I was looking through canada trader and i came a cross an '02 500 scrambler, and i was wondering if any owners could tell me how they like them. They are close to $1000 less than a sp500!! and i only use my racks for my dinner in the woods, and i could just put that on someone else's bike if i had to. But is it as plus as IRS?? Close??

Any other comments on the bike would also be helpful.

 

I absolutely loved my Scrambler. It was on 02. I ended up breaking the frame on it. I ride really rough rocky terrain and ride real fast sometimes. It was just too much for it.

Other wise, it is awesome. I bought a new Predator, really only because I didn't want to tear up another Scrambler. If it could have handled the way I ride, I would have bought another in a heartbeat.

It has good acceleration. Rides real good, very stable. It is not as plush as IRS, having the straight axle. But I liked how it rode. The four wheel drive came in handy. It's a good all around machine. It doesn't do anything great, but does most things real good.

I would recommend one highly.

Scott

let me know if you have any specific questions

 

I'm not planing to ride that agressivly, but the throtle is usualy pined (can't let the 450 honda pass me) It will be used for trail riding, harder than most people, but not as hard as a MX'er (i have a bike for that) Is the ride nice and soft? The only thing that concerns me is that i KNOW that i won't be able to just "pass by" a mudhole if someone else is in it, so with the chain drive is it too low for mudding, and will i always be picking the rear end up and out of the knee deep mud??

Also i pretty much new no striaght axel is like IRS, but is it smooth?? I know it has something like 10" of rear travel. Also you won't catch me dead one one of the 03 scramblers (IMO they ruined them)

 

I think it will meet all of your needs quite nicely. The 4x4 will help you out of most mudholes. I think the ride is very smooth. Good shifting, good acceleration. Plenty of clearance, with a good suspension. I would buy another. In fact, if I buy a second one, it will be a Scrambler.

Scott

 

My Scrambler is great in the mud, but it still isn't a Sportsman. The only trouble I had was getting it hung up on hidden logs in the mud, and getting slowed down on rutted up trails. I think it would do sweet with some ITP Mudlites.

The Scramblers can be ridden hard on trails, just not jumped or anything like that. It still isn't anything like IRS. On the other hand, it is a smooth ride. The seat isn't as comfortable on long rides as the Sportsmans. The Scrammy's ride is definately WAAAAY smoother than the 450 Foreman.

Again, it is smooth and is a decent mudder, but it isn't as good as the Sportsman. The chain cuts its way through mud pretty good, but the more gritty mud you ride in, the shorter the chain life. If you are getting this quad to do a lot of mudding, I would go for the Sportsman. There's nothing like IRS in the mud. If you are looking for something lighter than the Sportsman to do some more sporty trail riding, then I would say the Scrambler is your quad. Just remember, if you are doing a lot of mudding with the Scrambler, you will be doing even more maintenance than with the Sportsman mainly because of the chain drive.

I love my Scrambler. It is an awesome quad. I originally wanted a Sportsman, but I couldn't pass up this Scram for the price and all that came with it...plus I wasn't sure if I wanted a sport or a ute so I settled for the best of both worlds(at the time). But lately I've been craving something more sporty..(Predator?) If you think the '03 Scramblers are messed up looking, well my '98 is purple. LOL But heck, you can't tell what color it is once its all muddy. (plus I got a good price on it)

 

I am very pleased with my Scrambler!

 

Thanks for all the info! greatly appreciated.

I won't be using it for mud, but if the trail turn sloppy i don't want to be getting towed out all the time. When we leave the trail is muddy at the beginning, and my 2WD kodiak, now with gators, doesn't get stuck, unless i point it towrads the deep ends of the holes. Once we get by thses spots it is all gravel roads, hard pack, sad, and some rocks. Other trail have some shallow water holes, but that's about it. If there is a hole i think the Scrambler would do fine. I'm starting to get away from the mud riding, although it is very fun, it takes it's toll on the bike, and it's appearance. Mine still is in very close to mint shape, but it's a lot of work to keep them that way after a mud ride. On average i spen 4-5hrs after a ride washing, cleaning, and detailing my Kodiak. We now have a path through a lumber yard that by passes all the mud. So mabey a scrambler would be right for me!?

I do have two more question, how many miles do you get on a tank of gas?? and is it any faster than the sp500 H.O?? if so how fatst?

 

The Scrambler is faster than a sp500 HO. They have the same motor, but the Scrambler is about 150 LBS lighter.Mine runs about 68mph. If you take an easy on it, you can go pretty far on a tank of gas. It has a 3.5 gal tank. I rode about 4 to 5 hours straight on some slow ORV trails and still had a little over 1/2 tank left. I usually ride about 30 miles on a weekend and use about 2.5 to 3 gal of gas

 

Ive never tested it but I'd bet the scrambler is good for a 70 mile journey easy,,,,,,if you run it conservative.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

We used to take 80+ mile rides when I had my 400ex. I used to get back to base camp with fuel to spare,,,,,even after helpin the yz250 out with about 1/2 gallon.

BigBadScrambler,,,based on your estimates,,,you should be only gettin about 40 miles to a tank,,,,is this correct?

 

Bing, Id say you are probably about right. I usually run REAL HARD and at WOT a lot of times. At those times My ride is about 15-20 miles and I have a little over 1/2 tank left. But when I ride slowly on the ORV trails I can go VERY far. I would agree with you that a Scrammy can go about 70 miles IF ridden conservatively,...BUT how often does that happen!!??