Hey let me get my two cents in first.
I was in the same boat you are in now. I did several months worth of research and I ended up opting for the Polaris scrambler 500 4x4. Nice bike. I love it. But ask your self this, very important! what type riding do you have access too mostly or what type do you like? I ride a track because my 10 yr old loves the track type riding, he has a pred 90. I venture out at 44 yrs old and ride technical trails in Houston Too. Spring Creek is trail riding at it's best in my opinion, sharp curves, creek crossings, woods, roots, mud, sand, hills you name it. My style riding. So I need a little of both. I would say a utility bike is not for the track but a sport bike can do a lot of trails as long as you have a utility bike near by when it gets hairy.
I went middle of the road so I could do both track and trail. I have fun on either one with the scrammy 500 4x4.
Bottom line.......... ya need two! a preditor 500 for track or dunes & a sportsman 500 4x4 for technical, trails, mud and ground clearance.
Just like a 4x4 truck and a corvette. Both have a purpose and ya gotta pick.
or go middle of the road with a scrammbler 500 4x4 (SUV w/4x4)
The Scrammy is a jack of all trades , master of none, which fits me to the T.
Have no regrets, you'll have fun whatever you choose.
Take your best educated guess and have fun, just ride responsibly and considerate so we can all continue to ride for years to come.
Good luck!

 

Dont rule outt a automatic too quick.You can set them up to out perform a manual.

 

But why buy something that you have to setup to outperform something else when you can just buy something that already can perform w/o mods? Not dissing the auto's....

 

Jeeeeeezzzzzzzzz! Who in their right mind sits up at 10:30pm on a holiday night and reads ATV forums?
Glad I'm not the only one. heheheheh
I have to work tomorrow. Yalls excuse?

 

I was in a wedding yesterday...so that messed up my plans...and then today I had a graduation to go too...and tomorrow...homework [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img]

 

Homework???? Man! been a number of years since I had homework. Minnesota huh? I just love the internet. Pretty tight talking to all walks of life with common interests all over the states, world for that matter.
Sugar Land (Houston Texas), I hear Minnesota is pretty damn cold! Hows the riding? Houston is hot and HUMID pretty much 24x7 365.

 

Summers are hot (some days are 100+...well hot in our standerds) and then in winter this year the temps droped below -20...with out wind chill. I go out riding all year around...in the summer I wear jeans and a t-shirt and then in the winter I wear jeans, a tshirt, a hoody and a set of gloves...and then of course the standerd protective clothing. The riding is pretty good, I have only been on one of the trails because I have no way of getting the quads to them as of right now. Tuesday is my last day of high school...and graduation is on friday so if any of you want to send me a card (as long as there is money in it lol) pm and I will give you my adress [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

HAHAHAHAHAHA Tell ya what. I'll give ya my two cents, Go to college and major in something worth while. A BBA doesn't get ya the big $$$. Plus now a days it's not what ya know like the old days, it's who ya know unfortunately.
Good night going to bed, gotta be at work tomorrow at 7am. I guess Minnesota is central time too right?
year round riding in Texas for sure.

 

yepp we are central time too...I am going to be going to minnsota state university in mankato. I am going to get my bachelors in computer science, so yes it will be worth while! lol

 

When a manufaturer sets up an automatic they set it to where it is the easiest to ride and has middle of the road performance.With just a spring change and adjusting the secondary spring you can get it better.You can even get more performance from a complete clutch kit (both springs,new weights,and helix) from one of the aftermarket manufactueres that deal with automatic clutches such as HotSeat or HPD.These things are very tunable to suit the type of ridding that you do.Pluss you are alway in the "right"gear for what ever situation you are in.