Do you really believe that the magazines are doing that? I don't buy it thats not right. Open up your favorite magazine and I think you will
see an even amount of all the advertisements on atvs. All the ads are usually close in size so they should be close to the same prices for ads. Give it a break already. Some times people are bias towards there brand because it has had a PROVEN track record.

 

In my honest opinion, which doesn't mean anything but it's America so I can voice it, the deal with the magazines being "biased" towards one brand or another is bull$+|T. Dirtwheels seems to be the one that gets this accusation the most, so let's take a look at it. People usually claim DW to be very forgiving towards Honda. There are usually just as many or more Yamaha/Kawasaki/Polaris ads in there, not to mention it seems like Yamaha ALWAYS has the back page all to itself, but we'll just let that go right now for the heck of it. Example 1: Honda utility shootouts with Suzuki, Yamaha, and Kawasaki. The Honda is almost always getting beat in almost every category except maybe one or two. Example 2: TRX450R vs. YFZ450 shootouts and comparisons (which never seem to end), the YFZ is constantly coming out on top according to Dirtwheels, even though they "favor Honda." The door swings both ways though, I've heard they're biased to almost all the major Japanese brands. Polaris owners like to say that Dirtwheels hates Polaris, but like quadduck said, Polaris has a track record with almost every magazine. If you take the comparisons from say Dirtwheels and compare them to ATV Rider, ATV Action, ATV Magazine or whatever else people read, the results usually stack up very close to the same, and the same pros and cons about each machine usually match up with each other. Suzuki and Bombardier seem to have the least amount of ads in Dirtwheels and they absolutely love and praise most of the models from these manufacturers.

 

all i was saying is that polaris has there plant here and we have jobs there idc who or were if it's taking jobs away from the us i dont give a **** if they break evry 5 min!

 

mdewitt,

First off, thanks for helping keep us free. Keep your eyes open and come home safe!

I have ridden a lot of bikes, and like the Sportsman's, but if they are not for you, then I would look at Yamaha's for what you have told us you need. Lot of opinions here, and like arm pits, some smell better than others! Your post ask for some specifics for YOU. As all of the companies put out a good bike now, and you are looking at new bikes, then I would suggest Grizzly 660 for you and Kodiac 450 with IRS for wife. Both machines should be good for playing and hunting. Grizzly is a proven bike, and Kodiac is new frame, but just a smaller grizzly... Yamaha has enough time and experience with the grizzly, that the IRS Kodiac should be great.

If you were going to play hard, then a SRA machine slides better, but IRS is a better ride, otherwise all the companies, including Kawa and Suz wouldnt be spending the $ to go that route. What ever you do, good luck.

Ken

 

as far as magazines go, when the sportsman first came out in 96, dirtwheels raved about it, so i don't know where people think they don't like polaris. i have to say after looking at magazines recently, dirtwheels was the least pleasing to read. there's very few color photos compared to the other magazines, and i know it costs more to have color but if the other magazines are doing it, so should they. i get tired of looking at a bunch of black and white photos

 

as far as who is better good question i almost bought a polari 700 efi until i heard about crank bearing failure then i looked into yamaha etc etc the way i look at it what other four wheel drive has 10 inches of suspention travel all 4 wheels fact front locking diff,shift on the fly 4x4 .6.5 gallon fuel tank 13 in ground clearence,and plenty of tree stump pulling torque. does the ac 650 have some bugs yes it does could use a better clutch but its not hard to tune limp mode yes it stinks but considering that ac put this machine from paper to production in 11 mos and has made a name for itself i think is pretty good also what other company gives you a 2 year warrenty bumper to bumper beside bombardier thats right no one thats my story and im sticking to it

 

you r right dw dose have alot of b&w pix. and they call them selves the best atv mag in the world???

 

All the other manufacturers' plants are located inside the US too except for Bombardier.

 

Dirtwheels has 3 to 4 times more pages and cost about the same,thats probably why they use some b+w photos.

 

You were also probably riding military spec Sportsmans which are heavier than the regular ones, and they have probably been abused and ridden hard and neglected. In my opinion, the Polaris quads are as good or better than any other quad out there. The Sportsmans are really hard to get stuck, so if yours got stuck "pretty easily", then any other quad would have too.

Nice to know you're fighting for our country and now want to come home and buy foreign stuff, VERY patriotic.