hey guys, i'm looking to buy my first atv and i have around $7500 saved up. I'm having trouble finding weight capacities, which is an issue since i am 325 lbs. could someone give me an idea of what i should be looking for?

Edit: wanting a utility atv

 

Hello, Gigantor, I'm in the same boat as you. Around 6'3" and 350 lbs. I bought a Polaris Sporstman X2 because of the rear springs that are rated for 400 lbs. It's the most heavy duty of the quads as far as weight capacity goes. It also has a dump box in the raer like a mini dump truck. That box converts into a second passenger seat that I use every so often to give my wife a ride. Honestly, that being said, I think pretty much any of the quads in the 500-550 cc range will propably meet your needs. I've driven our 500 cc machines through snow, mud, rocks, sand, etc. in about all temperatures. The only time I find myself wanting a little more speed is in long uphill sections in the snow where you lose a lot of speed to slippage. Machines in this category are Can-Am Renegade or Outlander 500. Top speeds for belt driven quads in their cc classes. Good gas mileage, comfortable ride. Renegade is a little more sporty than the Outlander. Polaris has the Sportsman 550 and 500 HO. 550s are fuel injected with good power, very comfortable ride, and good on board storage solutions. 500 is carburated with a good price. I don't know a whole lot about Arctic Cats. Suzuki and Yamaha both make great all around machines too. Honda makes a few in the 500 range as well. Super reliable, solid machines. My only very small gripe is the front doesn't have a locking differential so it's more like 3 1/2 wheel drive. Not a big issue in anything but deep, deep mud, or rock climgs where a wheel gets lifted off the ground.

 

I'm nearly 300 pounds and don't have any problems with my Sportsman 500 handling the weight. The rear shocks have 5 pre-load settings so you can stiffen it up a bit. I think Moose is right - any of the 500cc and up will meet your needs.

P.S. Welcome to the forum Gigantor.

 

Its not about motor size but more about chassis/frame size. For instance a 400 Sportsman and 800 have the same chassis and load and towing capacity. Also a 550 Yamaha and 700 Grizzly and a 450 Suzuki King Quad and 750 King Quad.

All are the same ATVs just a different motor in them. Once you're over the 350cc mark in a motor weighing 300 lbs has no affect on the ATV.

A 450 Grizzly and 400 King Quad have a smaller mid size chassis vs a 450 KQ and 400 sportsman with a full size chassis ever though there motors are close in size.

 

Hey bro, I just weighed at the doctor and I'm right at 500lbs and 6+ feet myself. I sat on the polaris 500 H.O. 2011 model and the 2012 model and both of them sagged down in the rear. The distance between the back tires and the underside of the plastic fender was only about 4 inches and if I were to hit a big pothole and come down hard I think it might be problematic over time. It almost seems like the tire would even scrape the fender.

Next I went to bass pro and sat on a 550 Arctic cat and WOW what a difference!! The Arctic cat sat much higher and was a lot easier to get on. because they have a stiffer suspension when I put my foot on the floorboard to swing my fat leg over the back of the quad, it only sank down a little bit. With the Polaris 500, when I stepped on its floorboard it sank down under my weight so far that the whole atv frame leaned way over and was only about 4 inches off the ground, lol.

While I was sitting on the AC, the sales guy asked me if i wanted to test drive it but I declined at first because I was embarassed about my size. However he finally talked me into it and I only drove it around a small area about 25 feet one way, turn around and 25 feet back. However it handled great with my weight and the back tires had plenty of clearance between them and the back fenders, unlike the Polaris.

Now all that being said, I was told here on the forums that the Polaris has different settings on the rear shocks and that at the factory they are usually set to the lowest so the suspension is soft. If this is true and I can have the dealer adjust the Polaris rear to the max stiffness then it might have a much better feel for me as a big guy.

Now about Price and Power:
My local dealer has a monopoly here and they don't budge off MSRP so he wants $5699 for the Polaris and that is with the small rebate they offer. He wants another $480 for a winch including installation which is ridiculous. On an Arctic cat he wouldn't budge below $7500 and again expensive winch.

Now i found a site called ATVs for Sale - Bombardier, Polaris, Can-Am, Arctic Cat - ATV Trader.com where I could price all the dealers in my state and some surrounding states. Using that, I found Polaris 500's all day long for $5299 and when I called up one dealer about 200 miles from me, he said he would throw in a 3000lb winch at dealer cost and install it for free if i bought an ATV from him. The cost of the winch would be $284 installed!!
That is a savings of around $600 with the winch and the price of the ATV and all i have to do is drive 200 miles. I get 16mpg with my truck so a round trip would cost me about $83.75 in gas. Even after I pay gas to go get it, I'll save over $500 which is a lot of money to me personally.

I told all this to my local dealer and he still didn't have a care in the world. He said his dealership has a no haggle price system in place and his salesmen don't work on commission, lol.

Now the Arctic cat is at the bossier City Bass pro on sale for $6700 bucks and that is like 1500 more than the Polaris. I couldn't find it cheaper on Atv trader.

Also I would not go with anything less than a 500 for a big man. The 800+ is overkill and the 500-750 is plenty of power even for me. That 550 AC I drove wanted to accelerate so fast it kind of scared me at first, lol

Here are some other prices I have got for comparable ATV's:
These are all 100% new

Can Am Outlander 650 Camo $6899
in Texas(2010) and its an Xt which means it has hand protectors, Winch, Heavy duty front and rear bumpers and aluminum rims
3k winch already installed

Kawasaki 750 4x4i $6599-$6899 all day long but that is for 2009-2011's.
Cheapest 2012 is $7499-$7699

Yamaha 550 2011 FI $5999 Green 190 miles away from me in Texas
Only one dealer at this price, the rest are 6590-6999

AC 550i at bass pro $6799
AC 550i 2012 $7399 ATv trader
AC 650 2011 $7299 ATV Trader(Bass pro has this on sale$6597)
AC 700 2009 $7299 ATV Trader H1 EFI Model


Polaris 800
2011 $5999 Several places including texas and Alabama. Your choice of Green or red
2012 $6899
2011 850 xp $6999

As you can see LOTS of Choices but no matter what it looks like if I don't go with polaris then it will cost at least 7k and potentially up to 8k depending on model. I think no matter what i can keep it under 8k including tax and registration.

 

I drive a AC 500 TRV. 6'4" @ 250lbs. Rear box with custom brackets off ac bumper full of tools @50lbs. I have no issues with sag unless I ride 2 up. Highlifter makes heavyduty springs for most quads very reasonable and the kit includes the spring compressor tool.

 

Hey Scott can I ask how you like the Arctic Cat? It says you own a 2006 Model so I'm wondering how many hours or miles you have on it and if you have had any trouble with reliability? I'm really leaning towards the cats right now because I just love the stiffness of the suspension. I did consider a 2-up model but my problem is I need a smooth rack on the back to be able to slide my big leg over the quad. I tried to get on a 2 up and the passenger seat blocked me. I understand it comes off but it seemed like taking it off would leave a big hole back there unless I added a box to the rear