Well my uncle is looking into buying an Outlander so I suggested he go riding with me today, I took my 800 and my Honda Rincon so we could switch back and forth.

First my two other buddies cancel on me, no biggie, at least I still had someone to ride with.

We get down this one trail a ways and come to a nasty rut on a corner, twice trying to negotiate it I had to reverse and start over, after the second attempt I turned off the quad and waited for my uncle to see if he wanted to continue or turn back. We decide we can make it, I go to start the 800 and it sputters and dies, smell of gas....WTF?? Try again, then everything goes dead, one more shot and it fires up just fine, seems OK, get through the rut, was a bit tough but made it then my check engine and "limp home" light comes on......NOW I'm tripping...figuring it's about the same distance to the main road whether we continue or turn back I decide to continue to the main road, problem is we come to a part of the trail that was washed out......ughhhh, we HAD to turn back.......I'm starting to panic, not over heating and I know oil is full as I changed it the day before. We finally get up to the road, I turn off the quad and decide to go check the oil anyway......well, seems when I hit that run my foot or knee jammed into the plastic and knocked off that plug that goes into the right side of the engine........FIXED the problem YES!!! Fire it up, no problems.....we get about 5 miles down the dirt road and it starts to sputter......then dies all together.......ARGHHHHHHHH! I fire it back up but the idle is all funky, keeps bouncing from 3000-5000, I can't even get into gear, finally get into gear, hit the gas and it just bogs down and dies........this time I try to start and don't even get dash lights.........Good Grief! I'm pissed and embarassed, trying to show my uncle how great the Outlanders are and this nonsense. Well he ends up pushing me most of the way back till it was all downhill, get to the truck and the damn NEGATIVE cable was completely disconnected , man, I checked this out on the trail and it LOOKED ok. Anyway, we got it attached with a small hose clamp and kept riding, no harm done but sure was tripping me out. I was having some serious buyers remorse while betting pushed by my Honda Rincon...At least we got in a few more hours of riding to end the day.

 

That sucks when simple things like that cloud your head and get you flustered. At least you got her going again and there wasn't any serious problem. I've got about 25mi on mine now and have had a few things i'll be taking it back to the dealer for. The new aluminum rims are cool, but need ballanced pretty bad.(i think it's the wheels?). at about 55mph i get a pretty good wabble. I'll check the pressure to rule that out. and at crawling speed in 2 hi, it feels as though the drive shaft is bent, or there's a flat spot on the belt. just doesn't run like the first one i had. everything else is as it should be though. i'm keepin it.

by the way, i like the "no rack" look.

 

In almost three years of riding I've never been stranded, I've had to ride quite a way's on a flat tire, ruining two of them but got back OK. I'll tell ya, it was a bit scarry, good thing my Rincon matched up bumper to bumper so I could be pushed....


I'm no fool, usually the solution is the most obvious but man, I looked under the quad at the battery connections but didn't actually reach in to make sure they were secure, they looked to be attached correctly but obviously the ground was loose. The plug was a total fluke, damn rutted out trail caused me to slam into the right plastic below the shifter so hard the panel popped out, good thing I was wearing knee pads. Having both occurances happen within what was literally about a minute absolutely had me convinced I had major problems well beyond a bad connection "limp home" is NOT something I ever wanna see on that guage again. Arghhhh.

Now on top of my extensive flat repair kit LOL, I'll make sure I add some battery terminal connections to my pouch and put a tow rope in the rear storage as soon as we got back to the truck. Pushing me all that way kinda tweaked the plastic on my Rincon's front bumper, not bad, but not necessary either.

 

What a story! The reason that this seems so odd is that you NEVER hear about people having major problems with the Outy 800. I am sure that there are problems but you hardly ever hear about 'em. The reason why i sold my '05 King Quad was dependability. That is THE MOST important issue for me as I like to get back in there as far as possible. I was having numerous electrical issues with the K.Q. so it's gone. So far, I have NEVER had a problem with the Outy. I hope you never have any more problems.

 

So far, I have NEVER had a problem with the Outy. I hope you never have any more problems.
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I just chalk it up to some bad luck more then anything. Battery terminal, something I should have checked myself before I ever took it out. That plug was a fluke, least I'd know what to look for if something similar happens again.

 

Your uncle off of outys now?

 

Your uncle off of outys now?
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Nooooo, but he did admit while he was pushing down the road he was having second thoughts but once we realized both were simply flukes he didn't seem concerned. He really enjoyed it once he rode it. He got tossed off the Rincon in a rut and tipped it on it's side earlier in the day so he was worried about damaging the new Outlander. Finally got him on it on a really easy trail. He spent about 3 hrs on the Rincon and about an hour and a half on the Outlander, he definately noticed the difference. Hands down he'd take the Outlander over the Rincon.