 2001 Yamaha Raptor, I think they all perform pretty much the same, I like the added reverse feature for some reason. I've seen a couple of these. But!!!!!! I haven't riden one of these either.

Not much help but I tried!

-Mitch

 

We ride desert during the cool months and mountains (and Pismo) during the summer!! A 2X4 sport bike will go most places in the desert (and it will give you the option of putting on paddles and going to the dunes!). With the sport bike, you rely on momentum and speed to carry you up climbs (vs the grapling traction of a 4X4). You'll need a utility (high clearance and/or 4X4) only when the rocks get so large that you can't get a low slung sport bike over them. My solution was to buy both (but it is an expensive solution!).

Honestly, we don't have much mud in the desert, so traction is less of a problem (with a 2X4 vs a 4X4) than you might think. I can get away with a 2X4 for most of my riding. The places where I need a 4X4, sane people stay out of anyway. Then again, 4X4 is just nice to have sometimes, even when it isn't absolutly necessary. Personally, I'm waiting for the Honda 650EX(?). I'll set it up as a desert (baja) racer, and then set the 400EX up for tight trail riding. Then the Rancher 4X4 will take me anywhere those other two bikes can't.

Maybe, if you want an all-aroung bike, think about something like a 2X4 Rancher? It handles like a sport bike, has good ground clearance, goes almost anywhere the 4X4 will go, and it has racks for hauling stuff. The Rancher is light and nimble by comparison to its bigger utility brothers. But, in your list, you seem to be leaning toward larger, water cooled machines. Personally, I think the monster big bore 4X4's are specialized machines more suited to eastern (mud) riding, than they are out here in the arid west. When you are going rockhounding with a 4X4, LIGHT AND AGILE IS A BIG ASSET. Big, heavy, and clunkey is not!! For technical riding, you aren't going fast anyway, so a huge motor is just going to get in the way.

If you decide on a pure sport machine, attend some desert races and see what people are riding and how well they do. Also, check out OFF-ROAD.COM, they cover desert racing pretty thoroughly.

Do you know where Rasor BLM Open Area (near Baker, Calif. on I-15)is? Check it out sometime (see the Calif. BLM web sites). Have you checked out the "Dunes and Trails ATV Club" there in Vegas? Oh, and get your family involved in the sport too!!!

 

I do not think being a air cooled motor is a big deal since most have a fan cooled oil cooler anyways.

 

Another thought: Go out to the areas where you plan to ride, and see what bikes other people are on. Ask people what the strong an weak points of their machines are. I'm willing to bet you won't see many utilities out in the desert, but as you get into the mountains, you may see a few. A good case in point is Chaparral Motorsports (huge dealership and mail order), which is just a couple of miles form where I live so I'm over there all the time. They have utility bikes sit there for months unsold, but the sport bikes sell out as fast as they can get them put together. All these bikes are going to get used out in the desert!

 

your ideal machine for what you said is the scrambler family,
stock to stock the 400 will win in a drag by very little, and will top out a little higher, and can be modiefied easier,
it has on demand 4x4, and it handles pretty well, mine goes around 72 mph and accelarates like crazy,
nothing on the rough trails has stopped me yet, rocks, hills, mud [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] jumps, whoops, twisty turnies and slow trails,
if you need more power get the xplorer 400 4x4, same engine, different frame, with a LOW gear, wont handle as well or go as fast,
but i think a scrambler will suit you fine

 

oh yeah,
and with a scrambler you can eat up the smaller sport bikes as well,
examples:
mojave
300 ex
warrior
wolverine
250x
you can take a banshee (stock to stock) untill he hits 3rd gear
and if you modify it you could probably beat him, since your going to spend crazy money on a bike like a raptor or ds650 use the money you saved to make you bike faster, eat those quads ali9ve,
and then you still have 4x4
can it get better?

 

I live in Phoenix, so I do a lot of middle-of-the-summer riding, and my air-cooled Honda has never had a problem overheating. This includes dune riding up long nasty hills, and winding it out up really long cinder mountains in Flagstaff.

I have to suggest a 400EX. I went through the same decision making process you did, for the same type of riding you mentioned, and my first purchase was a 2001 Warrior. It's a great trail machine....blah blah blah. But it bored me to tears in about 1 month. Sold it, and bought a 2001 400EX.

The 400 is an EXCELLENT trail machine (thanks to it's awesome handling) and I have taken mine in sandy washes, up totally boulder-strewn river beds, and up some VERY steep and VERY rocky hills. So far there hasn't been anywhere I wanted to go that my quad couldn't get me to.

I also had a notion of getting on the track at some point - another great bike for that. If you are like alot of us, once you get your quad you are going to start wanting to do all kinds of different things with it - my Warrior wouldn't have made it on the track for any serious competition.

This is a crazy time to be thinking about buying a quad, though - so many makers are going to be coming out with some really cool competition for Cannondale and the Raptor. But, still, I don't think anyone here would tell you you made a mistake if you buy a 400EX. It's just a really great quad! <Corry wipes a tear from her eye> <sniff>

Corry [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

You rarely see a Polaris in the desert!!! Is that telling us something?? The 400EX has won Baja a bunch of times. The DS won the Baja 2000 last year. Raptors are beginning to win desert races now and then. These are the bikes that can cut it!!

 

Well you know I am going to say go with the Scrambler....And if you are going to be going over rocky terrain you are not going to want to be shifting gears. You are right though on the Scrambler being best of both worlds....Little bit sport...Little bit utility....my friends have 400ex's and DS650's....but they all say that it is good to have a Scrambler in the bunch...I can usually test out alot of spots where maybe they just want an answer if they can get acrossed or not....so go with the scrambler....And i really have no trouble keeping up with them either...