I borrowed, my friends 500 foreman ES last weekend for a fishing trip, because mine had a hole in a cv boot and I had no time to deal with it. I can tell you having to shift on rough slow trails is a monotonous chore, not fun. A few places the 3wd was noticeable and caused lack of traction, and it rod much rougher with its straight axle, bumps I would not usually care about I had to ride around,and the power felt like I was on a 400. No way Id want one,it seemed like the 500 had no improvements over my old 450 Foreman.

 

unit666, amen brother. lol power to honda!

 

I guess that's why all the snowmobile manufacturers have moved away from CVT trannies... Oh, wait, They haven't. I think its interseting that only Honda maniacs have a problem with cvt's. Oh, and I'm on my third belt driven quad, one Kawi and two of those half-assed Polaris's, and have never had to buy a belt or a spring. I have, however, had alot of fun with my buddy Dave who needs to have his 3WD Rincon pulled out of mud... alot.

I will give you this. On dry hard pack trails, there isn't a better driving quad out there than a Rincon. But my daughter's 2WD Prairie 300 goes thru more mud than Dave's Rincon

 

On snowmobiles CVT makes sense. Keeping water and mud out of it isn't an issue, therefore it can be run without being enclosed so cooling isn't an issue, and if trailside replacement becomes necessary it is generally easy to do.

Granted, on newer quads belt drive has been refined to generally be reliable. Still, I've known owners of several newer machines who have shreaded the belt...

 

Our 1997 SP500 never had any belt problems easily get 2000 miles from a $80 belt that takes 20 minutes to change, pretty well the same set up as you would fined on a 2010 model. as long as the water is not higher then the air intakes (half way up gas tank) there no way for the water to get in. deeper than that and its time for a boat.

I think if the belt can shoot 180hp sleds up a powered 60 degree mountain side faster than a ATV can go on flat ground http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhXR4...eature=related , there really under worked on low powered ATVs. and all atv are low powered in sled terms. 70 hp is considered a beginners sled nowadays but the hp champ in atv terms.

Is there such thing as a high powed utility ATV thats not belt drive?

Who says a belt cant do a bit of water http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2kTVCsLOD0

 

2000 miles per belt @ $80

That means I would have replaced my belt six times at a cost of $480, that's $80 more than I have spent in repairs so far and I'm sure that they only break at home while idling in your driveway. Who wants to carry an extra belt and change it on a nice sunny afternoon in the middle of a great ride??

Polaris has belt issues, always has and always will. It is just plain and simple and I don't know why people continue to defend and/or deny it. That's just like arguing that Honda's 3-wd works as well as a locker.

Polaris has the worst belt drive system in the ATV market today, great for a sled but not an ATV.

I've ridden 2010s Polaris's and the clutch engagement is HARSH and ridiculous, it feels like a ceramic clutch in an F-700 dump truck. Once again a great idea to avoid slipping.

Polaris moved their shift pattern so people would be more prone to using low range while working the ATV to prevent belt damage, that's why they put low range in front of high in the shift pattern.

And their EBS system is flat out dangerous, locking up just the back wheels is a joke, oh ya! They put in an over-ride button to fix it. Why don't they just fix the problem rather than adding over-ride switches??

Why don't they use a wet clutch for a final drive like all of the other belt drives so the belt isn't constantly slipping?

I guess they could also try to overcome the problem that they are very well aware of by offering a life time guarantee on the belt, that should fix it.

And once again this is JMO.

 

The belts looks fine at 2000 miles, it just that it takes me 3 years to do 2000 miles we park them in from Nov to April. I just do not want a belt with more the 2000 miles even if it can do 3000. On my sled I just change the belt every year no matter what.

If you want a Utility ATV with more than 40hp you have to get a belt drive. I don't think 90% of utility ATVs are belt drive because they don,t work to good.

I don,t have any belt slipping issues,hash engagement, I must have one of a kind,sorry I mean two.


I hope when working a ATV people used low range thats what its there for. I,m going to pull some some heavy load or push a plow in High? You don,t see Foreman's working hard in 3rd gear as well.

 

I think they use them because they are cheap to produce and that the other manufactures don't have what it takes to engineer and produce an alternative.

But then again, that's just my opinion.

 

Specta,
My Polaris's have not had belt problems, so I wont admit to a non-existent thing. Now if some idiot tries to pull a heavy log 300 yards in high and smokes the belt, he deserves what he gets, no matte what make the cvt is. Low is there for a reason, just like first gear in a Honda.

Yup, my 09 850 does engage a little harshly, until it's warm. Not a big deal as the guy with the honda has to let his automatic tranny wam up too, so I get warm up time.

Every Polaris I've driven (going back to mid 90's Xplorers) has had the same shift pattern. So too the Kawasaki has that pattern. Makes sense for plowing so you don't have to shift past high when going from reverse to low.

The EBS on either of my popo's was totally OK, never locked up the backs on either.. and the 850 has ADC, which is the best decent control system I've experienced on any brand.

I think it's cool as hell you've racked up so many miles on your Honda. You go ahead and keep bashing Polaris, and I'll keep pulling Honda's out with mine.

 

You keep pulling the Honda's out and I'll keep towing the Polaris's home.

Like a good friend used to tell me when we went riding, he had a '01 HO 500, Kenny you bring the tools and I'll bring the tow rope.

They all have their plusses and minuses. Mines the best for me and I hope yours is the best for you and I hope that they are trouble free, dependable and exceed all of your expectations.

I am fortunate that I get to ride with all different brands of ATVs and get to ride severaldifferent brands of brand new ATVs. I also get to spend a full day on them riding the trails and not just around a parking lot.

Polaris is the highest maint/repair and CanAm is #2, argue all you want.
If you want to play in the mud buy an AC or a Polaris and not a Honda.

I can't tell you how many Polaris's I've seen the rear wheels locked up sliding down a steep loose trail, you're lucky that you have never experienced it. I watched a good friend riding a Polaris 600 let off the throttle on ice at 10 mph, the real wheels locked up via the EBS, it slid sideways and when it hit the dry dirt it went over and messed her up pretty bad. If it’s not a problem then why do they have an over-ride switch? Why would you want the EBS only affecting the rear wheels when descending a steep hill?? I see that in 2010 the 4-wd on a Polaris works in reverse without having to hold in an override button, why wouldn’t you want the 4-wd to work in reverse?

Here in the Rocky Mountains I'll take my 600 lb, SRA and low center of gravity ATV any day over a IRS heavy smooth riding ATV, even with “real” 4-wd.

Buy what works best for you. I would never try to convince anyone to buy what I have. My advice is to look at all of them all and buy what you like. I just answer their questions the best I can.

end of rant