I had just purchased a Traxster over the Labor Day weekend and had only a few hours to test it on the farm. I have just put another 125 miles on it this past weekend and here are my results.

The Bike: Traxster, base model in green with the following add-ons: hand guard and windshield, Wench, vinyl shock protectors, fender protectors. On order: Chains, rack extensions, and those cool overpriced vinyl bags for more crap to carry around. I just could not do the XT. I’ll put chrome and Black waters on my wish list.

Around the Bike:

Front: The storage compartment in the front is the best thing yet. Not waterproof but I did put a gasket around the lid and it worked well keeping out dust and mud. There is a drain plug in the bottom for clean out if needed. I kept stuff in there like tow rope, 1st aide, straps and just junk in the accessories bag which fits in the compartment. When you put stuff in there, make it tight or it will bounce around slightly, sounds terrible but no damage.

Sides: Hey it’s WIDE. Nice big area for big feet in big boots. Glad I choose the handle shift vise the foot shift. The back fenders from the Fender guard out takes a lot of mud and dirt. If you ride close to the front you stay somewhat clean. If you ride back, you’ll get the mud from knees to the boots.

Back: The radiator sits nice and high behind you. Good air intake for the engine. The radiator kicks in and out as needed. Stayed pretty clean because your upper leg somewhat blocks mud and dirt for the air intake.

Bottom: I used the skid plate once. The oil bolt sits fairly high up in there but maybe a lift kit and some other tires will help in the really tuff rut and rock area’s.

Engine area: Take the seat off and you can see it all. You can get anywhere on the engine depending on your skill set. Watch out for the hot areas when you’re looking around.

Gas: The tank is big and thin which sits across the front. 5+ gallons and 1+ in reserve. I averaged 18mpg over 125 miles or about 10 hours of riding.

The Good: Nice, Big, And Powerful
The Bad: Not much yet, but it’s still new to me.
The Ugly: I had it up to 50mph for about 10 seconds, and I got it stuck as well.

Level of experience: New to the sport: Since my first ride in "82" on a little Honda, I’ve been hooked. Only started riding again in 99 because of jobs and living in major cities. I didn’t like borrowing or damaging someone else’s stuff, so this Traxster is my first own ATV. I’m a reasonable safety freak, and don’t really like to do a lot of damage to myself or anyone else. I gotta keep the day job you know.

The Good: I’m going to take a safety class, I wear a helmet, and ride alone.
The Bad: Nothing except I need more riding hours. (Don’t we all?)
The Ugly: I may not have enough experience to evaluate the Traxster at this point.

The Testing Ground: Central Minnesota, east of Lake Milacs there is an ATV riding area called Red Top. It’s located off of old railroad path. It has something for everyone, so this is where I went. There are trails where you won’t even get your wheels dirty, and areas that test what you and your bike got. One big area called “sink hole”, and one area called 10 bruin or something like that.

On the smooth and open area’s, the Traxster rode just like a big old street bike and sounded pretty nice. On some of the muddy and less traveled trails it handled well too but you got to keep your hands on the bars because it didn’t take much to jolt you. What I liked though was the way it handled after I got the feel for what was going on at the tire level. On the difficult paths and area’s I was trying to manhandle the bars and steer the bike, it was giving me a workout. Then later, it became easier because I’d kind of just put the front wheels in a position and let them do the work. It sounds funny but I had to let the Traxster pull its way through stuff and try not to push it. So either I learned how to ride difficult terrain incorrectly on an SP 500 and just learned how with this bike, or there truly is a difference in the way they both steer. One other thing that I became aware of real quick is the width of the trail. I found myself paying greater attention to my sides then to the front of the bike. There were tell tale signs of damage on one trail throughout. Made for the smaller bikes, I think I did pretty well with no damage and only slight scratches. Again, just letting the bike pull me, seem to make the difference. Any comments on this? Please post ASAP.

I did not get crazy in the mud with the Traxster, but I did get stuck by mistake. Hey, everything gets stuck and the Traxster is no exception. I should have used better judgment but it was late in the day. I followed a path that was going through a swamp. Water levels are low so I started on the logging trail and 200 feet into the swamp I saw the signs of others who did not make it. I really didn’t want to try anything stupid this late in the day so I attempted to turn around. To Late.

I had began to turn around on a Bog? (Floating Grass) and was going down quick. I just had to get it out of reverse 1 to low 1 in my turn to head back the way I came. The right side of the Traxster went down and I was stuck up and over the right wheels. What made matters worse is the Traxter kept sinking over the side of the bog. I went back to one of the main trails and got help.

To the riders who helped me, thank you. With two Honda’s and a Cat, about 20 feet away on somewhat solid ground, they took my wench wire under their skid plates to the front machine, the other straddled the wire and pushed the first machine forward while the Cat pulled on the front bar of the first machine. All that and it barely moved, but just enough where I could get the Traxster into N and get it started. Once started and in low, I could get the front wheels back on the bog and assist in the pull out. It worked slick but showed me the Traxster like all the others have limits. Yes, I took my hazing like a professional.

Curiosity about the Traxster: No doubt it is not a machine you see on the trails all the time so you are going to draw other riders and comments upon stopping. Believe me, I don’t know nothing about nothing for power this or turning that except what I read, so I didn’t BS. You could tell me everything wrong with the Traxster and all I can say is “I’ll ask my dealer”. I only talked up what I liked and knew I liked. The front storage compartment, the open area in front of the seat and the protected radiator in the back. It’s not a bike for everyone and I could probly do all my riding on a smaller 250 for that matter. Polaris and Honda have great names in this area of the US, but so does Bombardier, it’s just they got biking a little late, so people want to hear about it from somebody on the trail. I’m not a salesman and I thought I was truthful in the conversation from what we would talk about.

Packing up: When my big 125-mile day was over, I was actually pretty impressed with the bike. Tried to do everything to it I could think of except drown it. I’ve been following the boards and read stuff about bent frames in 99 or 00? backfiring and comments. I don’t think my frame is bent, my hitch looks bent in the back, but it looks bent in the manual as well, Backfiring was only a poof when I shut it off and didn’t seem to be a problem. It did backfire or misfire a lot in reverse 3 but in reverse 2 was fine. I have the idle set low so I don’t get that jump between park, low and high gears. Only a few time in 5th just to check cruising, I never got comfortable in 4th and hung on 3rd for a majority of the nice trails, 2nd was fine and I liked 1st gear when in doubt.

Cleaning up: I never really pulled a lot of grass, weeds or sticks through the whole day, but I had about 3 lbs of mud in and around the tires and breaks that I had to pull off by hand. It did not affect the breaks or ride but it was still there. Scratches went away with armor-all and it cleaned up pretty nice. By taking the seat off you can get the hose most anywhere you need to get the caked mud loose. The air filter stayed super clean and I had no water in the small run-off cap. I didn’t use a high power sprayer, just thumb control on the hose as needed.

Maintenance: Of all people to call after I got back…the dealer. Said my other items have arrived. I told him what I’ve written here and he was happy I was happy. There is a 10-hour inspection due soon, but I was going to fidge on that and wait for about 200-300 miles before I bring it in for a check. I went over the entire bike before I started and again after cleaning, which is what they were going to do to ensure all the hoses and items stayed in one place. If I can get in a couple of good rides and schedule the maintenance before winter, I’ll be set.

Thanks for reading, Ride safe and reply,


Fishbones

 

I too have a traxter bought in May of this year.
I agree with most of your post and would like to add the following:
1) the stock tires stink in the mud. You'll get stuck more often because of the tires than because of the girth of the machine
2) I've realized this machine is not really an ATV
It's a hybrid of an ATV and a tractor
3) beware of the shifting mechanism. My traxter makes a 'hydraulic' noise as it warms up (10-15 mins) that is exaggerated by the shift function.
Once it warms up, it goes away.
4) I'm glad you install a winch (not wench) Once you get it stuck....you'll need it
5) mine is red. What kind of tires are you thinking about putting on?

good luck with your new toy

john C

 

I was just wondering what you guys have for clearance numbers under the rear end?

I went to a Hunter's expo saturday and saw a Traxter with 27" mud bugs and when I looked at the rear diff it looks VERY low. The tires looked normal(buddy of mine has the same tires) but I noticed that even with 27" tires the rear clearance was little more than 7.5", if that much at all.

 

Fishbones, Liked your note, a few coments.

1, Tires, I use the 27X7X14 AG Tires on the 14" rims, they are super in dirt/mud, I now understand better why the farmers use this tread design, it works, they drive fine, just keep the pressure up to about 12-15 psi.

2, The missing in reverse is the limiter, keeps you from going too fast in reverse, use lower gears when in Reverse

3, Not sure who made to comment about the tractor/atv but he is correct, I feel the Traxter is closer to a tractor than a ATV, but does great for all my needs.

4, You will get to understand and love the AWD (all wheel drive) feature more and more, you will notice all 4 wheels are pulling equally not 1 in front then the other.

I use mine mostly for pushing sprint cars at race tracks in Penna. and nothing comes close to it for ability. Have put it up against many other big atv units and they are all wimpy in comaprrison.
I agree about everything you mention, width, step thru, radiator etc, the thing you didnt mention was the power, I feel it has alot of usable power. As mentioned other atv units are on the track at the sprint races, and they can not handle pushing a large car or towing it off the track, etc etc.

Good luck

 

JohnC,
I also had that sound when shifting when not moving, 2 things, 1, change to a lighter weight oil like 10W30 and 2, They did a computer check n the shifting and found a defective shift solenoid, warranty repaired it ASAP and nice. Key is lighter oil and dont try to shift when stoped, they computer is trying to compute wheel speed, rpm and gear position and when not moving, it takes longer to think it out. I guess..
Anyway works great now for the last year.

 

JohnC, I saw some pictures of a Traxster with some nice tires down the board. I'm gonna keep looking around to purchase for next spring because I already have chains on order and I want to see how they will do.

 

Boner, I get mixed up on a couple of the measurements. I thing 7.5 is about right for travel, but I'm still up about 9 inches underneath. Hoping tires and lift will bring it over 11.

Thanks for the reply,

 

Sprintpusher, That was good information. When I get the oil changed I'll be sure to pass that along as vital info. That had happen to me but I thought that sound was more my fault for shifting while not moving.

Thanks

 

Sprintpusher,

Thanks for your reply, I posted a reply to you about the hydraulic sound. Good scoop. I was gonna try the chains for the rest of the year, but would like to get the bigger tires that you mentioned. Always something to look forward to.

Take Care,

 

4 strokes are not to backfire, this is an adjustment in the Carb, that needs to be done. Make sure you have the dealer look into this. It is usually a jetting problem on the traxters, so I have been told.