I recently purshased a brand new Renegade, first one in the dealer received. I've read in other sources consumers complained about the chassis easily being tweaked in the Outlander. To my knowledge this is basically the same chassis in my Renegade. If anyone knows more about these issues please let me know. By the way with five hours on this new beast, all I can say is WOW!! Coming from being use to riding a 660 Raptor, I'm not disappointed, and I don't get nearly as muddy and never got stuck, probably wont either. The new Holeshot ATR tires are SWEET! As for comfort, it tend to ride a little harsh in rough terrain, and the only thing I found slightly uncomfortable was the the space in the plastic where my knees seem to rub against, not terrible, but noticeable. Why they didnt design the seat to wrap around this area like the ds650 I have no idea. If any knows any reason why you cant engage the four wheel drive in anything other than park or neutral, as long as you're stopped and the brake is on I don't see why it matters, however according to the owners manual, it instructs you to be in park or neutral first before in order to prevent damage. Does this really matter?

 

Hey thanks, and it is sweet, little more money than I wanted to spend though. Thanks for the link too.

 

kas379, those consumers who have complained are those that haved had a hard wreck to one of the front quarters, then complained when canam refused to fix the frame under warranty.

There is no weak frame issue with either the Outy or the Renegade!

Been a structural engineer for quite a few years, I've studied the 'weak frame failure' pictures, and those failures are from wrecks. The last guy borrowed parts to cover up marks on the quad from his boy running into the corner of the house while he was at a work.

There is also some frame failure confusion due to the skid plates on the Outys. CanAm left the main spar beam exposed to whatever the rider ran over. That, coupled with the lack of ground clearance (supposed to be 12") results in big dents to the main spar member. BTW, my GC is 8 1/2", yet CanAm just keeps on telling the 12" GC lie to their customers.

Skid plates are required with the first tank of gas on the Outys in order to protect that main spar beam. So, each new Outy owner gets to spend another $400-$500 to protect the frame, something that canam should have done in the first place.

I have no use for CanAm. There is however, no such thing as Outy frame failures due to weak frames, so relax and don't worry about your frame, just have fun ridin' it. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Okay, thanks I feel better, I asked a dealer mechanic today and was told unless it was a really bad rollover it would probably be okay, minus the plastic obviously. So you're saying to invest in a set of skid plates to protect that center beam. After being use to only getting three and a half inches of ground clearance out of my Raptor at the rear skid plate, I'm rather happy with the ground clearance this thing gets, and it seems to be built pretty solid all the way around. Doesnt seem to be anything on it that stands out as being sub standard. To my knowledge they improved on the original Outlander design. Dont know if that's just PR hype or they actually improved on it. About the only thing I dented on it so far are the front rims from a few hits from some large rocks I hit on the trail. For the most part the power is smooth, and has a lot of torque, and doesnt seem to make any strange noises, other than a slight whining sound, which I'm guessing is normal, and what feels like the drive train engaging and disengaging, again I'm guessing is probably normal. How come your not crazy about Can Am? By the way, is there any reason why you can't or shouldn't switch it to 4 wheel drive while its in high, as long as you're stopped and the engine is being revved up? I cant figure out why the manual says you have to be in park before engaging the 4wd. I could see why you should do it while under power or why you shouldnt do it when the rear wheels are spinning violently but otherwise, if you're stopped but in high, and on the brake, I dont see what harm could be caused flipping the switch without being in park. I've never had a 4wd so I'm not too familiar with any of these systems. My friends who have Grizzlies and Polaris dont have to be stopped. So I dont see why mine needs to be in park!

 

Can-Am makes a nice machine! But EVERY brand has its flaws. You wont find a perfect atv. I have a couple friends with outties. One of them loves it. The other is jumping ship from Can-Am because his clutch failed, his frame buckled when he jumped it, and when he tried to kick snow off the fender, it shattered. No ATV is indestuctible, or "the best". You just have to take care of it

 

How about engaging the 4wd switch, in anythingother than parl or neutral, is there a reason other that what the owners manual says why I have to be in park or neutral?

 

You have to be in park or neutral to engage 4x4???? No thanks, i like the push button shift on the fly 4x4

 

Yeah, it doesnt make sense to me either, but that's what the manual says, I'm guesing it really isnt necessary but they dont want people prematurely causing damage by switching to 4wd under power.

 

If in gear even though stopped, there is torque on the system, not much but some. Since the rear wheels are connected to the fronts when in 4wd, and the bike starts to move at ~1750 rpms, you could be at ~1700 and transfer a jolt to the front diff when dropping it into 4wd.

Are you having a problem shifting? Cause some guys do have a problem with it, and it's irritating to jerk the shift lever around just to shift into 4wd. Some call rocking the quad 'the outy hump' trying to shift. On mine there's no problem, it just takes a couple of seconds, something you're probably not used to. A couple of techs have said that diff engagement is accomplished through dowels moving into matching sleeves, and missing that sleeve just a little every time results in a sloppy fit or failure after awhile. I don't know if this is true.

You're right, that whine is normal, no cause for concern.

I'm not happy with canam because skid plates are required due to canam's total lack of protection of the frame. Canam has tried to confuse the bottom beam lack of protection by saying the quad will just slide over obstacles. They promote a picture of an Outy sliding over a log as if it is a plus feature. Total BS.

The risk of damage to the beam is greatly compounded by another lie canam continues to put out, that of 12" ground clearance. Mine has 8 1/2" before I get on it, then it's even less. The ricochet skids run almost $400 material only. Both my forward skid and the beam under it have a grapefruit sized dent from my hitting a rock. Some of the trails I ride are all rock, no visible dirt, nobody is going to miss every rock every ride. The lower front springs sag, collapse so there might as well be a pipe sleeve there.

Canam has just ducked and avoided this issue, refusing to admit a ground clearance problem. Just in the last week or so, the rumor is they have come out with new springs and shocks to replace oem's, but only at the customers expense for labor and material, not a recall or warranty item.

To sum it up, I dislike canam because they lie to their customers, and also because they do not step up on something as basic as front suspension failures.

(I know, I hate long posts like this one too) [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

I just dont see why the manual suggest having to be in park before flipping the switch to 4wd. It also says, "if you're spinning already, to wait until it revs back down to idle then engage," doesnt, mention having to put it in park then, so the difference is what, that I'd be stuck! LOL I've been in Hi, and would let it back down to idle then flip the switch, and then just barely touch the gas to get it to positively engage. Doesnt sound like like anything clunks or grinds, or is otherwise causing any kind of mechanical damage, so does it really have to be in park? The transmission shifting is probably what you 4 x4 guys are accustomed to. Sometimes there is just a lot of resistance and I do have to rock the machine forward and back just a little to help release the pressure on the selector lever. I'm guessing I'm just not use to that kind of machine. Then again, my Raptor didn't always go into reverse right away either, and had to rock that as well to get it into reverse and sometimes that didnt always work either. I guess these are just minor flaws in the technolgy used in these kinds of machines, well with the exception of honda and there automobile like transmission. As for the ground clearance, it's funny you guys noticed that, it does say 12in an then in other places I read 11 but my friend measured it and it was a little less, think it was more than 8 though, more like nine or ten I think he said but who's counting. All I know is it's a hell of a lot more than my Raptor had at the skid plate and is probably as fast. Those ATR Holeshot's are awsome, I can flick the back around almost as easy if not as easy as I did with the Raptor, don't think too many 4 X owners can say that.