I would appreciate some comments on independent four wheel suspension on ATV's. My wife and I were riding Wolf Pen Gap in Arkansas this past weekend. I was riding my Foreman, she was riding her Rancher up a steep, rocky, trail. When she was on top of one big rock with one wheel, the other wheel was hanging in space. When the bike started to rock, she got excited and over reacted. She wound up rolling backwards down the hill. At times, she was on top of the bike and at other times, the bike was on top of her. When the dust settled, both my wife and the bike were laying at the bottom of the hill with minor scrapes, cuts, and bruises.

We enjoy riding that kind of trail, but it really concerns me watching her ride over rocks and boulders. I believe she would have better control with independent suspension. The only ATV's I am familiar with that have independent suspension are Artic Cat and Polaris. While both bikes seem to have good selling points, some friends who have them don't recommend I get one for my wife. They tell me they have constant maint. problems. I would hate to get one for my wife and not be able to use it because it is in the shop all the time. We ride a lot of mud and water and my friend who has the four wheel drive Artic Cat says it can get stuck in a single rain drop.

I would appreciate any comments from riders who have owned Hondas and the other brands.

Ted

 

Those friends telling you not to buy a Polaris are not helping you out much. The fact is, the Polaris Sportsman is as fine a utility quad as there is. No comparison between a Sportsman and that Rancher or your Foreman. I know, I've ridden with those two machines. I took my Mom on some of Windrock, Tennessee's rougher trails last week. Very steep, very rocky. She made all the obstacles with no problem. I wouldn't trust another machine. The Sportsman has more clearance, better ride, selectable four wheel drive, and if properly maintained, will last a long time. We have 3 Sportsman 500's. Combined, they have over 7000 miles on them in the last 14 months. NEVER a slipped belt. The only thing we've had to do is replace a couple of cv boots. You should take a ride on one, the IRS is the way to go on a utility.

 

dusty,

The first thing you will notice is they are more top heavy than your 450 or Rancher. This takes time to get used to. But since you mentioned you were at WPG, after ONE ride up there with IRS you will never buy solid axle again. The ride quality is so drastic. Heck after one ride in Broken Bow when my wife rode her old Rancher for a good 8 hour day, we sold it the next weekend and she got a 660.

 

TEXMud,

Thanks to both you and predator for the replies. Both of you reference IRS. I suppose that means independent rear suspension. I have been thinking independent four wheel suspension. Which is correct? Also which machine is the 660? I have looked at the sportman 500's other folks were riding. Does Polaris also make a 660? What are your feelings about the Artic Cat? Should I belive my friends?

Ted

 

Honda does sell the rincon which is irs.It is a great handling machine which is lighter than many others and it offers honda reliability.

 

The Sportsman has independent suspension all the way around. They point out IRS, cause the rear wheels are not attached by an axle. The 660 you are talking about is the Grizzly. I've ridden on the Sportsmans, and ridden with the Grizzly. I prefer the 500 Sportsman. They also make a 600 Sportsman, but unless you need the extra power, the 500 is the best one. Plenty of power. Arctic Cat makes a good machine, make sure you don't get one less than 500ccs and make sure it has IRS. I'm not sure if all are that way, but I know some of them have to be shifted. If you could look in the parking lot of where we ride, there are more Sportsmans than any other. We plenty of steep rocky terrain, and it takes it all on.

Scott

 

Some of the problem may be the machine and some may be the rider. I have climbed rock canyons on our Rancher that a SP 700 rolled over backwards climbing up, rider or ATV? Our Rancher feels like it has the tendancy to want to go over backwards more than our Rubicon does. We have a large Tamarack trunk the rear of our Rubicon and I have put a Tusk (copy cat of the Tamarack) on the front of our Rancher to carry everything in because it feels light in the front, don't like carrying anything on the rear if we are doing very rough trails. Also you need a little speed so when you hit that one bad spot you don't have to throttle it at the same time you hit the bad spot. Being nervous can also add to not making the right decision at the right time. I am not implying your wife cannot handle the trails or her ATV.

When it comes to a "technical" trail, I prefer our Rancher over our Rubicon. Being lighter is an advantage. I don't think you want a 750 lb ATV on top of you wife, a 550 lb is bad enough. I think in certain places an ATV with IRS has its advantages (they deffinatly ride better), but a swing arm has advantages too!

 

Specta,

I agree with what you are saying. This incident was definately a rider error although she is a good technical rider. Her philosophy has always been to keep enough power to ride through a problem. In this case, she watched the rider in front of her and saw that rider experience a problem at the peak of the hill. She tried to take a slightly different route and didn't realize it was a harder route until she was on top of it. When she tried to make a correction, it was simply to late. I have to give the rancher credit. It wasn't banged up as bad as she was. I think it had more air time on the way down the hill than she did. They were both doing back flips. I'm taking the rancher to the dealer this afternoon for a checkup and she is going to the doctor for a tetnus shot and checkup.

I also saw a 660 Grizzly (brand new) that went down a different hill the same way on the same day. All the wheels were bent in and all the suspension members were crumpled. It was ready for the scrap yard. The rider had to be airlifted off the mountain. I noticed that the bent suspension was independent suspension. Didn't seem to help that rider. I do know that wreck was also the riders fault. He was riding to close to the rider in front and didn't know the guy in front had come to a complete stop. He had the choice of rear ending the guy in front or taking the short way down the hill. He made the wrong decision.

Ted

Ted

 

I hope everything is OK with your wife, good ones are too hard to come by. (don't know if my wife would slap me one for that or not!)

Several friends have bought new ATV's this year. One of them bought a new Grizz 660. He is very happy with it. He traded with another friend that just bought a new SP 600 and he said his 660 feals more "tippy" than the SP 600. I have lso read in other forums where owners feal the SP 700 is too light in the front for climbing up really steep hills, and our friend did role his when the front end came over climbing up a rock canyon.

There are places IRS in my opinion would be a dis-advantage, and one of them would be climbing a steep hill or rock at an angle.

Hope your Rancher is not too bad off. My daughters crashed a new rental one time and it cost me over $1200 to get put back together.

The Rancher is not a 500+ cc massive monster ATV with a lift and locker, but it is very capable ATV. When our daughter wrecked the rental, that is actually what we ended up buying them.

 

For those of you having problems with the rear end on the Sportsmans. If you will tighten the rear shocks up two clicks from the softest setting, it will make a world of difference. It normally comes from the factory set on the softest. That light feeling you get on steep inclines will virtually go away. It really does make the ride better. You also will not get that squat feel upon acceleration. Also, it does not stiffen the ride up any. You'll be amazed at the difference, we were.

Scott