OK, Here goes,

I broke my baby doll. I was riding in snow a couple days ago, and I was in first gear and shifting into second. All of a sudden I heard bang slam crack. I looked on the ground and saw my chain sitting there. I was kinda pissed cuz the chain wasn't bad at all. I've had the preddy for 11 months and I hardly rode it. I was pissed cuz chains and sprocket sets are kinda expensive. Then I look down and see my case saver broke off of my pred. It broke the aluminum posts that the guard screws into, and that pissed me off too, but it wasn't that big of a deal. I then started inspecting the case and found a crack in the case, across the gasket and into the case cover. At this point I became VERY pissed. I put a used chain on it so I could just putt around with everyone for the day because they said they weren't gonna ride if I didn't go, and my case wasn't leaking very fast at all and I had oil with me. We go through and fix the chain. I ride it around the lawn for 10 or 15 minutes with no problems. I was actually starting to feel good about it (as good as can be for the situation), UNTIL I SHIFTED TO 3RD AND IT WASN'T THERE!!!!!!!! I don't have 3rd, 4th or 5th gear now. I'm sure I didn't break all three gears at once, so I'm guessing shift fork or something like that. It's 5 months out of warranty and my dealer said that Polaris probably wouldn't cover the repairs because there haven't been any complaints about the tranny's in the 2004's. I have a buddy who owns a atv repair shop in town here and he can do me pretty good on the repair costs, so instead of trucking it 2 hours to my dealership to find out if polaris will help out or not, I'm gonna have my buddy fix it. WHY would it do this. I wasn't even in 3rd gear and I lost 3rd 4th and 5th????? I don't really know much about an ATV tranny, but it just doesn't seam right. I don't know if the chain broke and hurt the tranny, or if the tranny screwed up and broke the chain. ANY INFO ON THIS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. I was just hoping that maybe someone else has gone through this and knows what it is. I'm seriously considering trying another quad, even though I love my preddy. I just don't think I'd be happy with anything else.

 

Do you keep up on your chain maintaince?? Also, probably not a good idea to have ridden it with oil leaking out of it. They only hold 2 quarts.........so hopefully you didn't starve anything of oil. You are just going to have to tear into it and see what comes out!!! Hopefully you can have the cases welded...if not, you are going to be spending major money!!!!!

 

Of course I keep up on my chain maintenance. It wasn't too loose, too tight, or dry. I'm not even sure that this was caused by the chain breaking, or if it was cause by the tranny locking up on me. Its a 520 O-ring chain, and it broke in two places!!! That's what makes me think it was the chain breaking, also the fact that the chain didn't get lodged and it just slapped the case, it didn't go through it so how does the tranny get screwed up by that. And by the way, the oil is seaping out of the crack. The crack is less than an inch long and after riding for 15 minutes it wasn't even down on oil. It's BARELY seaping out to where if I wiped the crack off it would take about 30 seconds for a bead of oil to form on it. I'm not a retard that'd ride my quad around with no oil in it. I'm not real worried about the case because we'll have the case apart and it'll make it easy to weld, it's the tranny that I'm worried about.

PS- Brad, I wasn't looking for someone to question my maintenance on my quad, I need helpful insight. If you don't have any, please don't go and offend people by making it sound like it's their fault that it happened. I'm not a retard, don't treat me like one. Thank you.

 

Sorry for having offended you. I wasn't looking to degrade you in any way or form. I was just asking the simple questions that I think everyone would have asked to start the thinking process. I do not know you whatsoever, so I have no idea of your maintaining practices. I don't know much about the predator, or anything else for that matter. I have had a broken case before, actually 2 of them, but I'm by no means a expert on anything. Again, sorry for having offended you, it wasn't my purpose. I'll leave this topic for someone to better answer your question.


Brad

 

You said you've had 2 broken cases??? On your predator or an earlier bike? What caused that, chain? I just don't understand how a chain hitting a case and not going through it, and not getting wedged between the countershaft sprocket and anything, could hurt the tranny in any way. I could see if the chain got wedged and stopped the sprocket instantly, how it could bend or break something, but I really don't think that happened or the chain would've stayed wedged. I'm not gonna have to buy the case though, cuz it's cracked in a very "weldable" location (luckily). I'm just worried to split the cases and see what I find. I hope it's not too bad. Thanx for any info brad.

Brian

 

My split cases were from an ealier bike, but were do to loose swing arm bolts, lots of power, a loose tension bolt under the tranny, and a chain. I can see how the chain would break your case by slapping it........how fast were you going(or did you rev it and drop the clutch)??? If you were moving right along, the impact of the whipping chain on the case would break it...........


When you weld it, make sure you cover up as much of the case as you possibly can with towels(or something)......so burrs and stuff don't get wedged into places you can't get out. I don't have any idea on how to know if something is bent of out of whack in there though.

 

DO me a favor mebcop, compare your 2 quads for me. If you will.

 

my guess is your shift fork was knocked out of place...split the cases and see what the damage is!! if oyu need new gears goto partsland.com they'll hook you up!!!

 

I've compared them before if you can find where I did it in a search, but I'd be happy to do it again.

Predator- Very fun. It feels a LOT faster than the DVX, but it's not a LOT faster. Don't get me wrong, it is faster, but the 2-stroke power delivery feel that you get from the 500cc 4-stroke engine is SO MUCH FUN. The predator has a tendancy to slide a ton more than the DVX which makes it feel a ton more stable. The problem with that is that sliding isn't faster in a race. I've changed the tires on the predator to the Dunlops that come on the DVX and it's a totally different quad. It's turned it into the "perfect" quad in my eyes. It is stable due to its ergos (wide and low), but it also grips in turns now. I liked the looks of the Razr tires better, but one ride and I'll keep the Dunlops for ever. The predator stops a LOT better than the DVX also. I'm not sure exactly why, but I believe it may have to do with the braided brake lines and the calipers. The suspension on the predator is good if you're going "***** to the walls", but is quite harsh if you are going slow on trails and so forth (I've heard great things about the resevoirs for the fox shocks but I don't know first hand). The predator wasn't as easy to wheelie as the DVX at first, but with the new back tires it's much much easier. I still wouldn't say it wheelies as easily, but it is very easy to get the front end light on the pred.

DVX- Also very fun, but..... There are just a couple complaints I have about the DVX. First of all, the power delivery. It feels like the DVX is slower than it actually is, and it feels like the predator is faster than it actually is. The DVX has a very BROAD power band with not very much of a hit to it. I don't really care for that, but if that's what you like than that's perfect. The next thing I don't really care for is the "raptorish" feeling. Tall and tippy, but not as bad. (Not trying to bash the raptor, just not what I like). The dvx dives in turns and then when you hit the gas, it noses through them. It is perfect if you're on the trail because the suspension is soft and it's really easy to lift the front end over obstacles. I almost wonder if I put the razr's on the dvx if it would help the nosing through corners problem... I'll try that and let you know. Don't get me wrong about the power though, it's plenty to kick your a$$ if you're not paying attention, but it just doesn't feel it. I'm sure a pipe or cam or ... etc could really help it, but you're still stuck with a trail machines handling characteristics.

Conclusion- If you're a weekend warrior track racer that likes to ride trails really aggressively and also enjoys the 2-stroke power delivery, get the preddy. If you do mostly trail riding, and would rather have a smoother ride than go fast, get the DVX. Actually if you're doing that, go with the DVX's counterparts (LTZ or KFX), simply because the DVX's seat feels like it was made with 50% foam and 50% concrete. I love my DVX, but I would definately rather ride my predator.... all the time. The DVX just doesn't feel aggressive enough. Just remember, these reviews are on totally stock machines. Add-on's can completely change a machine, and also your views of them.

I hope that helps you out a little. If you have any specific questions, just post them and I'll answer them.

 

Nice review, thanks! Good luck with your Pred issues. Still deciding on what sports quad I'll be purchasing soon. Looks like because of the deal I can get I'll likely (gasp) go with a 2005 TLD Pred.