--Hi, all. I am seriously thinking of selling my 2005 Honda TRX500FE to a friend and purchasing a 2007 Outlander 500 H.O. E.F.I. First of all, I am very happy with my Honda. No problems with it whatsoever. However, I would like something that has a bit more ground clearance and power. What is the overall reliability of your Bombardier and Can-Am ATVs? Will I be happy with the reliability compared to a Honda 3,4,5 or more years down the road?

--On paper, I really like the specs much better than my Honda, however, the MSRP of the Outlander is $650 more than a 2007 Honda TRX500FE. The outlander has considerably more power and ground clearance, which I will appreciate going over fallen trees I come across quite a bit in the woods. Two things that sort of turn me off on the Outlander, though, is the liquid cooling and the single break lever. People have always said get air-cooled, that way I don't ever have to worry about having a stick puncture the radiator and losing all of my coolant.

--So, all you Can-Am/Bombardier owner, please chime in on your opinions of your ATV. I have done research on the web and would now like thoughts from actual owners. If there is anything I need to know about Can-Am, good or bad, please tell me. Thanks for your help.

 

the can-am all the way although i think if your going to spend the money to get the 500 i would jump up to the 650 for not much more at all and i think you will be alot happier power wise and i would not buy a machine that wasn't liquid cooled unless it was an atv for your children as for the single break lever im pretty sure there will be an aftermarket replacement for them to split them very soon

 

--Hmm, I might just go with that 650. It's amazing how much HP these things crank out. I found a chart online that shows the HP ratings of many 2007 ATVs. According to the chart, the Outlander 650 has 55.3 HP! Wow. I did not know these things even approached that. Except for the Outlander 800 (61.6), no other brand of ATV beats the Outlander 650 in horsepower, including other ATVs in higher classes (700, 750 and 800). I figure if BMW uses Rotax in motorcycles and they are also used in ultra-light and light sport aircraft, it should work just fine in an ATV.

 

i'm a very very proud owner of a 2007-500xt. if i was to do it again i'd go with the 650xt.i have no complants on my 500. i put a snorkle kit on mine because of heavy water riding, but the power is always there. iv'e found no problems with braking the front lever is for the fron brakes and theres dual disc's,the rears foot foot brake also works great. i'll let my 9 year old daughter ride it for ever till i go get the 800xt, but intil then it's a great bike.i have 130 hours and 1100 miles of very rugged miles on mine without a flaw.

 

I never really seen a 500outtie til a rode on a 65km rally a couple of weekz back. It could turn the mudlites in the muskeg very will for a 500cc.... every1 thought it was the 800. You would be happy with the 500, but the 650 is tempin

 

--Well, I think I might have my Honda TRX500FE sold to my cousin, so hopefully, in a month or two, I will have my 650 Outlander. It's kinda funny, though. I didn't want to spend too much on a quad, so I decided on the 500. Then I thought, "well, the 650 is not that much more", so I decided on the 650, haha. THEN, I started looking at the 800...nope, just cannot justify another $850 for just 6 or 7 additional horsepower. I looked on the Can-Am website and it turns out there is a dealer about 9 miles away, so if I need it worked on, it will not be a problem. Except for Honda, we have all major brands of ATV dealers here.

 

Sorry to be the one to tell you this, but the ground clearance on an Outy 650/800 is closer to 8" than their 12" Canam continuing lie.

If you measure it at the front, the short springs may not have sagged yet, but they will. The coils will close up to touching each other.

For some reason the rear short springs do not sag, so a lot of guys put them on the front also, but very little help for the ground clearance.

I am one that put the rear shortys on the front in place of the collapsed front shortys, didn't help the clearance. Canam has come out with 'upgrade' shocks/springs, there are conflicting reports on them regarding GC. Not a doubt in my mind that the upgrade should have been a general recall. I finally spent $1400 on Crutchfield shocks/springs, front GC went from 8" to 12", rear 10" to 11". I have $1900 in mine due to poor GC. Once I got the quad, I had no choice but to fix it or roll around scraping on the skid plates.

Put ricochet skid plates on with the first tank of gas. The frame member on the bottom is very flimsy. You know, the one they talk about 'sliding' over rocks/logs. BS! It will dent the first time you hit or 'slide' over anything.

Regarding reliability, it's good.

Edit: The dual springs are on the xt's only. The standard Outys have single springs on each shock. They sag too though. The dealer will say I'm full of it, but just remember that dealer or Canam are not your friends. Other than the above, it's the best quad I've been on.