You guys can bash Polaris all you want but if you do your own work you would have nothing else.My Polars s are like my Harley they may break but I CAN fix them.Ever take a Honda motor apart?Too many parts I love the seperate motor and tranny.But if you all have the cash to take them in thats great.And to Mike I got my son a Yamaha 125 Breeze and it has been very reliable.He is younger than your kids it will last him till he gets to where he can shift.

 

Ok guys...I jumped ship from a 91 Honda TRX 250X to a Polaris Scrambler 400 4x4. Never been happier!!! And I don't think of the 250X as a kids bike either. The one I had would run 62 MPH. Probably about the same as my Polaris. I have to say, I love the Scrambler.

 

Barely Legal,

Yes I have modified the suspension on mine, rather heavily in fact. The front long travel struts (the stock struts were short travel) are from Works Performance with Hot Seat dual rate springs (you can tell by the baggy shockwears). I also have wider Aaen A-arms on the front. In the rear I'm running a Works Performance Ultracross shock with adjustable rebound dampening and an Aaen 3" longer swingarm. I rarely ride jumps, whoops or MX tracks so the suspension is set full soft. There is enough compression dampening in both the struts and shock to handle any nastiness on the trail should the need arise. There is 9.25" on the front and 10" in the rear. Still like I said, I doubt that my Sport will handle turns as well as the new Suzuki.

jtrundle,

I bought the 250EX, not the 250X. They are two different machines. The 250X uses a four valve motor identical to the 300EX (sans electric start) and the frame is identical to the 300EX. The 250EX motor is based on the Recon two valve "pushrod" motor. The motor has a slightly hotter cam, a slightly bigger carb and a somewhat less restrictive exhaust. The frame is about the same, but the plastic is sportier too. It also uses disc brakes in the front where the Recon uses drums. As I can recall, the 250X had a manual clutch, manual shift transmission. Where the 250EX uses an automatic clutch and manual transmission. Really they are two different machines.

ftwflh,

Yeah, that's they way I do it too. I learned how to work on machines when my Honda CT70 broke down. Dad just gave me a tool box full of tools and said "Have at it, if you want it to run, you have to fix it yourself". That was the best thing my father could have done for me. Today, most kids want instant gratification. If the machine gets the crap beat out of it and doesn't work, either daddy will fix it (in my case) or daddy will pay the dealer to do it. In my case, I live 120+ miles from my children so I can't run over there all of the time. Hmmm, you just gave me an idea for a Christmas present for the kids! A tool kit! Thanks guy!

 

Nothing against you Mike, but this post had "bad news" written all over it.

Give the anti-Polaris people just alittle ammo and watch out...here comes some brand bashing!

Quadfather....yes you sold your Sport for a 400EX. Didn't someone buy your used Sport then? Bet thet like it just as much as you did?

And no Mike....you didn't sin. Get then a fast Polaris when they grow up.

 

My bad Mike. You are right.

 

hey mike, ill give ya $2500.00 for it right now, but you gotta ship it to maine first!!!!

 

by the way, i am serious

 

Well, I had an eye opening yesterday. I wanted to see how much I could get for my Sport at a dealer at trade in time. I took it to several dealerships and not one would give me anything but low "blue book value" ($1500). I said, "No thank you, I'll drive it off a cliff before I give it to you for that!" It really stinks, here is a machine I poured my heart and soul into (not to mention about $5000 in aftermarket goodies) and all I can get is low blue book out of it. Well to heck with them, I'm keeping it. I might just get some bead locks and some new tires for it. Thanks for the offer expedition 00, but Maine is a little far for me and I don't think that UPS or the USPS will deliver it any where for anything less than the national debt.

I finally got a chance to ride the 250EX yesterday. Hated it. It was very slow and the uphills were terrible. I had to upshift all the time (hey I realize that the machine has a load capacity of 243 lbs and I weigh 250+), I never could seem to find the right gear. About Honda's much vaunted handling, you can keep it. The quad pushed very badly in the turns compaired to even my Trailblazer. I couldn't get it to wheely worth a darn either. Then there's the ergonmics. Granted it is a machine for smaller people, but I kept sliding forward on the seat. I felt cramped on it too. There is also no need for brakes on it at all because the compression braking is so strong. I barely touched the brakes on a down hill.

In other words, the kids will love it!

 

3TV,

The kids just came over and picked up the quad. The first thing my boy (Sean) asked was where the preload adjusters were. He said that the quad barely squatted down with him on it. Ah, a chip off the old block.

Two dealers told me to sell my Sport out right in the classifieds and the other just told me that they didn't take Polaris machines on trade in. I really don't want to sell it through the classified ads because this thing is scary fast. I don't want some guy to buy it for his girl friend because it's an automatic and he thinks it's a beginner's machine. Far from it. Assuming that she doesn't kill herself on it, she just might out run her old man on his machine. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img]

Besides, there really isn't much of a market for a high performance automatic transmission machine. If there were, everyone would be building them. I like to look at it as sort of a niche machine. It fills the needs of very few other people besides myself. Now, you can look on ths forum and find plenty of people who have modified their Polaris machines, but we are just a few compared to many who are out there.

Just to make myself feel better I think I'll go out and buy some new tires an wheels. I've been looking at those new carbon fiber bead locks by Hi-Per. That should make my day along with some new Holeshot XCTs.

Thanks!

 

Mike, If you want a Z400 but are worried about less HP. Maybe you should look at a DS or Raptor or C'dale???? Besides, I found even though my girls 400EX wasn't as fast in a straight line as my Scrambler it's still more fun & faster everywhere else anyway.