I have been researching to learn which quads are suitable for two people and was wondering how many folks carry a second person occasionally. I would like your advice and also your experience with your own quad as to how carrying a second person works on the quad you own. I realize that there are some restrictions on quads on public roads and property but it seems to me that when one is on their own property these rules may not apply. What are your thoughts as well as your experience in this regard?
I was looking at a used Polaris 700 but the steering was so stiff it seemed dangerous if one needed to make a course change quickly. I am interested in something that my wife could ride on with me occasionally on trails while at our farm. It is hilly but we don't plan on anything dangerous or adventurous. We just would like to mosey around and enjoy the scenery. Let me know how your machine works for you in this type of usage and include the problems as well as the good points. Your help will be appreciated. Best Regards

Sincerely.......................Woods Rider

 

welcome! polaris, arctic cat, and can-am make 2-up model 4 wheelers designed for 2 people...legally. my dad and i ride together on our king quad for hunting and cutting wood and such, but that is on our own land, and going slow through the woods.

 

This is a tough one! On the one hand, the models that are made to be ridden 2-up are big huge ungainly monsters that are not much fun when ridden solo (a couple of my buddies have them, so we know this unfortunately from personal experience), and on the other hand it can be dangerous to put a passenger on a quad that was never intended for 2-up riding. Around here, thankfully 2-up riding in illegal unless the machine is intended for it, and most folks would get a sport quad in preference to an ungainly utility anyway, so we just don't have a "culture of 2-up riding" to deal with.....

Keeping in mind that any utility is going to be 600+ pounds and one made for 2-up riding will probably be 800+, so you need to consider the consequences if you roll one of there monsters! I know, you say you are just going to do easy riding, but we have all seen every kind of accident possible and it can happen even when doing "easy" riding.

If I personally needed to ride 2-up, I would get a side-by-side and have the safety advantage of a rollcage. Another idea might be to get a regular quad for yourself, and also get something smaller for the little lady????

 

As said above, there are 3 companies producing 2-up quads. CanAm, ArcticCat, and Polaris. CanAm is usually the most powerful per cc of any utility out there. Have a good comfortable ride for both driver and passenger. I believe they start in the 400cc range all the way up to 800cc. ArcticCat has similar models, not as powerful as the CanAms or Polaris machines per cc. Very good ground clearance, very comfortable passenger seat and a good box system for when you have a passenger. Polaris has 2 models. The Sportsman X2 and the Sportsman Touring. They both have good power in their cc classes. The Touring has a more comfortable seat than the X2 for the passenger and a ride similar to the CanAm. Most I've talked to say the Polaris is the most comfortable ride. The X2 is the king of versatility. It has a dump bed that converts to a 2nd seat that is fairly comfortable enough for the passenger. The dump bed is great for toting whatever you need to bring with you. Its suspension is stiffer with a 400 lb. rating in the rear. All of these machines are heavy and will give you a good workout. Polaris and CanAm offer power steering on some of their models. Oddly, Polaris does not offer it on the X2 yet. Not 100% sure on the others but the Polaris machines are also 48" wide for greater stability. I've taken my 345+ lbs. and up to a 200 lb. passenger up and down, and through some pretty nasty terrain. Another thing that is nice about the 2-up machines is that they have a longer wheelbase than regular utes. Much better stability on steep hills. Kind of like the difference between a short single cab pickup and a long bed extended cab. You lose a little bit of breakover angle though. I haven't found anything less than 2' high that it hasn't gone over and it's scaled some almost vertical rocks that were flat on top. Hope this helps you in your decision. If you can, try out some of the models that interest you and take them for a ride.

 

Welcome

What they said.

 

Hi Moose Henden:

I rode a Polaris 700 Sportsman the other day and the steering was very, very stiff - so much so that it occurred to me that if a problem arose that required a quick change of course that I would have trouble negotiating the fast change. I noticed that you and others mention that some of these machines will give us a real work out but never elaborate on just what they mean by this. I was wondering if you would be so kind as to define what you mean be a real work out with the machine that you were referring to above as opposed to other machines that don't give us a real work out?
I would probably have purchased the 2005 Polaris 700 if it were not for the stiffness in the steering. It should be remembered that this is the first quad that I have ever ridden on ever. For most of you folks that may be hard to believe but I am 66 years old now and need a little help getting around while hunting. I have had two back surgeries and am able to lift only about 35 lbs. however I ride my lawn mower on a rather large lawn and experience no problems so it is my thought that riding a quad wisely will afford the same or even better ride by using common sense. Without the quad there is no way that I can think of to get my deer out of the woods so that is my goal plus I have a hunting partner who is older and needs a way to get back to his stand as well. We have been using a John Deere Gator but it is to low and to wide to maneuver through the woods so we don't have that anymore. My wife would like to ride occasionally with me but she is not a big fan of doing a lot of outdoor things except flower gardening, etc. I hope this is helpful and any further advice or comments will be appreciated. Best Regards

Woods Rider

 

Hi Woods Rider. What I meant is that utility quads in general will leave you knowing you've been steering a heavy quad all day. That has been rectified by CanAm and Polaris which have 2-up machines with power steering available now. The 2005 you rode requires about the same effort that my X2 requires. The 700 was probably a regular sized Sportsman as they didn't realease the 2 seater until 2006. And the Touring model with the more comfortable seat wasn't release until 2008 if my memory serves me. If not 2009 might have been the first year. It's the 2010 Touring that you can get power steering in. CanAm now has power steering in a few sizes of their 2up machines.

 

I really think that utility quads have gotten out of hand. Once you reach a certain size/weight, you might as well just get a side-by-side, and once you get a side-by-side, you might as well have just gotten a small truck or Jeep.....

I personally, would not want to be stuck on anything over mid size or ~600 pounds!

 

Once again, ReconRanger, what works for you might not be ideal for someone else. For the type of riding you do (desert and dry climates for the most part if I remember right) a sport quad is definetly the way to go. I have lots of water/mudholes where the combined depth of mud and water are often 25-30" deep. I've pulled so many 2wd quads out of the mud, I'm almost getting tired of it... Not really, but... There are also hill climbs here where you're going up and over granite rocks from softball to VW Bug size and everything in between, with a stream running down the middle of it all. Again, I've had to pull 2wds up the hills as the rocks are to big to blast up and they get stuck. As it is, some of these trails are barely passable with a true 4wd. I've come very close to getting stuck in some of the nasty mudholes. Also, trails up this way are usually limited to 50" or less so a UTV is out of the question for riding purposes. And, lastly, my wife doesn't want to drive the quad. She just likes to go out on rides with us sometimes. So, a 2 up is very logical for us and others in a similar situation. The weight hasn't been an issue for me. I've done enough powerslides on the big boy that I'm comfortable riding aggresively with it. If there are people out there that can only afford (or want) one quad, there is nothing as versatile as a 2 up. Not as sporty as some of the lighter quads, but definetly will do just about everything I expect of it and more. I wouldn't mind the Honda 700xx, Polaris 525 IRS, or Yamaha Raptor 700 but for needing a 2 up machine and the mudholes that are just to deep or thick for a 2wd. Just my .02 worth. Woodsrider is wanting to know what machines are good for 2 riders and it seems he wants a quad. That limits it to the 3 companies mentioned. A Polaris RZR might also work for him too if there are width limits on the trails he rides.

 

While my sport quads get mostly ridden in the desert, the utilities get ridden exclusively in the mountains at high elevation. Lots of stream crossings, lots of snow, lots of rocky technical off-camber rock crawling stuff, etc. I ride circles around my buddies on their big bore IRS monsters. In yard deep snow, they don't get any further up the trail than I do. Seems like a real waste to me, to have to be saddled on a monster when you don't really need one. I think it is just attitude. Folks don't realize the capabilities of a smaller machine, so they are clueless....

On the other hand, if all I had to ride in was a bunch of mud, seriously, I would get a helicopter so I wouldn't have to go anywhere near that crap!