With gas hitting $4 a gallon and speculation that it may get as high as $15 a gallon fuel consumption is becoming more of an issue especially with those of us that ride everyday and use ATVs on the farm or ranch.

I was planning on a new big bore when the 2009s come out and had decided on an 800 or whatever the top of the line big bore will be in 2009. With gas becoming so hideously expensive I've been giving consideration to possibly going with a 500. This leads me to my question.

How much of a mileage difference is there between a 500 and an 800 as it stands right now? A little? A lot? Not enough to really matter?

Anyone have any real world numbers or anything to use as a guideline?

 

there is a big differnce between the 2 depending on how you ride. just round figures, avg. 10 to 15 w/ the 800 vs. 18 to 25 w/ the 500. these are just avgs mind you but you get the idear of the differnce. i've got as low as 8 mpg w/ my 800 and no more then 16 mpg top.

 

Ditto.

 

I have had a 500 and now have 800. They are absolutley correct. If using for work the 500 will do fine, leave in low for heavy load's, only thing you won't have is that low end grunt the 800 has.

 

500 HO gets around 18-20 on flat trails, 500 EFI gets about 20-22 observed.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Outback31only thing you won't have is that low end grunt the 800 has.</end quote></div>

Yeah that's what I'm afraid of. I haul and tow heavy loads and do so on pretty rugged trails. I'd really like the low end grunt but on the other hand I put on 20-30 miles or more a week just around the farm. That is mostly slow crawling over logs and ditches and through creeks. If I drive to town that's about 35 miles round trip. I've been driving my ATV to town for as many errands and such as possible since it gets much better mileage than my truck.

I'd really like the extra power but with talk of gas heading to 15 bucks a gallon the difference in operating costs between the 500 and the 800 are pretty significant.

I may take the money I'd save from buying a 500 over and 800 and invest it into one of those 4x4 electric golf carts. Bad Boy Buggy or whatever. It would probably have enough charge to get me to town and back plus to lighter chores around the farm. I could also rig a solar panel to recharge the thing for free. I really prefer an ATV though. I always feel cramped on a UTV.

Anyway, thanks so much for the excellent information. It gives me some numbers to run and some things to consider.

 

Hey Captain, just to let you know what the 500 can do. We were chipping brush with an industrial wood chipper. The kind you can't pull with a car or small suv. We worked late into the evening and were down a hill with a 20 degree slope that was wet from the evening dew setting in. We could not pull it with my friends 4wd truck. We kept slipping in the wet grass. We decided to hook it up to my quad and they everyone else would push from behind. I put it in 4wd low and jabbed the throttle. It pulled the chipper up to the dirt road and left everyone after they had pushed for no more than 5 feet. The chipper weighed about 2000 lbs. and was about 75 feet down the slope. I also just went up to VT to cut some firewood. I have an ATV trailer that is about 4x4 and 3 feet deep. I filled it up a few times and went up and down 30 degree slopes, through low ditches, and over small rocks. Pulled it with no problems. Just food for thought. I would estimate the weight of the wet firewood at about 800-900 per load.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>I haul and tow heavy loads and do so on pretty rugged trails</end quote></div>

That sounds like slow going,so you would be in low range in those situation anyways. A 500 in low range has as much pulling power as the big bores. Even my old 350 Big Bear pull big load easily if in low range.

 

Yeah I don't even get into high rage that often. Just when I'm running through the pasture, on the gravel roads or when I ride to town. There is no way to run in high in the timber. Top speed in low is way too fast.

I'm currently riding a 95 425 Magnum. While it is ok for the most part I do find situations where I would prefer more power and I'd like a little more rack hauling ability. That and I'm sick of the rough ride and I'm really sick of chains. You're always having to tighten them and I have to lube the stupid thing almost every ride since I ride in water and mud so much.

 

A 500 will drag telephone pole size trees around with no problem at all. No idea at all about the weight, but I used to use my pickup truck for that and was surprised the 500 does so great.