That's the info I am looking for....anyone else have an opinion on the maintenance issue?

New Question: I am used to Manual and semi-auto trannys. How does the "auto" tranny work on Polaris...

Thanks Guys!

 

JUST WANT TO THANK ALL OF YOU FOR THE GREAT RESPONSES! I belong to the XOC(Xterra Owners Club) and they aren't as friendly to the newbies there... I appreciate all of your friendly informative responses.

E

 

Been there, owned that, went from a 4 yamaha quad family to now having only Polaris.

My observations, the honda and yamahas do seem to be slightly better engineered. Ergonomics, little details like molded cases and such.

That said, polaris parts such as oil filters are half the price of japanesse counterparts.

Polaris does make a heavier machine, not by much, but they aren't as "refined" as the Jap machines.

You can't really go wrong on any newer quad less than 5 years old. Buy what fits your body size, riding abilities, and your local terrain.

 

I always rode manual clutch until I got my 500ho. I don't miss the manual and love the auto tranny. For the type of riding you do a 500 Scammy sounds like the ticket. We used to have a 2wd warrior and sold it because of snow and mud. We got another 4wd Polaris and are never going back. I think if you get a chance to ride all the quads you are thinking about getting. You will pick Polaris, I know I did. We have two 2002 models and have had no problems with either. In my opinion Polaris has the best looking quads to boot. Good Luck.

 

Go with the 500 HO, all around good machine. Polaris's are a little heavier than the compeition, but that just means they are made from real tough materials. If you look at the components, axles, hubs, drive shafts, etc. they are much stronger than most of the cometition
the 500 engine has been around for a long time and is reliable, plus you get indepent rear suspension and on demand awd. hard to beat this machine.
I heard Polaris is cleaning out the 04's, you could probably get a good deal now.

 

lowend, in my travels as an outside sales rep, i have two customers that are atv dealers. one being polaris and the other a kawasaki dealer. judging my the amount of work that each customers shop i see doing, you will want a kawasaki as their shop is never doing much. but the polaris shop is allways busy with repairs. also read atv magazine at their top picks for the last several years. polaris is allwayys rated at the bottom and kawasaki is allways at the top. polaris is however confortable to ride.

 

first of all... Thanks for all of the great input! I appreciate it!

Okay I am confused after reading coonelder's response....[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

Sounds like Polaris uses better materials regarding heavy duty use and the parts are cheaper to obtain...

For the most part I haven't heard that Polaris is a maintenance hog...except from coonelder...

Anyone else want to chime in on the maintenance question?

Guys! Thanks for the responses! I don't want to fall in love with the scram then find out that it is out of comission due to repairs all the time...

FYI - I am **** about PMCS/Maintenance of all my vehicles/toys... I just want to ride more than work on them...

 

i was going to leave this one alone but oh well here goes. lowend, if i were to be buying a new quad and not knowing much about them (the ones you are looking at). i would tend to take the advise of people that own and operate these machines and not someone who is trying to compare dealership workloads. no offense coonelder. maybe the shop is more busy because that area has more polaris atv's that are out there hammering the trails and farms. i've owned my scrambler for 4 years and anything that i had to replace or take to the shop for ( only once ) was my fault. if you hit a tree and break something then it's not the quads fault. just because the repair shop is busy doesn't mean their stuff is junk. most of the stuff i have seen in the shop was because of rider error or maintenence neglect. i love my two quads and will buy another polaris, if you take care of your atv's they will take care of you.

steve

 

Lowend, did you read my post above. Like I said we have had no problems with our 02's. Like others have said, lube it and change the fluids when it is time. That is it. I would think there should be more Polaris quads in a shop since there are probably 10 times as many Polaris quads out there then kawi. There is a reason there is so many Polaris quads being sold and it isn't becauce they are in the shop alot, if you get my drift. You can get what ever you want to and I really don't care. If you look at my pics you will see work being done on our 400. Not because it needed it but beause we wanted to make it faster. It has around 20 more hp then it did stock and my son beats on it. With all that extra power still no problems with it. These forums are what helped me to buy a Polaris. I used to own yamaha.

 

i agree with stumpjumper, i have a 01 400 scrammy bought right out of the crate, in fact i opened the crate that came from the factory. guess how many times my quad has seen the dealer, "NONE" i keep it washed after riding, i lube all the grease fittings spray it down with wd-40 and its all ready for my next ride, after a few rides i drain the oil and filler up. if that sounds like alot of maint. then i cant help you. these bikes are a blast in any condition, yu dont have to be a pro racer to enjoy the power and agility these bikes give any rider with little riding experience. the best advise is go look at them and test ride it. hope this helps you in your purchasing of your next atv.
tom[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]