In DW mag it is said to be a 500 liquid cooled single cylinder four stroke. It will have a electric start,five speed, however no REVERSE. Yes I said NO REVERSE. I think not having reverse will hurt them because of the Z400 and the Raptor. They say this quad has been in the making for 3 years and been extensively torture-tested with no major flaws. It also says that Polaris is throwing in some of there own innovations such as rack and pinion steering and fully rebuildable front shocks. And finally the weight is estamated to be around 375lbs, and to be released late spring early summer. It also said this will not be a glorified Scrambler. We can only wait now.

 

Yep, saw that too. That no reverse thing is going to keep me away. I know alot of people say performance quads don't need reverse. But I am a trail rider, and a lot of the trails I ride, you need reverse. As much as I love Polaris, the lack of that feature alone would push me away from it and toward the Zuki.

 

A Polaris sport quad? A Polaris under 400lbs?

That is pretty impressive if it turns out to be true. Who cares if it doesn't have reverse... this is giant step in the right direction for Polaris...

 

Alaska,

You are very right that this is a step in the right direction. I am glad to see Polaris doing this FINALLY. They have always been a leader in the Ute market, it is about time they get into the real sport/high performance market too.

From what the test riders have said, it is supposed to handle as well if not better then the 400ex. These were regular test riders, not part of the polaris company. They all agreed that the plastic was hidious. That was the only flaw they all agreed on, and Polaris was going to redesign it before release.

 

So it suffers from Cannondalitus, huh... lol (I am refering to the UGLY plastic, if anyone doesn't have a keen sense of the obvious)

 

Cannondalitus, I like that. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] I definitely agree with you on that one. The Cannon is once hidious machine in my opinion.

 

This will get the goats of all that own the Raptor, they said the new plastic had a Raptor look to it. Now they will say the Polaris is trying to look like the Raptor.

 

My friend just bought a brand new honda 400ex and i was suprised to see that the quad had no reverse also, this made me lean toward another type of quad also

 

Well, let's just say I'll believe it when I see it. So far all everyone has to go on is RUMORS. When I see one on the show room floor then I'll believe it. Call me a skeptic if you want, but I've been hearing rumors of this quad forever. Three years testing a quad, huh? I'd say they're wasting their time. Here's why.

The magazines WILL rip on it. Who cares if it handles as well as the 400EX, has a motor that puts the smackdown on modified Raptors and Cannondales or has suspension out the wazoo. It's still an American made machine. I can guarantee they will question it's reliability (not like the current crop of Japanese sport machines don't have their faults, they just don't get mentioned). And don't forget the "all important" low center of gravity that the 400EX will have. The xenophile writers at Hi-Torque are nothing if predictable. Did they question the reliability factor when the Raptor (bad tranny gears, weak clutch, weaker axle) or 400EX (no grease zerks, bad rear axle bearings) came out? No, of course not, they're Japanese makes. Did they question the Cannondale (O.K. They deserved that LAST year) and Bombardier's (nothing wrong I know of) reliability, you better believe that they did.

I frankly don't care whether they put a reverse gear in it or not. Yeah, it's kind of important to me. Still, I worry about other things, like good handling, brakes, power, LIGHT WEIGHT, reliability, price and ground clearance just to name a few. Also, I'm a firm believer in " Do not buy a first year model anything", but since it takes Polaris so long to address even small problems, you might as well just buy a first year model any way.

 

Uh oh! If all the rumors are true, the 400ex just may be for sale a few years after this beast is released (make sure she will keep running).

Mike, I have never heard a thing about the rear bearing carriers going bad on the 400ex, I have heard about swing arms snapping though. The mags said they where dissapointed in yamaha for not recalling the trannys. The ds650 has had no reliablity problems besides the carb that doesnt like big jumps and the weird handling, but that has been fixed. I didnt think it was really that terable, just very quick!