aside from what other's may say... the can-am rotax 800 in either the rene or the outty is not a good beginner atv (regardless if it's for the wife) it's an atv built for advanced riders. Any big bore atv for that matter is for advanced riders- but the rotax engine even more so. Anyone who says otherwise is just giving some bad advice in general.
Anyone can sit their *** on an atv and give it a little throttle- controling the machine when things get a bit rough is another issue.
Your wife going from a DS250 to a rene 800 is like going from a ford taurus to a chevy vette.

can't wait to see those pics, ron

 

DSO,
I feel that I need to clarify what I said. My wife likes the Gade 800 XXc for all the reasons I said, none of which had anything to do with power. I asked her again, and she said "the power is fine, but that isn't what makes it a good ATV". She likes the better riding suspension on the XXc model, and especially likes the better handling. The XXc has front and rear swaybars, and the dual swaybars prevent body roll in turns, which she does NOT like, and prevent the ATV from leaning on side hills, and she really hates sidehills. The XXc Renegade works so well on sidehills that it really is in a league of its own. A sidehill so steep that you need to get off and walk an Outlander 1000 across can just be ridden across with a Renegade XXc, with the rider sitting in the middle of the seat. Same goes compared to other utility ATVs, like a Grizzly 660, or 700, or an Arctic Cat Thundercat, ... the Gade XXc feels a whole lot better on the tippy stuff. The power steering is another big part of the equation. We had a 2009 Renegade 800 without the XXc package, or power steering, and my wife did not particularly like that ATV. She actually preferred her Grizzy 700 to that ATV, because the Grizzly was easier to steer, and because the Renegade 800 was too loud (we had an aftermarket exhaust on it).

So for the wife, a regular Renegade 800 wasn't "all that great", but the Renegade 800 XXc is. The difference is the handling (mainly the lack of body roll), and the power steering.

A Renegade 500 doesn't have power steering, or the XXc handling package, so despite having less power, it may not be "all that great" of an ATV for the wife. Just something to consider.

If you really think you need an ATV with less power, maybe a 450cc utility with power steering would be worth considering. The ATV I'm thinking of is the Grizzly 450 with power steering. I like the smaller mid-size chassis of the Grizzly 450, which is easier to control. And it still has power steering and all of the other great features in a full size ATV. And it would look good in the trailer with your Raptor 700.

 

I think DesertViper's wife going from a Grizzly 700 to an Renegade 800 is a more natural step than dsomonster's wife going from a DS250 to a Rene 800. I've never been on the XXc. Sounds like a great package to me. Still, given dsomonster's description of his wife's riding ability, (Average) it'd be a good move to try out the 500 if he can find one.

 

At the time we bought the 2010 Renegade 800 XXc we had a 2007 Grizzly 700 that my wife had been riding, and a 2009 Renegade 800 that I had been riding. I fully expected my wife to either keep her Grizzly 700, or move to my old Renegade 800. After a day spent riding all three machines in the mountains, and switching back and forth between ATVs, my wife told me she wanted the Renegade 800 XXc. She came right out and said "this one's mine", and told me to take it back to the dealer and have the digital dash display changed to read her name when the ATV is started, instead of reading my name. We ended up selling her Grizzly 700 and I kept my 2009 Renegade 800 for another year.

And like I said, it wasn't anything to do with power. The XXc Renegade was just more confidence inspiring, felt more solid and stable, and was easier to ride.

I should also mention that we ride at 9000 to 11000 feet altitude most of the summer. At that altitude an ATV is going to have 1/3 less power than it will have at sea level. Worrying about too much power usually isn't something that we spend a lot of time doing.

 

Wow, much thanks for the feedback. I am leaning towards the 500 and modding the suspension. I think the points you all bring up are valid especially the power. It will sit in the trailer if she is scared to ride it. The one dilemna I have is...A buddy of mine in South Dakota is willing to sell me his 07 Gade 800 for $5k. I can't find a 500 used let alone one for under 6k.

I am searching and taking my time, however, we have a huge 5 day trip planned over the MLK weekend and I need to get this bike bought. I need to mod the suspension out and get it in tip top shape. If not, the 800 may be the way to go, mod the suspension and tune it down, which I don't know if that is even possible.

If you guys come across anything let me know. I am searching the entire country and I have no problem having it delivered to SoCal. Plus the wifey promised Beergut a pic. LOL.

-Ron

 

If you cant find a 500, here is a good way to turn an 800 into a 500.



Its called a throttle stop screw, ... turn that screw all the way in and you've got an instant 500 from an 800 ..

 

DV, you da man! It is really looking like an 800 at this point. I have found a few 500s and the price range is a few hundred dollars cheaper than an 800x ofmthe same year. The people with the 500s are not so quick to deal. The 800 owners are all hp junkies trying to get out of the 800 and into the new 1000s.

I will give it the weekend and make a decision on Monday. I am trying to justify the 500 over the 800 but price and availability is outweighing everything else.

I will have to mess with the throttle stop setting and let the wifey know to chill on the thumb throttle. Hopefully she doesn't do some crazy high rpm holeshots and lands on her ****!

-Ron

 

the throttle stop might mellow out the top end / high rpm- but you'll still have all the bottom end of an 800- unless you really crank in the stop, but then you'll only get the rene to move at 20 mph. I think the rene 800 peaks torque at around 5- 5200 rpm. you'll get pretty close to that at just over half throttle- so it'll still have a lot of the 800cc pep on the bottom end... so, not really like a 500. If you find a rene 800x - you won't need any upgrades to the suspension. the KYB piggybacks are a quality shock. You could easily drop $2-$3k just in shocks- not worth it imo- unless you plan on making money with your rene or ride it enough to justify the expense.

here's a rene 800 for you- located about 2 miles from my house...

http://worcester.craigslist.org/rvs/2722288200.html






-

 

You're going to have to try that Renegade with the throttle stop turned in before you buy it, obviously. I wonder how that is going to work, it will certainly limit power, but alot of the off the line snap that a Renegade 800 has comes into play right now when you give it the gas, which is well before half throttle.

I wonder if I could try turning the throttle stop screw on ours in and see what it is like? I actually took the throttle stop screw out of the Renegade 800 and threw it away. But the 1000 Outlander still has a throttle stop screw, that I turned all the way out so that it isn't doing anything. I'll bet I could take the screw out of the Outlander 1000 and put it in the Renegade 800, and turn it all the way in to see what its like.

Too bad we got 14" of snow this morning. I'll still need to wait for the snow to melt to see what its like.

 

I spoke to a Can Am tech while waiting for amquote from the Sales Dept. and he says it will limit the take off a good deal. The hit comes when you mash the throttle and it has to be more than half almost pinned to start picking up the front end. If you have the throttle stop all the way in, you will only open the throttle half way and the engine will not make that low end torque. That what was explained to me. He still threw caution to the wind and said it WILL BE too much bike for her in the beginning.

Alot of help he was, just kidding!

I will let you guys know the prices they quote me.