I've never been a big Polaris fan. I don't know much about the new ones but I know the old ones had some probs. Especially the older 2 strokers. They vibrated themselves to pieces. The frames are a joke. They got great power but the frame flexes soo much that it will kick the shifter into neutral sometimes! Look at the Prairie 700 or Brute Force 650. I see that you have a mule. Those things are bullet proof. If you love your mule, look into the other Kawi's. But this is my opinion. We just got in a new Mule 3010 Trans 4x4. The limo of all utility vehicles! It kicks ***. Again, another first from the green boys!!

 

The man brings up a good point. The Kawi machines are nearly as beefy in the drivetrain department as the Sportsman's. As far as power they are hard to beat with that V-Twin and I love the idea of that rear wet disc brake totally sealed up from the elements. Probably the best value on the market as far as power and features go. I can get a 650 Brute in NY for $5600 out the door and the Prairie for $6100 out the door, same machine aside from plastic and cc's. Of course these are SRA machines and the Brute 750 is IRS but I don't advise buying a first year model of anything. They all have a locking front diff controled by the operator. There's my 2 cents [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Not in anyway trying to downgrade the Kawi, but the drivetrain is no were near the beef of the Sportsman. Which of course you can also that with a beefer drivetrain there is more weight. It's all a bunch of give and take...

 

I agree with Aaron...the Sportsman is built better than anything out there and its not my opinion, its after owning several different brands....

But.....I'll quote the Polaris ad on the back of my DW magazine:

"TOUGHEST SPORTSMAN EVER.
AVAILABLE IN LARGE, EXTRA LARGE AND HOLY %&*#!"

I'll also say, the best, biggest, fastest, baddest, toughest quad out there is the one you own...no matter what it is...

 

My 04 600 is almost two years old (bought in spring of 03) and it's got about 1000 miles on it. Not one problem. I was in the same situation as you before I bought mine. I've always owned Honda's and around here Polaris's were a joke. Everyone made fun of them because of the reliability issues on the older models. A friend of mine had a 2000 model Sportsman 500 and everytime we went riding, he just blew me away and don't even mention if you have to get into the mud, nothing can touch a Polaris in the mud,,,period. My friend has never had one problem with his 2000 model. I was very fortunate to have a dealer less than an hour away that sold Polaris, Kawa, and Yamaha. I had originally wanted to buy the Kawa Prarie 650, but after visiting this dealer, the overall package of the Polaris sold me. I was able to line up a Sportsman 500 H.O., a Prarie 650, and a Grizzly for test rides. I got off one and onto another for about an hour. I loved the sound and power of the Prarie but was not impressed with the ride,,,too stiff and bouncy and tended to get up on two wheels when turning sharply. I didn't really care for the vibration of the Griz and it seemed top heavy. The sportsman handled the sharp turns well, smooth running engine and I loved the ride. I've yet to ride any atv that rides a nice as a Polaris. I'm 44 years old, and the older I get, a smooth ride is very important. There were three things that I wanted in an atv. 1. IRS. 2. Real 4x4 and not 3 or 2x4, and automatic. I was sick of shifting gears. markie, in one of the above post says, "The biggest complaint I have with my 2003 700 polaris is the ebs.Remember before you buy it that the ebs only works on the rear wheels and the suzuki ebs works on all 4 wheels.Going down steep hills the polaris can be a handfull. " This is not completely true. If you know how to lock in the front wheels, while going down hills, the ebs works so well you have to give is gas just to get it to move. I didn't get to ride Suzukis. There's only one dealer around here and he also sells Hondas, so her really pushes the Hondas and tries to stear you clear of the Suzukis? I asked to ride one and he told me ,"don't bother" , I don't want to sell you one. So I left. After test riding all three, I came back home where I have a Polaris dealer less than two miles from my house. I was able to ride a new 600. I was sold. It had the power and sound similar to the Prarie plus all the other features I wanted. I don't like mudding but it's nice to know when I'm trying to get to my dear stand and I have to cross a slough, all I have to do is flip one switch.
My 17 year old son is wanting a "go fast" atv. I gave him the same advice I'll give you. Forget what Brand Name is on the gas tank, go test ride as many as you can and then buy the one YOU want.

 

I looked at the KQ and its a good price but look at those small racks, the polaris has it beat by far with all the nice storage. Look at those cheep wheels and tires too that need to be replaced at a $600 cost right off the bat.

The Sportsman is rated at 1500 lbs towing and the KQ not even 1000 lbs. I would buy a 700 or 800 EFI. The KQ is nice and would be my third choice, its more of a "sport" IMO.

 

Sorry Vinny but I dont think you have the same kind of hills in texas that we have in Ut.In Ut you need a good ebs.

 

I've been to Utah. Have you been to Texas...... By the way,l who said anything about where I was riding? I've ridden in several states and I know for a fact that if you lock in the Polaris 4X4 AWD, it will beat any other ATV on the market! That's a fact. All four wheels lock in, and it gives you 4X4 AWD, and locked!

 

My Arctic cat will go down steep hill better than my polaris in any condition,in fact you dont even have to use the brakes on my artic cat and you creep down the hills under control.On the same hills on my polaris 700 I have to use the brakes alote and all the ebs wants to do is make the rear wheels slide-a very unconfortable filling.
I know when im on a slippery dirt rode with my toy hauler behined my power stroke I will put it in 4whdr for better control.It handles better than in 2 whdr.
I think my polaris 700 would be a better machine with 4 wheel ebs-it would help with a 700+lbs machine going down hills,just my opinion from driving both my atvs

 

Not really vinnie. With the Polaris system you are not mechanically locked in, or locked in at all, even when you select AWD. Once in AWD, first the rear wheels must slip more than 1/5 of a turn, then power is sent to the front differential, at which point the front wheel with more traction will get power, with equal traction both get power, very efficient, no wasted power. It's never really "locked" in. This all happens within a fraction of a second, seemlessly, without any input from the rider aside from previously selecting AWD. The most user friendly, most effective system on any quad.