My family and I all used to have Polaris ATV's. I had a 96 Polaris Trailblazer, my dad a 95 Scrambler400, my brother an 88 Trailboss, and my mom a 97 Sportsman500 which she still has now. My Uncle has a 97 Xplorer500, my cousin had a 88 Trailboss RES, my other Uncle has a 97 Sportsman500, and my older brother has a 99 Sportsman that he recently purchased. Here's what went wrong with all of them.

On my Trailblazer, which was pretty reliable, the reverse override switch went out on one of our big trailrides. I really needed my machine to work then but whenever I would go through water, it would short out and almost kill the engine. Then at the same time, the fuel valve was vibrating shut. I did not know what it was that was making my machine run like crap. It couldn't get up hills by itself and had a top speed of 25. I wish I would have known this because I would have turned it to where it was supposed to be. But those were minor things. My mom's 97 Sportsman has been in 4 times to get a new radiator, cause they kept leaking. Liquid cooling isn't always the best thing, is it Mag500? On my dad's Scrambler, Polaris forgot to weld the cooling fins on the drive clutch to the clutch itself. It overheated one day and melted the PVT cover. Then the speedometer cable broke. My brother's 88 Trailbox 250 was just a piece, needing a fixing almost every time he rode it. Put over $300 dollars in the clutch, at the dealer, and still didn't work right after he got it back. Other things are front shocks, engine rebuild, too many other things to list. My cousin's 88 Trailbox RES was worse, at one time the electric starter and the pull starter didn't work! I don't really mind that the old ones broke a lot, cause they're old, but then again, our 1981 Honda threewheeler we had for 14 years only got 1 engine rebuild (bored it out) because it was burning oil, it still ran! And we put new brakes in and a new seat cover on it. The transmission worked like the day it was new! How's that for reliable transmissions? Also, we purchased it for $1000 dollars back in 81, and sold it for $500 dollars, how's that for resale on a machine that was 14 years old? On my Uncle's 97 Xplorer 500, after 20 minutes of riding, it wouldn't shift into gear. Brought it in and it turned out that there was a bearing missing in the transmission. Got it back (a month later!) and the indicator lights were screwing up and his 4 wheel drive doesn't work anymore. I think I would rather have a limited slip, at least that has more wheels turning than a 4wd whose 4wd switch doesn't work! On my other Uncle's 97 Sportsman 500, the 4wd didn't work right from the showroom. And on my older brother's Sportsman, it wouldn't run decent on our most recent trailride. Something was screwed up in the carb, and we also found a broken ground cable. I don't know if it was Polaris's fault for the carburetor or Mikuni's. So as you can see, we didn't have much luck with reliablility of Polaris quads.
Now, I ride a 98 Honda 300EX, my brother rides a 99 Honda 400EX, my dad a 98 Honda ForemanES, and my cousin a 97 Kawasaki Lakota. We had absolutely no problems with any of our Hondas. The only thing is on the ES the battery would be drained sometimes after not using it for awhile, which the recall fixed and we have no more problems with it. But the battery was never drained enough to where we had to pull start it.

Now, since I've ridden a 450ES and a Sportsman, which is pretty much a Magnum but rides better, here's my opinion. The Polaris has more power, due to the bigger engine! It rides better, due to independent in the back and more travel. The cooling I wouldn't say is better on the Polaris, because oil coolers have a greater effect on the oil than liquid cooler's do, cause they are cooling the oil itself, not just carrying away the heat from the piston. The engine oil confirms this, as the Honda's is much cleaner and not as black as the Polaris's is, plus our Polaris's has a hint of coolant in it. The Polaris has a much tighter turning radius, which is good, more ground clearance, good racks, but they crack easily. The Foreman has much better lights, the Sportman has a plusher seat, and as far as brakes, the Foreman will stop in a lot shorter distance than those single lever brakes will ever allow you to stop on the Polaris. And I've ridden my brother's 99 Sportsman with EBS, that EBS doesn't even compare to the Honda's engine compression braking. That's why I'll take the Honda for pulling hay wagons and stuff, cause it will slow it down without the brakes! The EBS works great in low range, but how often are you in low range? Also, the Sportman's 4 wheel drive system is better, but only when it works. It really annoys me on ours when the one front wheel hub sticks and it tries to turn one way, you need Superman to turn them. Backing up and turning the bars doesn't always help either. And what's this about the Rubicon's crappy 4 wheel drive system? It has an AP type front diffential, which means it won't let one wheel pull and not the other, even when one wheel is off the ground!

 

BOY that boy is long winded Later COB

 

The boy may be long winded, but I bet he shut some folks up with that one. I notice that you had nothing to say back to him. That was a really good and informative post. None of that speculation crap either. Actuall experience.

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Andy Bassham *(1999 Arctic Cat 500 4x4, 1989 Honda 300)*

 

Thanks rooster for the excellent info. Ditto Andy's post.

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Ride the "WILD" country , South Gillies, Ontario, Canada

 

Yep, that's what I was going for, is actual experience. Since we have both machines I can conduct my own shootout. Also, some stuff to add, is not always does the Sportsman get through more mud than the Honda, it depends on what kind of mud it is. If it's the kind of tacky soft mud that your machine will sink into, the Honda goes through more because it's lighter. Plus, if you do get it stuck, it is much easier to get out than the Sportsman is. But a different type of mud where ground clearance is needed, the Sportsman will get through more. Also, the Polaris can pull more than the Honda, since we hooked them hitch to hitch already on grass and on hardpack. On grass, they were equal, both spinning and going nowhere. But on hardpack, the Sportsman didn't have a problem pulling the Honda, even leaving off the gas and then going again, it could pull it backwards! But this is due to the extra weight and the rear tires which are very aggressive, plus they are also a little taller because of the huge lugs. Keep in mind that all 4 of the tires on the Honda were digging on both pulls, so the four wheel drive system wasn't a factor. Also, I've used both of them to dig potatoes with an old plow that digs the potatoes and rolls them out of the ground, and it goes in like 8 inches or so. The digger has handles on the back for a person to guide it on the row, and to lift it when it gets full of weeds. For this, the Honda was much better because it could go a lot slower. Even in low range, the Sportsman was just not geared down low enough to just crawl with it and the engine needed to be turning at least a third to half throttle just to get it going and keep it's momentum up. The Honda, with it's low first gear, could go at a slow speed but have plenty of rpm's to keep the digger going, and also for the person that's running the handles on the plow to keep up! Just thought I would share these experiences with all of you.

 

Okay, okay, praise Honda; bow down to their superior work. Ditch Polaris,Suzuki, and whatever else. Place Honda on a pedestal.
Enough said? Please stop with the one-sided posts,eh?
BushHog
'99 Sportsman 335 (PROUD Polaris owner)

 

You can betcha bottom dollar, the next time I dig me some taters,I'll have me a HONDU!!!!
Stick that in your pipe an smoke it!!!!Along with what ever else you been smokin, to make you think Honda beats polaris anyday.Hey!! HEY!! cool down only haven some fun.I know Rooster nice guy, just spends to much time out in the sun with no hat on.LOL LATER COB

 

Bushhog, if you actually read my posts closely, there is a lot of things that the Polaris has going for it. I'm not ashamed to say this, but if I was to buy a machine between the Honda ForemanES and the Sportsman 500, it would be the Sportsman. And this is coming from a Honda rider. But I think if it was the Rubicon vs. the Sportsman, I would take the Rubicon. Have to wait and see how it does. There is nothing wrong with liking two brands of ATV's. I like Polaris and Honda. I like Honda's sport machines and Polaris's utility machines, but Honda's are ok too. I haven't found a law in Congress yet that says you can only like one brand of ATV's!

[This message has been edited by rooster (edited 11-10-1999).]

 

Guys not trying to bring down the new Rubicon, but don,t call it king of the hill just yet let it get on the market first. I got my first technical breakdown of the Engine ,transmission today and this thing is complex, Might have to send it to Tranco to get it fixed when it breaks. I know Honda does extensive development on their products and I sure hope it works for them but I have to say I have alot of experience with hydraulics from my farming experience and all hydraulic systems have a few things in common ,they make lots of heat esspecially under stress and they use a lot of engine horsepower before it gets to the wheels But...... they also make tons of torque. I guess we,ll all find out when it hits the market. Hey Cob don,t know about you but I,m convinced ,lets go trade our Polaris Quads for one of them purty yeller 450s, LOL,Lol Lol

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Kevin Gowdy aka Kagey 1999 Polaris Magnum 500

 

KEVIN...!!?!

Now I know you are not suggesting that a HONDA might actually break down, are you ?!


Beside's, Now Polaris has that pretty HONDA yellow for the Sportsman. I bet that will make it run better :^).


Seriously, I have to agree. It would not be something you would want to take apart out in the wilderness.... But I still WANT one!

True 500cc 4 valve liquid cooled engine - Bout' time!

Happy Trails


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Steve "Bog Hog" West

Honda 300 4x4 - Gordonized, Powered and Vamped