Zerowick,
After describing what you want I agree the polaris is a good choice but I think you should have checked out the Arctic cat lineup. What you describe you want is exactly what they specialize in. And have great quality to back them up also and are american made.

 

yup, definately considered the Cats, recently as a matter of fact, was looking at the 400VP 5sp if you can believe that. compared to my current ride it has SRA that eliminates a lot of moving parts, is air cooled doing the same, has gears instead of a belt to wear, and has the heel/toe shifter for big boots, could be a machine to last a life time with a lot less maintenance. however, the 400VP is always in 4WD and lacks a front locker and speedo. guess that's how they keep the price down. if they throw a locker in it, 2WD/4WD and some gauges I might have to make the switch.

 

I got the 05 500 arctic cat manual. It has the heel toes shifter so no belt garbage to deal with.4wd drive switch on the fly. Independent suspenison 10in of travel and 12 in Ground clearance with a front locker and speedo, miles\hours gauge. I have seen them go for around 5400 new otd frequently. I think one of my favorite features on it is the 6.5 gallon gas tank that I get 100 miles a tank to. The confort to me is just as good as the Sportsman but they go through way more stuff and way less maintenance. Just change the oil every 600 miles and thats it. The one advantage i think the sportsman has on the arctic cat is that the SP is better at general trail riding because its narrower and more rider freindly.

 

come on guys this a thread about polaris quality not artic cat, start a new topic for christ sakes.... wayout, out, " lifes good "

 

The point is that there is good quailty competition available other than polaris atv's that you could buy forcing Polaris to spend more time in R&D before releasing the products. Its a shame because if polaris could just fix these issues I think they would have a huge majority share of atv's sold. Honda gets this because of there quality not because they have the best features.

 

calm down wayout, I'll send Hoopie a PM if I want more detail. Polaris doesn't offer a manual in its utility line so they lose customers to Arctic CAt and some of the Japanese brands. there is obviously a market for manuals still or nobody woud make them. if Polaris still made a gear ute I would be first in line, but they don't. I haven't had any belt problems nor do I plan to, but after having the machine for close to 2 years I realize now that a manual would suit my needs better. that's not to say that a gear shifter won't have problems, I just think it's a longer lasting less maintenance alternative.

 

Zerowick, Sorry I haven't had a chance to get back on forum in a few days. Have to agree with you completly about the "Polaris inovation VS. Honda reservation thing." This seems to be the source of most of Polaris' problems from what I gather from the forum and also from other riders in my area. My choice came down to either the new Rincon, the SP500EFI or the SP700EFI. The 700 won out due to these things. (1) I already owned a "00"SP 500 which has given good service. I like the longer travel suspension of the Polaris for my style of riding. (have heard that the suspension is pretty good on the Rincon also). (2) Both the Rincon and 500EFI are first year machines with many new changes. Even though Honda is usually pretty thorough before releasing something new, I still believe that nothing is as true a test as a year or two out in the field and I bet most all you guys and gals would agree with that. (3) From what I could gather from the forum, other riders, dealers , and all other info , there were few changes (wheels/tires?) or problems on the 700EFI last year. I will agree that it is possible to get a "lemon" in any brand or model from time to time, but we make our decisions based on both the best info we can obtain and personal preferences based on our types of terrain and riding style. The guys here at the fire dept. are split about 50/50 between Honda and Polaris. Just a good friendly rivalry between the two brands. We have discovered that both are about equal overall in both strong and weak points. Got to wrap it up for now. Thanks to all for your comments.

 

ah ha! Fireslayer/Fireman, now I get it, I'm a little slow sometimes. I give you credit for being a lifesaver, it's a very honorable thing you do. continue the good work and be careful!

 

i think it's GREAT these guys are writing about another American Made ATV (Cat). i want to learn as much as possible about EVERY ATV. and writing a few things about the Cat in the Pol forum is no big deal imo.

i wish there was a Cat Dealer around me. i'd consider one. they look like one fine, well built ATV.

~MT

 

with the Cats it's hard to figure out where the engine and driveline come from on each machine, Suzuki, or Kawi. either way they are quality components. pretty sure they use the Suzi transmissions both auto and man, right?