Which is better a 400 or a 500 scrambler. which is faster. which is more reliable.

 

in stock form there both reliable, THe 400 once modded will be alot faster than the 500.

 

Topend wise the 400 is faster but requiers more to maintane.Where the 500 has more lowend and midrange power.The 500 to me is less time consuming to maintane since there is no counterbalance to mess with plus it is more forgiving on jetting.

 

I can tell you the 500 Scrambler is very reliable. i have owned one since 2000 and my only complaint is the Battery needs to be replaced more than i like. Other than that i have only done basic maintance. It is a very heavy quad though. Great down low and mid range power, not much on the top. What type of riding will you be doing.

 

400 is faster and lighter. Cost a lot less to overhaul and maintain.
The 400 you add injection oil and gas and ride. repeat!

The 500 you add gas and ride, then change oil and oil filter, then take in for valve adjustment. then add gas and ride and change oil and oil filter, then have valves adjusted every so often. And repeat. I owned the 500 Magnum and it was a great machine, then I rode a 500 Scrambler, and it was a great machine. If you just want to ride and ride and stay in front all the time get the 400 2-stroke. My '94 400L 2-stroke had 5600 miles on it when I sold it and it still ran great. My 500 Magnum had 1000 miles on it when sold and had valves adjusted 3 times by dealer. Full Maintance from dealer was $220.00 a trip. On my latest 400 Scrambler/Trailblazer 400 listed below, bought new in 2003 and been to Glamis 2 times and pulls my 350 lb 60 inch Trailmower to mow 5 acres with has never been to dealer for anything. Reminds me! I better change the counterbalancer oil and transmission oil, I haven't done that yet. Forgot, I ride my quad daily.

Guys! What maintance on the 400 are you talking about?
Changing engine oil and oil filter..........no doesn't have them.
Counterbalancer, what maintance on that subject? Change oil on counterbalancer and transmission every three years maybe!

Both quads have their good and bad.

This year, the trip to Glamis, the 500 Scrambler was the only quad in Pennyless and my collection of quad's that stayed home, it runs fine, we took the 700 Prairie instead.
We took 2 400 Scramblers, one Banshee, and one 600 Polaris triple Scrambler.(BRUTIS)
The Banshee was a friends.

 

the engine and trans on the 400 is great but the rest of it require more maintenance. Its a Polaris thing I think. I have gone through 3 baterrys also on my 2000 and I keep them on a trickle charger. 4x4 requires the hub fluid change also and dont forget the grease zerk fittings. also the bushings in the sterring column tend to go out and get sloppy. Belt replacement and clutch replacement can be common also and scramblers after 3 to 4 years. I not saying its not reliable but you have to do your maintenance. Also once you start modding them they become less reliable like anything. If you dont plan on modding it get the 500. its a better trail machine with the low end torque and hp. If you plan on modding it get the 400 because you can make it as fast or faster as any sport quad in a strait line for about $1000

 

Keep the 2-strokes aalive and get 400. They are alot faster when you put performance parts on them.