gonna sell the honda 450 foreman that my gf rides as it's really too much of a turd and handles like crap. Was a great utility for around the farm but that was it. I ride a Raptor 700 and the guy we ride with has a kfx450r. She wants something automatic she never really did very good with the shifting. Something either 2wd or selectable 4wd as the full time 4wd sucked at handling. She rides ok at best so something she won't kill herself on she doesn't need to be as fast as us but definately more get up than the 450. What's the thoughts my buddy suggested a used kfx700 but after seeing videos of that it might be a little faster than she needs.

 

A Can-Am Renegade 500 will fit that bill nicely!

 

An old Polaris 400 Trail Blazer wouldn't be too bad. 2 stroke, you can get it to run great, and still be mild enough she'd like it.

 

Soooo...........are you looking for a UTILITY quad........or a SPORT quad?? You mentioned she was riding a HONDA Foreman 450 Utility, but your thinking she may want a machine that's NOT full-time 4x4.....but selectable is ok? Then your threw a KAWI kfx700 SPORT machine into the mix.

Kinda a "apple vs oranges" senerio.

I know your "fishing" for ideas.....but I'm kinda unclear as to 4 things:

1. WHAT kind of machine exactly?
2. how much $$$ your looking to spend?
3. dealer availability?
4. brand bias?

Sooo getting that out of the way.........I'll take a shot and say that my 1st choice when we went shopping for the wifey's machine, we picked up an AC 550H1 EFI AUTO for her to ride ($6800) to "mate" to my AC 650H1 TRV.



YES it's BIG, (690lbs) but the 550H1 has plenty of low end torque and the "ride-in" suspention set-up is surprisingly nimble w/light steering. It has selectable 4x4 and 4loc. H & L ranges w/2" reciever hitch built in. It tops out at 60+mph. The 550 also has a designed-in low-end lag when ya jam the throttle so one doesn't end up wearing it....

We added a windshield and WARN 3000Lb winch. She's put close to 500 miles on w/o any issues what-so-ever since last May. She runs the suspension soft, and the air pressure up a bit......and LUVS it.

Any of the 500-550cc Utilities are all basically compareable in pwr range w/similar options. Get HER to ride as many as possible to compare features and comfort.

My next choice would either be a YAMI GRIZ or a POLARIS SPORTSMAN

Good luck!

 

Renegade 500 is a quad that will keep up with the two rides you mentioned for the most part. It also has an automatic with Lo, Hi, P, N and R with a 2wd/4wd at the push of a button. It's the fastest 500 class sport utility out there. So, you get about all different kinds of riding abilities in one package. Is it the best at any of them. No, but is probably the best mix of sport and utility in a manageable package.

 

sport or utility is fine. I just want something that will handle pretty decent and fairly quick. I'd like to find something for under 3 grand. Brand bias well I ride a raptor 700r but i haven't heard anything bad about any of them except for polaris and all their expensive PITA belt changes.

 

NP!

Under 3 grand?..............hmmm....a good USED machine is hard to come by (I'm know). I ended up just buying a '09 AC 250 4x2 Utility for $3400 w/full warranty (made by KYMCO) for my youngest boy to ride.....& it scoots pretty good (55mph).



But looks like it's maybe a little small for what you/she needs.

Other than that....yea............I gots nuth'n............

 

It sounds like you want her to have a 4 wheel drive but something sporty for the trails. If your lookin for a 4wheel drive,but want a good sporty trail bike then 3 options come to mind right off the bat: 1st-Yamaha wolverine 450. Automatic,select 2-4wheel drive,small enough,not overly powered. reliable for the most part.
2nd-Polaris scrambler 500. same thing,2-4wheel drive,automatic,bigger,but good trail bike. Reliable? not really sure. No one has one around here.
3rd-The can-am renegade 500 as mentioned. Fast(honestly,if she's only ok at riding then this may get away from her at times as its got the power and she may use it at the wrong time resulting in rolling or flipping). automatic,select 2-4wheel drive,nice bike,might cost a bit more,but there are always deals out there.

 

yeah the first two I've been trying to do research on. Wasnt sure how well the newer 4x4's were. I know her's would be alot better if it was selectable 4wd but even the suspension travel isn't very good and is hell on big bumps I upgraded the suspension which helped a little but still not much. I didn't know if the newer utilities had decent suspension of if the were still about the same.

 

my wife predominantly rides our 2007 Grizzly 450 automatic push button 4x4. it does everything for us and more. it'll scoot on down the trail quickly, climb pretty much whatever we want, and handles great at high speeds, tricky landscapes, and handles water just fine. i wouldn't trade for it. it's a very nimble machine. but i agree with the others, try out several and see what fits....