A lot of people wonder why we bought "shifters"!!
Please post replies why you bought yours, and is it sooo difficult to shift!!???
I personally like the precise control it allows in all situations.
After riding 2 stroke dirt bikes it did take a while to get used to 4 stroke power band.I found myself shifting more than I had to.Now I shift less and its not THAT BAD !
Thanks for posting...

 

Predictable shift control, while climbing or descending steep hills, while pulling heavy loads, while racing around, and finally shifting is more fun. If I didn't like shifting , both my truck and Quad would be automatics.
Jeff

 

very simple.....engine braking and no belts to slip. no matter how well protected the vents on the yamaha's are there still is that potential. and the engine braking is there without some trick clutch setup. basically a more simple and reliable system.

the rubicon may solve the sliping problem but at $7k it will never sell!!!

 

I disagree. The Rubicaon will sell, even at $7000. Look at the Sportsman 500. It is close to 7k itself, and is one of the best selling Polaris machines. I think that Honda will have good sales in the Rubicon.

 

Bill I found your post,I guess I havent gotten in a situaton yet where I needed to shift,but on a manual shifter I have been in places where I could not shift. If I were riding a sport bike such as the 400ex or the new rumored Yamaha I can see the control.
As for engine braking my Sportsman has ebs and it works great.I havent gotten the belt wet yet and I know it could happen but I think Id have to be using it like a boat to do it.
And as for the Rubicon I predict it will be one of the greastest sellers Utility wise Honda has ever sold and you can shift it to. I think many of the shifting crowd will switch over. Man win or lose I love a good clean argument.
Ride much and Ride Happy my friends.

P.S. The other reason you guys shift is until now if you rode Honda you didnt have a Choice.

 

I have ridden many different kinds of atv's. Manual clutches, automatic clutch, and automatic tranny. Here is what I have found. In situations when it comes to mud, pulling, and hill climbing and decending the automatic shines through as the easiest, safest, bestworking transmission. When stuck in the mud and you are off the machine pushing you don't want to have to shift it to get it going faster because if you do you lose power when you let off the throttle and you end up bogging down. Also th hill climbing situations the auto will keep the optimum rpm and poweer to the ground at all times where the manual will require you to drop the rpms therfore resulting in lost speed and traction. In many situations this can be "the difference" in making it up or not. Last but not least if you have done any kind of hunting or anything like that in hilly woods you would understand the hastle of shifting. It wears you out and just slows you down that much more. By the end of theday you were wishing that you hadn't got that da*n manual tranny and feel very fatigued.
Another thing I was sondering about (since I h aven't ridden one for a long period of time) is.... when you ride your thumb shift hondas all day does your thumb get fatigued.... like your throttle thub sometimes does? It seems to me like it might get hard to shift and you might accidentaly hit the wrong button or something and reallymake a problem.... please fill me in. Maybeits not a problem.

As for the belt slipping thing... I have had my mag now for about 9 months and and have put over 2300 harsh miles on it and never once has the belt slipped. I have been in water as deep as my bumpers on quite a few occasions and I would take the chance of something going wrong with that and replacing a belt thatn to have a thumb switch shifter and worry about it draining the battery and leaving me stranded somewhere.... it just seems that even if my polaris breaks down more ofter (or whatever) that is is always easy to fix.

In my opinion, most of the time it IS more fun to shift. But in all saneness I have to admit that it just isnt worth it.

sorry if I offended anyone.... Im just giving my two cents worth. Has the battery raining been a problem for anyones model yet in 99 or 2000? I have only heard it about the 98 models...?

 

Yo Mag500,

You forgot to mention the 450es reluctance to shift out of 1st gear in sub freezing temperatures while warming up.

In "serious mud" I have seen manual transmission quads bog down and become stuck because they were in the wrong gear. The gear shift halted forward momentum and mired the quad.

The manual transmission is handy when:

Towing very heavy loads over uneven terrain.
Pulling a plow, pulling stumps.
Rock hopping on technical trails.

I know a person with a Polaris whose average speed is 16mph. (based on miles divided by hours) He said he prefers automatics. He has also owned 3 manual tranny quads.

I used to hear the same arguments about automatic transmissions in cars. Then I heard people say,
"I don't need front wheel drive...." Yadayadayada

Watch how fast the "Honda Faithful" switch to the Rubicon.

Then they will say:

"Yeah, I always wanted an automatic, but I didn't want a Polaris. You know, this Rubicon has it all, automatic transmission and legendary Honda quality and reliability. My Rubicon is the best."

Why even the "Rancher People" will see the light!

Polaris- For the shiftless/It's always in the right gear.

 

Whats this you are saying about a shifter not being as good on a hill, or when you get stuck in the mud?? Thats just stupid.

I've ridden for around 5 years, and everything I have had, except for an odyssey, has had a shifter on it. There isn't one place I have found were its let me down. Going uphill I know how to downshift to keep my RPM's up, or in the mud I know what it takes to get one unstuck.

They are more reliable too. No belts to change, and no electronics to go out. Then when something does go, its not going to cost an Arm and a Leg, just the arm is all.

With experience they become the best things to own. I think I can put it like learning to drive a car. An automatic is a good way to start learning, its simple, easy, requires less conversation. Then you get that first taste of a standard, and if you can learn to drive one you fall in love. I've had just one automatic car, and my other two vehicles have both been standards. There isn't anything you can do in an automatic that a standard can't do, and the standard is less aggrevation. An automatic four-wheeler would be a good way to start learning to ride with less to concentrate on, but when you go to the shifter and gain that extra control, who would want to go back? There is nothing else out there quite like it.

I like the shifter much much more, I like being in control of my quad, keeping the rpms were I want them, gearing it to go up or down hill, and doing anything else that has something to do with a shifter. I just like having the feeling that I'm somewhat in control of what my quad is going to do.

 

I put many miles on polaris automatic quads and many miles on other brands shifter models and I personaly like to shift (I have a manual car too) so I am propably biased towards shifting.
The reason I like to shift is...If you know what you are doing it is much more fun, has better acceleration and is much more responisve to changing conditions. I agree the auto's are easier to use and have their place for some people , but for the rest of us I like to shift.
As to thumb fatique at the end of a hard day of riding..... WHAT?
At the end of a hard day of riding I sure hope the rest of my body is more tired out than my thumb.
I have never experienced this "shifter thumb fatigue"

Just my experience.
I am also very glad to see that POlairs is finely recognizing the need for a manual transmision quad as they have introduced two of them this year so far. Two thumbs for polaris. Now if they can make them shift like a honda.

 

If you perfer to shift thats fine I perfer not,but I can if I need too just dint want to anymore.You will never convince me shifting is better for anything but racing. On a utility quad I dont think it makes much of a difference.
I think what bothers us Polairs is. We here it's belt drive,if you break, burn or shread a belt it cost a lot less to fix than the internal mech. of a manual shifter.
I hope Polaris keeps working on the manual shifter and hope that they even build a manual clutch-shift and finaly tries to compete with the true sport bikes.
Luckily we have many choices to choose from. What would we do if we couldnt say my quad is better than your quad, it would be pretty boring I bet.
Ride much and Ride Happy