I don't know if anyone read my last post, so I'll fill you in. Had a Polaris SP 325, less than a year old when father in law rolled it into a gravel quary. It was under 10ft of water for 3hrs before he got it out. After drying out the engine and clutch, it ran perfectly for the next 50 miles. Warned that we might have problems down the road with the clutch, I traded that one in for two 99 SP 500's. I had less than 60miles on each when we went to
the Black Hills in SD Deer hunting last week. (with the father in law and his sons) On the first day, one of his son's rolled the red sportsman down a hill. Thank god I had them wearing helmets, he didn't get a scratch on him. But the atv was trashed. Handle bars bent, headlight broke, and the composite front and rear racks were broke. And the 4 wheel drive didn't work due to the shift control on the handle bars was broke. Amazingly it started right up and we continued to drive it for the next two days. Then the other brother rolled it off a 20ft cliff, and down the side of a mountain. It must have rolled 15 times. Again, not a scratch on him, but the atv was really messed up. Everything was busted and bent except the frame. My brother-in-law got to the bottom of the 'hill' and started the atv right up. He then proceeded to drive it 12 miles back to camp. The engine runs great, the alignment is fine except for two bent rims. The plastic is almost all gone, but that should be easy to replace. The left rear boot is leaking, and the front left hub is busted. It starts and runs smooth. Would a Yamaha or Honda take that beating and keep running?

 

Sorry to hear about your ATV's getting trashed. I bet you were feeling a little sick after you found out they were both ok, but looked at the quads. Yea I do figure a Honda would take a beating like that. They are built like tanks. I don't own one. I own a 98 Arctic Cat 454 but I have been around hondas and have seen them put through some stuff. Nothing like you just put but bad stuff. Sorry to hear about your quads. What are you going to do about all the stuff wrong. I would get to the cv boot quick.

 

All i can say is DAMN.You need to ride the quads yourself and dont let those other guys near em.

 

Why don't you go trade them in on a Honda and Yamaha and let your father-in-law's kids ride them, then you'll know the answer for yourself!

[This message has been edited by rooster (edited 12-02-1999).]

 

I gotta ask. Is your father in law and/or his sons going to pay for the damage. A father in law or brother in law rolling my brand new $6500 quad down a cliff is grounds for divorce. Sure they gotta get scratches in them sometime, but flipping them into a pond or rolling off a cliff is a bit extreme.

 

Man that is a sad story. I think some people need some rideing lessons. I knew a guy that had his Polaris roll out the back of his truck, it was pretty bad but also started up when he tried it. Maybe you should keep your Quads to your self, Good Luck

 

Thank God for helmets huh? My father rolled my 99 Sportsman end over end 3 weeks ago. The bike faired well. Bent handle bars, bent steering column. HE spent week in hospital w/ broken (now wired) jaw and numerous bruises. Bike is now operational, he isn't.
He'll wear the helmet next time...

I will say I saw a brand new Honda Foreman roll out of the back end of a pickup, do a few side rolls and continue to run flawlessly. Albeit a bit uglier.

They're all rugged machines. To me, its a matter of who do I want to give all my money to, and can they/will they repair it should something happen.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience, Bkurth! You were certainly prudent, insisting on helmets for the ATV riders. Thankfully, no one was hurt; also, as a bonus, you were able to continue your hunt on those rugged quads.

What lessons have you learned from the experience; what corrective action do you plan? I mean, what about next time?

Will there be a next time?

Again, I'm thankful no personal injuries resulted; I hope you can keep it that way. Good luck!

Tree Farmer

 

As impressive as those “horror” stories are, I’d hardly call them an endorsement for Polaris machines. All it would have taken is the right wire to be cut or damaged in the roll and you'd have had a dead quad. That could happen to any make or model. Although it sounds ludicrous to say under the circumstances, you got lucky.

Luckier still are the riders who did the damage. They’re lucky to be unhurt and lucky to have such a generous in-law who provides them such nice machines to destroy. Their last name wouldn’t be Crash would it?

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FloodRunner, on the Wisconsin River

 

Holy Cow! I can't believe they wrecked them like that! One of my friends flipped his new 00 blaster and could not make it up a hill and since my scrambler was already up the steep part of the hill and it only had to go 15ft more feet on a fairly flat surface between a few trees, I told him to get on my atv and I would ride his up. I had no problems getting his up but as a came through the trees to the top of the hill, I noticed some oil on the side of my scrambler. I said, What did you do flip it! HE said no he didn't and then I looked at Clay and he kinda grinned. I was pissed that my scrambler just got flipped on it's side with no damage just alittle over flow of oil. Man, I will never let anybody ever, ever ride my scrambler 1 ft again. It was too easy to go up this little 15ft trail and he flipped it on a tree! Never let anybody ride your atv no matter how good they say they can ride. Would you give the keys to your 4x4 truck to a friend and let him take it off-road! It's like people do not have respect for your atv, they think it is a cheap toy and that they won't wreck it! I am very sorry to hear about the damage done, if they wanted to ride them again I would tell them they would have to take a safe riding course and read the owners manual cover to cover and pay to have them fixed.