I am thinking about selling my Wolverine and buying a Vinson 5 spd. I am an adult male 41 years old. I have been riding for 22 years. My two teenage sons also ride they each have a 400ex. We mainly ride wooded trails, alot of giant hills and alot of mud and water. My friends have a Sportsman 500, and a 650 praire. I love to hill climb and the Wolverine just dosen't seem to have enough power, sometimes I have to down shift to 1st gear which you know thats like. I am not sold on a belt driven quad. I believe the Vinson is the right quad for me. I would like to hear from anyone who has any suggestions that I might have not thought about or any Vinson owners about what you like and dislike.




2000 Wolverine
25in Goodyear Mud runners
moose cv guards
unifilter

 

I have the Vinson automatic and would recommend it. The 5 speed is getting good reviews and they claim it to be quite a bit faster than the auto. The overall feel of the Vinson is good. Very comfortable and it handles great. This is my first full-size quad, as I'm used to the Banshee and Raptor, but the weight is what I notice most about riding aggressively on the Vinson. You should have all the motor you need with the Vinson, but the Prairie 650 and Grizzly would definitely outrun it in a drag race. I've ridden with a Grizzly 660 and had no problem keeping with him.

 

I have had an auto Vinson and would not recommend hillcliming with this machine. Atleast not on anything that is loose or sandy type terrain. This machine just isn't clutched for any aggressive hillclimbing. The manual would more than likely suit your tastes much better. The power of the Prairie would be much better if you want an auto for hillclimbing, but either machine would require new tires before you try climbing.

It does sound like you have your mind set on a Vinson. Although the spec sheet on both machines show the same motor, carb and compression, the manual machine is rumored to have more power to make it even sportier. In auto form, the Vinson is a great machine, I would love to ride the manual to see the differnce. The auto that I had was a very level flying machine when jumping. But the clutching made it difficult to loft the front over obstacles. The manual would cure this.

 

I have the 2003 vinson with the 5 spd and love it. There is a write up on the vinson 5 speed in January's dirt wheels.

 

I've had my vinson manual for a month or so and love it!I had a polaris sportsman 500 before this.It will do 63-64 mph on a long strait a way,it gets up to 45 going across my back yard which is only 4 acres,so probably 200 yards,and if you're on dry ground with good traction you can pull the front wheels going into second gear.If you want a low maintenance,high performance sport utility I highly recomend it! It is very reasonable priced too,I got mine for 5625 including a warn 2000lb. winch.

 

Wow EB, I paid 6 even for mine and I didn't get no winch.

 

Thanks for the replys. Does the Vinson pull reasonably steep hills in 3rd gear? Like I said in my post I love to hill climb. I just don't want to buy another Quad and find out its not much better than my Wolverine. I want the next Quad I buy to be the last.

 

I also was thinking of purchasing a Vinson 5 spd. I am from Canada and wondered what colour it comes in. I know there are different colours for Canada and the states but i'm not sure what they are.

 

The colors in the states are green, red, and yellow.

I have a friend that rides the wolverine, and the vinson has way more power. If you need more than what the vinson can give you then your next step up probably would be the kawasakie prairie. The vinson 5 spd holds its ground good in the 500 class.

 

i am a sport rider and looking at a Vinson 5 speed will it be fast enough and still slide and climb and jump, iam no Doug Gust but i am still pretty abusive on quads is the vinson worth it?