I feel the same way that mags might be a little biased to Honda, but Honda makes a damn good bike. Your kinda turning this into a "my bike is better than yours match here". Think about it for a minute. The EX if i'm not mistaking is more of a track bike. correct me if i'm wrong but thats what I have always felt it was. Ok then take a look at the Polaris. It is going to blow away the EX anyday in a drag(stock). You have to take these quads for what they are worth. If you saw the dirt wheels shoot out between the Honda 250r, the Yamaha Banshee, Honda 400EX, and the Bombardier DS 650 you would actually see how they work the shootouts in mags(remember what I said earlier about them being a little bias so don't go get in an uproar). The 250r won the overall shootout. It wasn't the fastest, but that wasn't what it was built for. It did however smoke everything on the track. Then you look and it came in second to last with the EX in dead last and the 650 and Banshee up front. Hopefully you get what i'm saying here. Your comparing these bikes when there is nothing to compare stock. They are designed totally different. Hopefully someone gets what I just said.

 

Boy, I can tell that everyone that rides a Polaris doesn't have much to say about the Honda, and the Honda riders not much to say about the Polaris, wonder why. For whomever commented on the small amount of money needed to match the Honda, also consider how much it would cost to lose 100 pounds of weight or more on the Sport. I don't think that would be cheap. Yes, the Sport won in the drag race and the easy course they were on. If you would actually read the whole article instead of looking at the pictures and then reading the conclusion, you would see why the Honda won. As an overall package, it has more positive things than negative things. If the course they raced on was more than flat, wide turns, and small jumps, the Honda would have won, and if you notice, the novice rider was faster on the Honda. Here's what each machine has going for it:

Polaris Scrambler 2x4: speed, big machine to fit big riders, and automatic for beginning riders or people that don't want to shift, ground clearance for rock gardens (which is usually 4x4 territory)

Honda 300EX: better at jumps, whoops, high speed rough terrain, cornering, handling, ergonomics, braking, downhilling, and you have total control of the machine at your fingertips.

It isn't hard for me to see why the Honda won the shootout. I think if Polaris would just put the Scrambler on a diet, the results may have been different, since it wouldn't need all that suspension travel to support the weight. Also, if you want to not only beat the Scrambler 2x4 in all of the categories the 300EX did, plus speed, just get a 400EX, then you have the best of both quads.

 

Bigbadcat, yes, I fully understand what you're saying. Basically, these machines have a little different person. Some people will like the features of one and not the other, and some people will choose one for what they are planning on doing with it, over the other. In that particular shootout, one would probably choose the Banshee or DS650 over the Honda's for duning. One might pick the DS650 for the dunes over the Banshee if he likes 4 strokes better. It's all a matter of preference and what you're gonna use the quad for, mainly what terrain you ride on.

 

C'mon guys. Can't we all just ride what suits us best and get along with each other? I mean we're all on the same side, right? I think we are anyway...

 

I've got the solution. Polaris make the scrambler a 6 speed manual clutch, lose some weight, and redo the shootout.Hehe.

 

The Polaris 400 reminds me of the old Mopar muscle cars of the sixtys and seventys. Mopar would stick a hemi or wedge in any corporate chassis, and call it a performance car. Sure they were fast in a straight line, but they weren't a complete package(exept the Hemi Cuda), like the cars Chevy and Ford turned out. Maybe some day Polaris will realize, that there is much more to performance than horsepower, and dump that lame excuse for a sport chassis that they currently employ.

 

I'm just wondering when my plastic is going to start rattling and fall off, when I'm going to need "low gearing" and engine braking to get back down hills that I just climbed, and spend a week at the dealer? I haven't had ANY problems with either of my Polaris'. And about the grease fittings, a bearing with a grease fitting is just as good if not better than a sealed bearing. Sealed bearings are just like sealed chains, they AREN'T sealed very well at all. My belt only gets wet when I sit in the river with water up over the housing for an extended amount of time, or if I intentionally splash water into the vent.

And about the "The pvt is high maintence,slow shifting, and leaks water." I've never done ANYTHING to my tranny (on either quad), and I never have any problems with the shifting. See above about the water. Heck, the '97 still has the original belt, and it gets used here on the farm for WORK EVERY DAY, and play on the weekends. I replaced the belt on the Scrambler once (due to my stupidity!! LOL) because I was having a tug 'o war with my Explorer 500 and it was dragging me and I didn't let off.

I just always hear about all of the porblems Polaris quads have, and I've never had a problem that I didn't cause, wrecks, roll overs, etc. All quads are good, and all quads have problems at times. I just don't like all of the "crap" talk about all of these bad things about Polaris' that I have never seen on my quads or any of my friends. I like being the under dog, it looks better when I win! Oh yeah, just in case ya didn't know, the "FOREMAN" in the Honda Foreman means: You better have a "Four Man" crew with you if you venture into any mud, so they can pull it out when it gets stuck!!! LOL JK Be safe and have fun no matter what ya ride...

 

The Polaris plastic is not bolted on as good as the 300EX. Honda uses special screws, and a lot more brackets, and secure the plastic in more places than polaris. I think the plastic nose piece on polarises is a joke, along with the radiator shrouds, and the little plastic pieces that used to try to keep the water off the terminal board (I don't know if they were carried over when they got rid of the terminal board). The way these pieces are secured is what makes an expensive quad rattle like it's a used 20 dollar go cart.

As for the Scrambler I think it's a good quad, but the sport 400, or the scrambler 2 by, it has to compete with real true sport quads. I know the sport will beat the 300EX in a drag, but where the 300 shines is when it's on tight twisty trails and technical sections. I know from experience that when you turn a polaris at speed, that the outside tire tries to go under the quad, it don't do it a lot only until the strut is fully uncompressed, but it's annoying, and makes it handle and turn bad. Polarises also have a lot more bump steer than Hondas, this is where when you hit a small rock or a small cut off tree root the bars are almost yanked out of your hands. Most of this is due to the struts that are in my opinion garbage. I can see having them on a 4 by for the drive shaft, but on a sport quad they just won't cut it.

I think a lot of this I rode with a guy who has one is bull. Not all riders are equally skilled, some are afraid to hit the gas, and some think the only way to ride is wide open or idling, and some don't want to roll their quad down the hill, or should I say watch it roll! I can remember the first time I did some awesome hill climbing, I wouldn't attempt the big hills until I saw someone else make it. I also watched people have their quads do the endo handle bar bender maneuver when they were not attacking the hill correctly.

 

Wow, I really opened a can of worms with this topic.

First let me say that I have nothing but RESPECT for Honda's reliability. As a former owner of many fine Honda motorcycles and three wheelers I have never had anything but RESPECT for the quality of their worksmanship. I do admit that Honda is #1 as far as durability is concerned. Honestly, I wish I had a dime for every abused Honda I've ever seen still running. I could buy you all new quads (brand of your choice, of course).

Second, let me state that my beef has never been with Honda, or Honda owners for that matter. My Beef is with the magazine in question, 4 Wheel ATV Action (A.K.A. 4 Wheel Honda Lover's Action) When I buy a magazine subscription I want HONEST reporting, not editorial bias on every page. The gentlemen at Dirtwheels seem to have their act together this year. Although they DO sugar coat articles (still, they do it equally for everyone). ATV Sport has always been one of my favorites, as they pull no punches. It's just that darn 4WA really ticks me off. You can read the whole magazine and it just stinks of bias.

Frankly, I'm tired of all the " Brand Bashing" that goes on in each issue. If a certain make of quad is better than another, you don't have to bash the loser, you can do as the other two magazines do. Describe the flaws TACTFULLY. Don't put down that " The riders would fight to stay off of the (insert brand and model here)" as I have seen done in the past. Come on, 4WA. Stop acting like children and start acting like the adults that you are!!!!!!!

 

Bill,
I feel I MUST respond to your posts... Are you saying that disc brakes, liquid cooling, and suspension travel mean nothing in the real world?... Or are you saying they do, and Polaris doesn't lead most of the categories?...
Either way... I think you are mis-informed..
What does Yamaha have that Polaris can't stomp hell out of?.. Ok.. scream "Banshee"... But that won't help much when the "LOSER" air filter arrangement doesn't seal and the engine grenades.. (What is it.. 14 year old BAD design.. and counting? The use this design on the BigBear too..) Or a Blaster... Mechanical brakes and the notorious "cheese-ball" wheel bearings... Problem is, you can throw EVERY Yamaha in the "MY Crappy Wheel Bearings" pile... From the Blaster to the Grizzly... Wanna watch one overheat?.. Go for a ride on a Grizzly in August in Texas..
Brakes?.. I have several friends that have Yamahas.. none have brakes when in the mud.. My intentions aren't to SLam Yamaha here... You just can't say Yamaha has a better set-up...
They are trying though... the new Kodiak looks like Yamaha Engineers went and bought a Magnum 500... Took it apart.. and used it as a template to design their new Kodiak..
Liquid cooling... Automatic tranny.. switchable 2wd/4wd.. Almost sounds like a POLARIS!!...
As for grease fittings... Before we as Americans got too lazy/busy to do a little PM work... even our vehicles had grease fittings... I feel better shooting some fresh grease in every bearing after playing in the mud for an entire weekend... It pushes that dirt contaminated grease out... Makes stuff last longer.. I've installed several sets of rear axle bearings in Hondas and Yamahas... NONE so far in Polaris...