If the reliabity of polaris is such aproblem why are there so many sold.You say not many people will buy that.There are over 1000more replys on polaris site than honda,somebody must be buying something.Polaris sold more XLT snowmobiles a couple years ago,than yamaha sold all together.That was the XLT only didn't count all the other models.There surely is something missing here some where.Please enlitin me how they keep these # up if they are so bad. LATER COB one of apparently many happy polaris owners. snowmobiles and Quads.

 

Hey Kevin,

Local ATV groups are a great thing - it makes riding much more fun. I think I've only seen one Foreman 350 and it was down in LA. It was playing around in the Suicide Hole - seemed to be doing OK, but there had been a lot of work (waterproofing) that had been done.

Our biggest problem is with the Polaris two-stroke (250's I think??). We have more than one - they both act like this. They do fine while we are riding around flat areas, but when we come to a difficult area and everybody has to "wait their turn" for a few minutes - The plugs seem to "foul out".... They have to be replaced anyway. Do you know of anything that can help this? It's bad enough that several club members that don't own the quads are carrying spare plugs as well. Any info that would help to pass along would be appreciated.

BTW - I grew up raising Soybeans, Corn, Wheat, and Moo-Cows - What do you farm?

Nothing Runs Like a Deere!

Happy Trails




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Steve "Bog Hog" West

Honda 300 4x4 - Gordonized, Powered and Vamped

 

Kevin, Steve and Andy thanks for keeping things together and providing quality responses that some of us new comers can learn from. I would like to say that I'm in this forum to enhance my understanding of the "real" issues associated with ATVing. I visited all the forums while I was trying to make my decision to buy. Each machine had some qualities that I liked however none of them are perfect. Real information from these forums based on real experience is the best you can get! I chose my quad based on some of the features that I liked but more importantly the local dealer has been awsome!
I went to the local Honda dealer on two seperate occasions once to look at the 450es and once to look at the 450s. I dealt with the owners brother and received quotes for each machine. With the exact same options, he quoted me $100.00 more for the S than the ES(obviously forgetting how much he told me for the ES). I walked.

The Suzuki dealer told me to come back to ride one but not on Saturday because that was their busy day. I guess spending $5000-$6000 wasn't enough to get "good" treatment on a Saturday. I walked.

The Polaris dealer was confrontational when I mentioned some of the concerns I had based on information I had gathered from this web site. He wanted to know exact quotes! I asked him for his best price on the Magnum 500 and SP500. He gave me his prices and said "Before you make your decision come back and see me, I may be able to do a little better". I walked.

I ended up buying the 2000 AC 500. The moment I walked into my local dealer he told me "I've been selling motorcycles since the 60's and the rest of these toys for many years. I don't like to play games with pricing, if I give you a quote that is my best price".

I checked many resources for prices and best deals around. I could have saved $450.00 by driving 4 hours but I wanted local support! This guy has been great, installing winch and plow for no charge, let me use his trailer for 3 days until I decide to buy one or ramps for my trunk. My decision was primarily based on the dealer issue.

Sorry this got so long winded but I wanted to let you know that there is some real value in quality postings.

Now for my mud slinging, there was an earlier post that spoke of Honda's resale value over the Polaris. I too had heard that and was really confused when I looked at the Kelly Blue book "retail" values. A 99 Honda 450s retails for $5590. A 99 Polaris Magnum 500 retails for $5495. With the original list price of the Honday being $300-$400 higher around here, it appears that according to Kelly Blue book, the Polaris holds it value better.

Thanks.

 

Hey Veeger,

Welcome!

I understand your flustration with the dealers - I can't stand our local dealer - unfortunatly he handles everything. He likes to add about $300 to the Retail price and then "give" you about $200 off so you think you are getting a deal. Last time I was in there - he had a big "TIRE SALE" sign above a set of Regular Super Swampers size - 24x9x11 ... He only wanted $110 apiece.

Hope you enjoy your "CAT" - Did you get the auto or the manuel?

Let us know what you think about it.

BTW - I can get a new 450S cheaper... $5450. I'm waiting for the "Rubicon"

Happy Trails

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Steve "Bog Hog" West

Honda 300 4x4 - Gordonized, Powered and Vamped



[This message has been edited by Bog_Hog (edited 11-09-1999).]

 

veeger;that was good post backs up my feelings,your quad is only as good as your dealer.I spent a whole saturday a month ago looking for a new truck,$35,000.00 and you cannot believe some of the treatment we got.Same experience that you had, we were looking for one brand, but each dealership was different.$6000.00 is bad enough, but I would have thought they would have been more eager to talk to you. cob

[This message has been edited by corncob2 (edited 11-09-1999).]

 

Note to Steve; Thanks for redoing the 300 4x4 post I do a lot of accesorizing the 300 is very popular around here and I have gotten a lot of good ideas from it. I have a"pet" 300 4x4 that belongs to my best friend that as soon as I get the pictures of it developed I,m going to put them on here. It has 25x12 terra tires on Aluminum rims and a light system that I hand built that I think you guys will love , a double handle bar setup similar to the scramblers except this one puts out 200 watts!!!! talk about lighting up the night. Thanks for your work I printed them as you put them back on here.

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Kevin Gowdy aka Kagey 1999 Polaris Magnum 500

 

Let's face it.Some quads are better than others at some point in time. Never is one quad perfect all the time. Breakdowns are inevitable, but it does help when you take care of your machine. You can't judge another quad unless you treat,ride, and maintain an identical quad the same way the other man does.Polaris has good features: suspension,true AWD etc. Honda has good features:reliability,low-end torque etc. Suzuki,Bombardier,Kawasaki, and Yamaha also have strong points (a few, at least)
So there's always gonna be a time when YOUR prized,precious quad falls to another brand. So grow up and take the criticizm.

I personally favor Polaris products. I researched ALL quad brands and found what I thought was the best for a mid-sized atv-Sportsman 335. But I'm sure someday I'll fall to a Honda,Yamaha, or whatever; But that's OK. I will accept that and go on instead of dwelling on it.Most of you folks should too.
Thank You, Bush Hog.
'99 Sportsman 335 '84 Suzuki 125 ATC

 

Let's face it.Some quads are better than others at some point in time. Never is one quad perfect all the time. Breakdowns are inevitable, but it does help when you take care of your machine. You can't judge another quad unless you treat,ride, and maintain an identical quad the same way the other man does.Polaris has good features: suspension,true AWD etc. Honda has good features:reliability,low-end torque etc. Suzuki,Bombardier,Kawasaki, and Yamaha also have strong points (a few, at least)
So there's always gonna be a time when YOUR prized,precious quad falls to another brand. So grow up and take the criticizm.

I personally favor Polaris products. I researched ALL quad brands and found what I thought was the best for a mid-sized atv-Sportsman 335. But I'm sure someday I'll fall to a Honda,Yamaha, or whatever; But that's OK. I will accept that and go on instead of dwelling on it.Most of you folks should too.
Thank You, Bush Hog.
'99 Sportsman 335 '84 Suzuki 125 ATC

 

Steve; I forgot t answer your question about the plug fouling. My first guess would be that the oil pump may be out of adjustment. It is operated by a split off of the throttle cable and I have seen a few get out of whack and put to much oil to them, my 300 did it once its not a big deal to adjust it and it can make a big performance diffrence, Look for to much smoke out of the Quads to clue you as to whether this may be the problem. There should be very little smoke when it is set right and a high quality oil is being used.

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Kevin Gowdy aka Kagey 1999 Polaris Magnum 500

 

Thanks for the info Kevin, I'll pass that along.

Thank Chris P. as well - If it weren't for him, we would have lost it all. He was smart enough to print it out the first time.

I have the Part II and Part III in MS Word - If anyone would like the electronic copy - Just email me and I'll "re" you with the attachments.

BushHog - Well said.

p.s. - I would like to see that 300.

Happy Trails

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Steve "Bog Hog" West

Honda 300 4x4 - Gordonized, Powered and Vamped



[This message has been edited by Bog_Hog (edited 11-09-1999).]