To each his own. When I first started posting on this forum about 7 mos ago, I was eager and willing to exchange stories about different riding situations. The first thing I noticed was that Polaris owners seemed to have it in for Grizzly riders. I have know idea why, but never the less thats the way it is. I have since discovered that many of the things Polaris riders said about their quads were true. They do perform very well when they are working correctly, which doesn't seem to be the norm! I have since ridden with a few Polaris riders, and the one thing they all have had to say was that they were sick of their quads being in the shop for repairs! But the Polaris owner is blindly loyal to his quad.
To illustrate this point I did in fact out pull a 99 Sportsman one time. We hooked up bumper to bumper with a nylon tow strap, and I won 4 out of 5 tries. After I mentioned this on the forum, I was quickly ganged up on by the Polaris majority and accused of being a liar. So to me the Polaris owner has no credibility! I have nothing to prove personally. My Grizzly has been an outstanding preformer, and I have never once had to have a repair made to it. The same was true of my 99 Kodiak. So who made the wrong choice? It wasn't me!

Rick

 

Thought I would throw my 2 cents worth in. I ride a 97 Scrambler 500 that has not missed 1 single second of action other than a few minutes of dry out time after some serious water crossings. I am now a maintenance freak and that is probably why I have had good fortunes. I have had rides in the past that I did squat to and sem to allways pay the price somewhere out on the trail. I dont care if its 2 weeks old or 4 years old if you dont take care of your ride you going to be watching someone else do the riding.

 

Its been my experience that alot of Honda riders usually sit and watch the Polaris riders while they are playing in the mud/muck.

It's pretty hard to screw up your ATV,regardless of make/model by only ''watching''
Bill

 

Since many of you apparently can't read or comprehend what I am posting- i'll take my jabs at the last two posts by 3TV and Bill-

3TV- If that were the case then why do so many Polaris owners post crap in the Honda and for that matter other manufacturer's forums about how superior their machines are??

Bill- It was MY experience to see the Polaris owners WATCH US last weekend while WE rode. And just to update you, neither has been fixed yet, so they can sit home this weekend and think about it while WE ride. That's when having "THE BEST" would really peev me, when the best is broken.

 

All brands have lemons and other break downs that are caused by rider most the time. Point in fact on the ATV News they did a shoot out on mud tires on foremans a S and ES model. The ES had problems with shifting (IE dirt in it) and also had drive shaft come out of the diff. This was fixed by playing around with it to it went back in. They said it was caused from using 27" tires. So was the ES junk or was it caused by the abuse? I would say the abuse caused the problem.

 

shumdit,
I never laid claim to having the BEST ATV out there,and mine is NOT broken.I merly laid claim to what happens alot at my local riding area.You need not quote something that I never said.

I also beleive you when you say that last wk the Polaris ATVs were the ones that were broken down and they had to watch,it happens to everyone one time or another.

As for the superiority thing you have with 3TV,Polaris 4x4 ATVs do have a distinct advantage in the serious mud over the other manufactures stock ATVs.I also dont think there is a much better 4x4 climber than the 4x4 Scrambler and the 4x4 Xplorer,I could be wrong?

Now just because I feel Polaris wins the above two catagories does NOT make it the SUPERIOR ATV.Some peolpe will trade off mudding and hill climbing for less maintenance and things that are more important to them on an ATV,thats all OK.

What it all boils down to bro is this,lets all ride what we like and be happy.I have AS MUCH fun riding with the Honda guys as I do the Yammy guys,Suz,Cat,Kaws,and Bombs.

IT MATTERS NOT WHAT YOU RIDE
only
THAT YOU RIDE!
Bill

 

Bill you are right- I am sorry. I guess I am just overly defensive because so many people have taken my post as some sort of "bashing" of Polaris and that was not my point and I think anyone who reads the WHOLE post at the beginning will see that. I also agree that the last part of your statement is true also. As for which is the better mudder, the mud we have around here is not nasty enough to show any advantage to a Polaris, but I do think that Polaris offers a lot of other features I wish others would copy. Thanks for correcting me!

 

shumdit,
yah,I'll give ya that call!For the most part of mudding,ANY 4x4 will do just fine.Hardly in everyday trail riding and normal mudding do you need more than just a standard 4x4 ATV.What makes the Polaris 4x4s a little better mudder is they can spin all 4 tires with power when the AWD is activated.The average rider could really care less about that feature.I happen to be the rare EXCEPTION to that rule.In fact,WAY back in 1986,I choose the smaller Suz 250cc Quad Runner 4x4 over the larger displaced 350 Honda Foreman 4x4 because the Honda did not have the locker like the Suz,so you can see how important that feature is to ME.

I think I know what would stop alot of bashers from bashing.I think they all need to get together for a 200 mile trail ride and really get to know each other,than at the end of their journey,im betting there could be the developement of ALOT of friends out of something like this.

I dont care what you ride,if you need help on the trail,you got it from me,ANY MAKE,ANY MODEL,ANY TIME!

Bill

 

Shumdit,
to me American made is A merican owned and designed by American people.Truly American.I do not care if Mercedes makes its car in the USA.It is German made vehicle. If you ask anybody anywhere in the world about Honda ,it is simply considered a Japanese company.If some parts for H arley -Davidson motorcycles are made in Thailand
on the other hand,it does not mean H.D is Thailand company.
That's how I look at that.
As I stated a couple of times,I bought my Polaris because it had such a bad reputation/and a stock market was so good/that I just wanted to evaluate the machine myself.I abused it big time,I wanned see it broken,I rolled it over many times,I failed . I put 3000 miles on it and spend lots of money changing broken parts/all black plastic,calipers,speed sensor, handelbars,top light assembly,all light bulbs,frnt. boots,tire,etc. all just destroyed due to my "care". But no mechanical failure. So, I cannot say anything bad about my SP 500.
I do not like the steering,thats all.Reliability is not the issue at all,at least for me.
J.

 

Colt- Many of the Hondas (don't know about the others) ARE designed in America by Americans. I guess we will agree to disagree about the difference between American and Non-American Machines. By the way why don't you like the steering on your Polaris? I have ridden one and I thought the steering seemed fine, but then again, I didn't ride it long enough to really get a long term feel for it.