hi all, i have been looking at alot of quads in the past 2 months from the kodiak 400/450/grizzly/polaris500/kaw.BF650and the vinson auto, i have a bruin 350 and its great but im looking to go a little bigger and faster i know all about the irs and sra and like the sra for my type of riding, and have not had any problems with not having a locking front diff although it would be nice, i like trail riding , hill climbs, dont do much with deep water and mud so i think im ok with out diff lock. so my question is how do you like the vinson and how does it hold up 5speed vs the auto i think im going with the auto thanks Rich

 

I love my Vinson. You will get a lot of opinions regarding what to buy. You need to sort through them. Look back through the threads on each of the models. I looked closely at the negative things people said before buying. You can tell more from the negative than the glowing praises. For an SRA quad, you cannot do better in the 500 class than the Vinson.

Here are two independent sources for reviews that I found helpful. You will find some who will discount magazine or television show reviews as being biased. IMO they provide good information and have the ability to test machines in a way that most buyers cannot (running around a parking lot is not the same as a few hours on the trail on each machine). The only bias really is on ATVTV against SRS and for lockers. But, if you are comfortable making that decision, the rest of the reviews are solid.

http://www.atvtv.com/testinfo.html

http://atvrideronline.com/tested/100_0306_showdown/

One new factor that was not around when I bought mine is the BF650. It's priced to compete against the 550 cc machines, but with greater displacement. It may be worth a serious look (acutally this is the old Prairie 650 in a new shell). The short version of the reviews is that the Vinson is the best of the 500 cc class for all around capabilities (it's a lot lighter than the AC or PS) and handles better than the lot. The ATV Rider review was extensive (but it's about a year old now). The Vinson ranked above several bigger bore machines and recieved high praise.

One good trick that worked for me is to buy last year's model an 03 or 04 and save the money from an 05. You get all the same features on the Vinson and can save a good amount of $$.

As for 5 speed versus auto, both hold up well. IMO it boils down to personal preference of what you want to ride. I find the Auto works very well for everything that I've thrown at it. i do a lot of technical trail riding and don't want to be stuck mid-hill and having to shift. The auto clutch shifter, though, is very cool and works extremely well.

As I said previously, do a search on the machines in the forums and you'll find out more information more quickly than you would waiting for the replies here. This has been extensively debated.

 

I have really enjoyed my 2005 Vinny 5-Speed, despite the fact that I have been a Honda man for the past 34 years.

I would really recommend that you read the January 2003 issue of DirtWheels Magazine, as they ran a pretty good comparison of the auto and the 5-Speed.

My own experience on my Vinson has matched very closely what Dirtwheels had to say, and having owned a couple of woods racers myself, I agree that the torque of the Vinny will allow you to pull a lower gear out of a corner when you are riding a trail at a good clip.

The main reason I went with the Vinson was because it was the largest displacement ATV made with a manual shift. I think Honda's new Foreman will have a 5-speed option, but it may not be out yet.

I have yet to find a hill that an Auto would make it up and that my 5-speed wouldn't

 

The manual will put more power to the ground and you will have more speed and power control. The manual has an excellent sport machine side to it when you run your stock tires on it where the auto is not as noticeable. The manuals are a few MPH faster then the auto's and the stock manual Vinson will often beat most stock BB auto machines off the line and up to the speed of about 30-40 Mph and then the BB machines will easily take the manual Vinson. The manual Vinsons are a excellent mudder other then it needs a front locker. The stock manual will turn aggressive 27" tires completely stock but I would highly suggest the power mods because you will get a lot better throttle response and the extra power when you need it.

The Auto Vinson is a excellent overall machine but the auto is not worth the extra money IMO.

 

I agree.