i have a good reason to bad mouth the thing i hate the clutch set up and mongrol i have a 300 i have had a 500 and i have rode the new 400. i was going to trade the 300 for it till i rode one and thought how it feels like it is stuck in to low of a gear just like the 300. there is no reason to try and downplay what i said. if the guy wants a quad that will pull a ton for its size and takes off slow than the 400 is a great choice i love the feeling of punching the gas and the quad wanting to rip itself out from under me. and the tight clutch dont offer that like the old one did i would think with the old style clutch and that light frame it would be a rocket. but as it sits now it revs to high and vibrates like crazy through the foot wells. and the 500ho is twice the quad that the 400 is.....better ride better clutch better storage better tow capacity better gauge better tires better get the 500.

 

I have to agree a Little with blazer i have a 400HO and a 500.....I do like not having to **** every mud hole ad then to the straight aways so i personally like the 400 the 500 low end is a little more low and the high end is more high but its a little bigger motor and having to shift all the time I have to wait down the trail for the 500 to catch up because they stop ad shift....Overall i like the 400 better there were just a few times ridding that i would of liked the low gear on the 500 but i can live without it....

 

but stay on topic that is a pretty good deal just look at the front end rear end and under for damage and a test drive if you can btu other than that not a bad deal....

 

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

i have a good reason to bad mouth the thing i hate the clutch set up and mongrol i have a 300 i have had a 500 and i have rode the new 400. i was going to trade the 300 for it till i rode one and thought how it feels like it is stuck in to low of a gear just like the 300. there is no reason to try and downplay what i said. if the guy wants a quad that will pull a ton for its size and takes off slow than the 400 is a great choice i love the feeling of punching the gas and the quad wanting to rip itself out from under me. and the tight clutch dont offer that like the old one did i would think with the old style clutch and that light frame it would be a rocket. but as it sits now it revs to high and vibrates like crazy through the foot wells. and the 500ho is twice the quad that the 400 is.....better ride better clutch better storage better tow capacity better gauge better tires better get the 500.</end quote></div>

I understand what you're saying. Its a matter of preference and riding styles. If hammering the thotttle on take off is what you like, this CVT tight belt system may not be for you. There was a thread a while ago on this matter by a guy who owned both a 400 & 500 and he made the "YouTube" video that I referenced. If you can find the thread, he posts the reason, comparison, and results of a tug of war between the two quads. Pretty interesting comparison.

I haven't experienced the high rev on take off on the 400HO like the Hawkeye does so I can't comment on that.

I guess its a case of different strokes for different folks" thing. All we can do is describe what we experience on our OWN quads and let the reader figure out how his riding will compare.

 

Blazer, again, I'm not sure about the 400 HO you rode but my 400 HO and all the other 400 HOs I have rode have MUCH more snap then any of the many 500s I have rode with the standard clutch and the loose belt! As long as I have any traction at all it will pop the front up from a stand still with very little effort and if you aren't careful it can get away from you a bit if you hit it hard!
The only thing I can think of that you may be referring to is the small bit of lag that seems to vary from machine to machine, this seems to come from the point where the starter clutch engages the drive clutch. I have noticed our Hawkeye has no perceived lag at all where as my 400 HO has a bit more and is noticeable...from discussions I have had with other owners, dealer techs and Polaris techs, I have concluded that this variance in the starter clutch engagement comes from the differing idle speeds set on individual bikes...the closer the idle speed is to the engagement RPM of the starter clutch the less perceived lag.
If you are getting too much lag for your liking, increase the idle RPM till you are happy and it isn't creeping or hard shifting!

Funny that you should complain about this clutch setup since it is essentially the same setup used on the Suzuki King Quad and the Yamaha Grizzly and they are both regarded as excellent systems!
Actually the clutch system is one of my favorite features of the 400 HO, especially when they have to stop and shift as I blow by them covering them in my muddy roost! LOL!