I notice many who post on this fourm are youngsters, and that's fine, but I thought someone might be interested in an account of how the Yamaha Big Bears actually perform in working situations.

I own a farm in Kansas. I like to stay there in the cabin for a month or so during the winter. The cabin has no electricity. It is warmed by a freestanding woodburning stove and illuminated by Coleman lanterns and Aladdin lamps. We cook on an LP gas stove. (Or a Weber grill) We use Dietz lanterns for the occasional nighttime trip to the outhouse. We keep our food in coolers not to stay cold, but to keep from freezing solid. To me, this time at the cabin is precious. Until I bought a ATV, I never knew how much work and fun these machines are capable of providing.

My first 4 wheeler was the Yamaha Big Bear 2001. It is full-time 4 wheel drive. We tow it to the farm in a 5 x 12 utility trailer. After unloading the ATV, we back up the Yamaha to the same trailer that it was hauled with and hook up.

Usually the first order of business is logging. We cut wood in the bottoms. We load the trailer and then pull it back up the logging trail to the cabin. Even when there is snow and ice, the Big Bear is up to the task. These are not light loads and the trail is plenty rough and steep. The super low gear is nice, but many times 2nd will still do the job. The Big Bear pulls incredibly well for its size.

Hauling water is another chore the Big Bear does well. We put 55 gallon barrels on the trailer and go to the bottoms and through the creek to the neighbors for water. Once, crossing the creek, the ice broke and the Big Bear fought its way across the rocky bottom, towing the water on the trailer, breaking ice as it went to the other creek bank. Water weighs a lot, but the Big Bear hauls it to the cabin with the same sure-footedness as the logs. The Big Bear pulled a neighbor's pickup out of a ditch on a snowy evening. Here, the lights were a blessing. Always do this in reverse.

Cold is a challenge for any machine, but the Big Bear with its heated carburetor has started reliably down to 0 degrees. (No warm garage here - it's parked outside in the wind and weather) I guess I could say that there was a problem with a frozen choke cable, but WD-40 fixed that after the engine warmed up. Unless you are Superman, forget pulling the recoil starter in single digit weather. We use Mobile 1 15-50 in the engine and Mobile 1 GL 5 in the final drive and differential.

It is not all work at the farm. If it was, I wouldn't enjoy it so much. When it snows, we unhook and blast around the pastures like teenagers. I have to admit, other than the cold, it's great. I have had the front of my Big Bear packed solid with snow. I have gun cradles on the front rack and I sometimes sneak up to the pond to see if any Canadians are there. (geese) Usually, I don't shoot any, because they are more fun to watch. I do like to roam the pastures for the occasional coyote. When I surprise them, my rifle comes out of the cradles and to the shoulder quite nicely. Often, it's Ron 1 - Coyotes 0. My cell phone only works at the highest point on the farm, and the Yamaha takes me there without the hassle of starting my Diesel pickup.

Whether you think Big Bears are fast is a matter of conjecture. In 5th, they go around 35mph. That seems plenty fast to me. The engine sounds wound up pretty tight at that speed. The transmission seems bulletproof. I have been told our wet creek crossings would mean trouble for some of the automatics. Big Bears are fun, workhorses. I love them, and have since bought two more. (For my sons - my Big Bear is still going strong) The new ones shift to 4WD on command and have speedometers and odometers. There is considerably less effort required to steer in 2WD. Brake lights are a nice addition to the machine. I think they are tops.

In the summer, we use the ATVs to launch our PWCs and bass boats at the boat ramps. We 4 wheel recreationally on undeveloped property at our place at the Lake of the Ozarks.

I am glad you are all loyal to your brand of ATV. For us, the Big Bear has been a reliable, enjoyable, machine. It works and plays hard.
Ron [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

You said your first 4 wheeler du you own any others?

 

hey ron,

i feel the same way about my '01 big bear. i've yet to have it fail to take me where i want to go, or do what i needed it to do. and it's done it all without a hiccup. the only thing i've had to do is keep the oil changed and respool my winch cable once.

i dont care how fast or slow it goes either. it's plenty fast for me and thats all i ask. it doesnt have a speedometer, so i dont know what top speed is. but i do know that it will out pull some much larger machines, and since thats what i bought it for, i figure i win.

my big bear was my first 4-wheeler (i had a slew of 3-wheelers) and i've since added a '01 honda rancher for my wife. the rancher, being 2wheel drive is easier to steer, but i believe that my bear would pull it in two.

i couldnt ask for a sturdier, more maintenance free ride than my bear.

 

Good reviews. A friend of mine has an 02' Big Bear and its a rock solid machine, 2 1/2 years of hard abuse and it still runs like a champ.

 

I just bought an '01 Big Bear 400. The first thing I noticed was that there is a small fuel leak coming from the carburetor bowl drain hose underneath the carb. The screw that you tighten up may be wallered-out preventing me from tightening it all the way down to stop the leak.

I placed a machine screw in the open end of the hose to at least stop the leak. Bad idea...it caused the bowl to fill up and flood the engine to where it wouldn't start. I think the bowl float may have been sticking too. At this point, I noticed a 2nd leak from a 2nd hose that was just laying loose over the back of the motor. I followed the hose and it led back to the carb and then ultimately to the air-intake. I feel pretty confident that this 2nd leak was a direct result of trying to 'seal' the 1st leak.

I ended up taking the machine screw out of the carb-bowl drain hose, and opened the petcock and drained out some of the gas from the bowl. I let it sit a while and then she fired right up.

My questions are: What all do I need to fix/replace? Can I just replace the carb-bowl drain hose? Since she's 8 years old (don't know how many hours), should I just go ahead and throw in a carb re-build? Any ID or tips on the 2nd rubber hose I'm referring to?

Thanks,
KLS

 

Bought a new '08 Big Bear 400 IRS just over a year and a half ago...

I have been completely happy with it. I use it to trail ride primarily but have started to plow snow with it this winter. I put about seven hundred miles on it last summer and only broke one tie rod end.

Wish I could get by with leaving for a month in the winter and camping out but my wife would not be happy and my employer would be even more unhappy!

 

I have a 2007 Big Bear 400 4x4 IRS that I bought as a left over in 2008. I beat the crap out of if and have not had any issues. It is a simple, bullet proof machine and I couldn't ask for anything more.

 

I have an 09 and the only problem ive had was the cv joint. If i would have noticed the busted boot earlier, i wouldnt have had to replace it. The job was super simple, only took about half an hour to fix.

 

Does anyone else have any input on the new Big Bear 400 IRS models? Likes or dislikes? Mechanical issues? Lately I've been looking more and more at them as they seem to be just a simple quad. I don't like the idea of belts and electronics all over the newer big bores (as well as the huge price tags that come along with it) so I've been looking at the simple manual shift, air/oil cooled quads such as the newer Big Bear 400 4x4s and Suzuki KQ 400 4x4 (Honda isn't making the Foreman 500 anymore!). When it's time for the Brute to go, I'm going to "down grade" to a 400.

 

Well as the the old saying goes its hard to beat a Honda for reliability but IMHO the Yamaha's are just as good and even more fun to ride! For the most part the Yamaha's can compete 1 on 1 with anyone, the only thing that holds Yamaha back is having a same quad in the same class of atv.