yeah im leaning more towards the 500 only because its better on gas mileage, but i would like a body style a bit smaller to make the 500 more useful and have better acceleration.

isnt there a smaller body style at all?

what about the yamaha grizzly compared to the polaris'? are yamahas junk?

 

Well I am a Big Yamaha fan.........I have two Yamaha Snowmobiles and wanted to buy Yamaha quads.............But the features and price differance here in Canada (from my local dealers)there was no way I could turn down the Sportsman.......Plus I did alot of reading and posting here on the forums well before I bought and put the money into any brand..........Just like your doing now!!!!!!!!Next step is to e-mail and get out to the dealers for some money numbers .........Tell them your ready to buy...NOW!!!!!...............That gets them going..........Also take that price and shop.........I saved $1100.00 each plus a winch for both..........So one e-mail saved me $2200.00 plus two Warn Winches..................It pays to shop................Caper...........

I did want Yamaha though............Check out the Specs of each model .........Some ATV's have stronder points some have weak points..........EX......brakes..Drum/Disc
.................................................. ..........IRS/Swing arm
.................................................. ..........Belt/Shaft drive
.................................................. ..........Low gear/Some only high
.................................................. ..........Ground Clearance
.................................................. ..........Towing Cap..

 

I don't think I get that bad of milage with my 800. I know I have gotten aboud 20 mpg on trail rides. 83 miles on the speedo and 4.15 gallons in the tank was at least 20mpg. The summer before I rode my 2004.5 sp 500 carb on the same trails with the same bunch of guys. We all got over 20 mpg, but my sportsman had the lowest milage at just over 20. Some people will say that the speedos on these things are not accurate enough to calculate milage, but we had a sp 800, 700, AC 400, Grizz 660, and two Rubicon 500s and we all got about the same milage. We are all between the ages of 18 and 28 so were not just out for a sunday drive.

On another note, the X2 has the single exhaust and a larger fuel tank so I can only take a guess at what milage would be on that machine.

You would be happy with either model, But I know that the X2 can still pull the front wheels of the ground, if only for a little while. The 500 is a great machine and has a tried and true powerplant and pushes the X2 chassis just fine.

 

will you get better or worse mileage with a single exhaust?

and what do you mean pull the front wheels off the ground?