which machine is the best all around

 

every mag that has done a comparison has picked the vinny, and i have riden all of them besides the bomb and havent seen anything that impresses me nearly as much as the vinny. My buddy is looking at an outlander 400 HO so maybe i will be able to compare it to that soon. Vinson is my vote

 

I doubt you'd go wrong picking any one of them, they are all well-made quads. I'd go with the dealer that's the best to deal with and not look back.

 

I went to an atv class yesterday (I've got a lot of experience on atv's and you get $100.00 from Suzuki if you go so I figured why not) And there were about 15 other riders with atv's there. Another Vinson exactly like mine, 3 Honda's ( Rubicon, 2 Foreman), 1 Sportsman 700, 1 Arctic Cat 500, 1 Bombardier 400, and other smaller ones. The other riders were of varying skill levels with everybody on the bigger machines experienced riders, with the exception being a girl who had never ridden before on the Sportsman. From my observations (and I was watching pretty closely) Only the Honda's compare with the Vinson. The fit and finish on the Suzuki and the Honda was better than the other's (I didn't look at the Bombardier very closely). The Polaris vibrated so bad I thought the motor was going to fall out ( I know it's a twin) And looked like chains would rub on the rear tires if they were not installed very tightly. The belt drives all had to use higher rpm's to do anything so they were louder (Polaris, Bomby also had a really high pitched whine, belt for some reason?, Ac) And the Suzuki seemed to handle better than the others, hands down, I'm pretty sure they all weigh about the same, but the Vinson, watching it form a distance looked like it was 100 pounds lighter than the others. The Rubicon was definitely the smoothest machine there. Overall in my opinion I liked the Vinson the best with the Honda right behind. I bought the Vinson because it had the things I wanted at the right price, and i'm not favoring it because I own one.

 

Here are the comments from the 2004 FourTrax Rincon GPScape 650 rider that I traded machines for an hour on the trails @ fox valley motocross, IL.

1. The Polaris sportsman 500ho feels like you could ram a tree and keep going ... Honda feels light.
2. Stock tires have much better mud traction then the Honda, but harder ride on packed dirt (I agree on this point).
3. It's a pain to stop and shift from low to high - we were riding allot of tight trails well under 20mph, I told him to keep in it low, then go to high for the roads between trails.
4. LOVED EBS when in low gear, a little scary in high (I found the same EBS is great in low, but locks up to quickly in high) ... Honda doesn't have EBS.
5. Steering is harder (ohhhh yesss... the Honda’s steering is very easy)
6. Same top speed ... but the Polaris will get there about one machine length faster. (We dragged raced riding the others machine)

We rode all over the tails ... mud holes ... drag racing ... hills (up and down some you can't go up) ... creek bed (water up over my radiator).
We agreed the Honda Rincon 650 is a close match for the Sportsman 500HO. Since this is a Polaris group I didn’t post my Honda comments.


+++++++++++++My post from the Polaris chat group++++++++++++

 

I know what talking about when you say a honda steers easier. It does turn easier, but every bump you hit slings the handle bars. The Sportsman soaks up the bumps a lot better in my opinion, making it feel more stable. I figured this thread (like most "who's the best" threads0 would go on forever w/o any answere. I love the way a Polaris rides/drives, nothing else that I have ridden compares. The best quad is the one you feel most comfortable on/ the one that fits you best. Thats the one you need to go with.

 

i dont think the sportsmans 500 has a chance against the vinson, for that matter a vinson would burn the 700 sportsman on the trail

 

Come on over to my trails....I would be more than happy to kick your a$$ on the trails! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

5610 i'll be happy to show you the fine looking rear end of my vinson on any trail. Ill pm you next time im in arkansas

 

Sounds like fun! But you got some words mixed up, its going to be "my sportsman". Just thought I would point out you put your vinson....LOL. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]