I agree with you Blackraptor, the 525 is a brute of an engine. I hope Polaris returns to the sport market before long. Honda, Suzuki, KTM, and to a lesser extent Kawasaki and Yamaha all scaled back on the 450 quad production for a bit, not just Polaris. As mentioned before, KTM bought back there shares from Polaris, and I am pretty sure it was published they would stop supplying engines for the Outlaw series after a few years as well. Either way, Polaris probably needed a new engine for the sport machines which is a big reason they have not announced any models for this year.

The Predator series doesn't have the best rep in my area, but the KTM powered Outlaws are good. Between the economy tanking and so many manufacturers in the 450 market, it is not surprising that they all took a step back to reevaluate the situation. Well, Yamaha still seems to be going all out by bringing back the original YFZ,

 

They still have nice utility quads, you have to give them that. But regardless of what whether they can't use KTM engines, just think about it. Polaris had the 450mxr, the 525S and the 525 IRS as their most recent sport machines. I personally think they should've released the 450mxr on the new Outlaw platform, instead of jumping the gun and using the old Predator platform. In 2008, when there were 7 different 450s to choose from, Polaris released the Outlaw on an outdated chassis, and it got pushed to the back of the crowd. With this said, anybody who did any research before they bought a quad would've wanted to buy the best they can get for their money, except diehard Polaris guys of course. I've ridden the Outlaw, its a nice machine, nothing wrong with it at all, but the thing is the other sport atvs are nicer. I'd like to try riding the new platform before I make up my mind though. But the same thing happened with Honda, too many 450rs left on the showroom floor, theres just better machines you can get for the same money.

 

I figure with the market they own with the RZR's they don't need to put the money up to compete in the sport quad market. They OWN the sxs market with the 50" wide rzr.

 

bobx2 is absolutely right, in fact the guy I bought my DS off of was just buying a new RZR

 

I marvel that none of the other manufactures go after that 50" market.

I wonder how much of the RZR 800 sales the new RZR 570 will take?

 

1st of all the predator was junk. i know i owned one. it handled terrible on loose terrain and slid all over the place. it omitted squeaks and noises and felt older then it was. the only good thing about the outlaws was the ktm engine.. they may just be cutting back production like honda and suzuki did with many models... or they just stopped making them. i hope they come back out with sport quads in the future, but they need to do more homework

 

They just had previous stock from last few years they will be back.

 

Saw one in the back of a truck today. First one I've seen in awhile.

 

I see nothing but Raptors and YFZs up here, and the occasional Honda 450r. I'm the only person up here I've seen with a DS 450, and I never see KTM, Suzuki, or Kawasaki sport quads. I never see any Polaris sport quads either, and the only dealer we have in town is Polaris...