me and my dad want another atv and want either the 08 SP 300 or 08 SP 400 HO.
we talked to the local dealer about the SP 400 HO and he says he told polaris not to send anymore to his store because with the 450cc engine on the hawkeye frame, there is little or no room to do any work on the engine, like maintenance just working on the engine components. i was just wondering about some opinions about this from the owners??? thanks!

 

thats the dumbest reason i had ever heard of not wanting to stock a bike. the 300 is really under powered(imo) so the interduction of the 400 w/ the 455 is great. i had the 450 and now the 08' 400 and its a much better fit for a smaller bike and its 117 lbs lighter for better handling for a smaller person. yes the engine is stuffed in there, but its no differnt then most of our now a day cars. in my opinion, i would go w/ the 08' sp 400 rather then the sp 300.

 

i work on new cars for a liveing..the harder,more complex jobs pay the best!!!not wanting to do the job cause it may not be easy, me personaly i would go to a diferent dealer..one who dont mind getting their hands a little dirty or heaven forbid a few nicks or scrapes!!

 

well, its a close call between getting the 300 or the 400 HO, and that was just another reason to go with the 300. i think its underpowered too because of the power:weight ratio, but my parents dont want much more power and stuff like that. but is it still easy to get to things like the oil filter and oil level dipstick?

 

ya, im tryin to get a job there at the polaris dealership just cleanin floors, washin atvs, stuff like that for now cuz im only 15 and it would just be a couple hours a week and he told me he does everything neat, and says there is never any reason to get dirty if you do things right.

 

You CANT work on 4-wheelers without some mess,even after power washing some of our atvs and rangers I STILL make messes! Thats why we have an Assembly/Cleanup man! We have had Young boys helping out at different times in my 20 years at our shop! Keep trying,If HE doesnt want you somebody else will. Good luck. PS. How about a leftover full size 450/500 if available! But if frame size is important go with the 400. Yes it shares Hawkeye components! A fun machine also was the SAWTOOTH,liked it a lot better than the early Hawkeye and seemed to pull better! JMOP (just my OLD opinion)

 

Find another dealer and get the Sp 400 you cant go wrong with it, I had a 2 year old Hawkeye 300 it did fine but we got something bigger, we were real bored with the little 300. But a dealer that doesnt want to work on it because its tight and he gets paid to do it, Sounds lazy to me, He was just wanting to sell you the 300 cause he has a bunch he has to get rid of.

 

Am I the ONLY one that really likes his/her Hawkeye? How much "power" do you really need? It goes 50 mph, will climb any hill a sane person would go up, and as I did last weekend, pulled itself AND my son's quad up a very long steep rocky hill. I may not get "there" first, but I do get there. Oh, and did I mention....I don't worry about my radiator getting plugged up with mud and overheating. ;-)

IMO, if you have the extra cash, go with the SP400, but for the price and with a few mod's the SP300 is a good choice too.

 

Hawkman, the 400HO is definetely tight compared to the Hawkeye. Based on your previous posts and limited mechanical experience (that you implied) you may find the HO a lot harder to service yourself. With age comes experience, meaning that the older guys may have figured out where and how to get a wrench in a hard to get at part, where as a neopite may pull his hair out trying to figure it out.

That being said, if you leave things alone and nothing goes wrong with the HO, its one great machine. The dealer mentioned sounds like a "Homer Simpson" type.

and by the way 00XJ, I HEAR YA BIG TIME!

 

Sorry OOXJ,didnt mean to step on any toes,just spoiled by 500's,700's,800's and the Ranger Crew that has a LONGER wheel base than my wife's SATURN VUE!