Hi!

Q1:
How good is polaris bounty hunter wheels? They look awsome! What type of riding are those tires good for? Or are they only for bragging? Do these tires require clutch adjustment?

Q2:
How important is EBS? Can you live without it? I think about hauling firewood with a Sportsman 450, which has no EBS. Can you do it with just breaks?

Thank you guys in advance for responding me! This forum rocks!

Best regards Henrik

 

We have the vision 14" rims with the bounty hunters on them and they are a much softer ride than the pxt's that came on the quads. They seem to have awsome traction on everything we have rode in, but there isn't a lot of mud here so I can't tell you about that. They also greatly improved the handling. And yes they do look great too.

 

also a little background on the rims and tires. the rims are manufactured by Vision who also make the rims for the 700 and 800 EFI's. the tires are made by Kenda

 

Hi Jimmy

I have a 2004.5 SP 400.......no EBS and I have the 26"/14" Polaris/Kenda/Vision wheel tire package.

Here is my experience:

I had previously put a EPI pink primary clutch spring in to allow a bit higher RPM for hill climbs and to just allow the engine to operate up in the power band while under load and during shift out. This is not a radical spring and did exactly what I wanted without any ill effects.

When I put the the Bounty Hunter/Vision package on I was concerned about accelaration loss.....but with the EPI pink spring I didn't get a disernable difference. So basically......acceleration loss was not a problem for me.

The biggest difference in this wheel/tire package for me is that there is just a whole lot more meat up front and you get way more traction from the front end when mudding/climbing etc.... Also, these tires have a flat "contact patch".......meaning the tires are less rounded and flatter where the rubber meets the road. I think this gives more traction and stiffer cornering. I also get much better ground clearence.

In general I love the performance of the tire/wheel package.

HOWEVER>>>>>>>>>>I'v e been having a problem with frequent bead seal failure. All 4 tires have experienced it when I ride on the knarly stuff (roots/rocks/rough wooded trails/rocky power lines). I have yet to experience a single puncture and wear characteristics seem good......but losing all air on the trail due to bead failure sucks. I bring a bicycle pump with me and can get it re-seated on the trail with the help of my riding buddies holding it up long enough for me to get it re-seated and get air into it.......but that's a pain in the arss. I think I'll try re-seating all the tires/rims from scratch and use silicone sealant on all beads to see if that solves the problem. It's a bummer because these tires rock otherwise.

Because of this problem......I afraid I'd have to recommend against this otherwise very nice tire/wheel package.

I'm curious if anybody else with this tire/wheel package has been experiencing this same problem????

 

Also........the question about hauling firewood w/o EBS.

It's just a matter of getting used to your ride. I've been riding w/o EBS forever.......so it a complete non-issue for me. The Polaris machines have excellent 4 wheels brakes and I would have no hesitation at all to haul firewood. Of course other common-sense trailering practices still apply such as tongue-weight and down hill caution etc...

Use the tranny low range, caution (particularly down hill) and you'll be fine.

Bob

 

IMO EBS is over rated I would rather not have it. Use lo when pulling as has been said. I have hauled wood as my primary heat with ebs & non since 1997 and no real difference.

 

Thank you guys for all great answers!

Your the best!

 

Thanks for all that great info.

I havent had any bead leak problems on my 12" vision 160s, even after i hit a stump on the trail and had a lot of wood inbedded into the seat area under the simulated bead lock.

I just pried it out with a screwdriver and all is well without any leaks.

JIm

 

EBS is a great thing to have on an ATV, especially if youre hauling anything downhill. It slows down the ATV without use of the hand brake, as you may already know. You can just do it with the hand brake, but it wears away the brakes faster, but not too much faster. But since polaris' has all-wheel hydraulic brakes operated by a single handlebar mounted brake lever, theres nothing really to worry about. Hope this helped.

 

Hey Bob, how are you?
Do you have any pics of the bounty hunter wheel and tire combo mounted on your quad? and are you going to the meeting on tuesday?
Thanks in advance, Leroy.