We use them for lots of things, working with livestock, checking pastures, fixing fence, and a lot of other jobs as well. We began using ATVs in 1988 and owned 12 or 13 Kawasaki Bayous (mostly all 300s) during that time. They were good tough machines but we lost our dealer so we converted to Polaris thinking that the Hawkeye would be a good replacement for the old Bayou 300. Needless to say, whe have been disappointed with the Hawkeye. We do have an '05 Sportsman 500 and its been a pretty good machine. I like the size and manuverability of the Hawkeye but it is always in the shop. Good thing I have the extended service contract. BTW, I find it ironic that they call the 300cc ATVs "entry level". It hasn't been that terribly long ago that the 300s were the big machines.

 

The entry level comment is my interpretation of the market they were aiming for with the Hawkeye, it's about as simple a machine to operate as you can get. Power delivery is very docile and it's size makes it easier to operate than the big machines. I wish I had the cure for you, I had the jetting issue where the engine ran sluggish on warm days and I did find a small crack in a weld on the rear arm mount after 1200+ miles (with 25" radial tires) which the dealer supplied me the 07 subframe for free. I've had good luck so far and am very happy with it, I picked up an 07 a month ago. They have made many changes to the 07's so maybe all those issues are in the past now, time will tell....

 

I'll have to look into the '07 rear sub-frame. I do like the Hawkeye but it has caused me a lot of grief. The big Sportsman steers so much harder that I can really tell when I've been riding it as opposed to the Hawkeye at the end of the day. Also the smaller physical size of the Hawkeye makes a big difference when you get on and off of a 4-wheeler a million times a day.

 

do you Pull anything Like trailers or Boats or stretch fence with the hawkeyes ?

 

No towing to speak of. I did pull the calf sled a couple of times. I will admit that our every day use is probably tests an ATV more than folks that just go out riding on the week ends. We also put quite a few miles on them. 1700 miles on the Hawkeyes, 2300 miles on the Sportsman, plus unknown mileage on two Kawasaki machines. I had a two year old "ranch used" Sportsman 600 as a loaner last summer and that crazy thing had 10,000 miles on it already.

 

Today in the ice storm i helped a couple get their Mini Van unstuck he wanted me to hook up and try to pull him out with the hawkeye, I looked under his bumper and couldnt find a place to hook up,,he asked me to give him a ride down to his house and get a shovel,,he planted his big 250 behind behind on my Hawkeyes rear rack the ole hawkeye wasnt gonna have it either and All i could think about when he did it is the Atv connection forum Post with sub frame comments and broken a-arms I asked him to get off cause the tires were rubbing,,they werent rubbing but i had this Picture in my head of the hawkeye Limping home with the axle snapped in half and an A arm dangling around..he got unstuck though after i Drove his mini van out of the little ice hole he was in ..

 

OK. I just noticed that the Hawkeyes have only one brake in the rear on the left side. I guess because the diff is locked anyway??

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: ArmyHawkeye

OK. I just noticed that the Hawkeyes have only one brake in the rear on the left side. I guess because the diff is locked anyway??</end quote></div>

Not neccessarily. 4 wheel disk brakes on a light machine would be EXTREME overkill. 3 disks is already overkill. The thing stops amazingly well. Remember, most of you braking force is in the front anyway.