I wonder about that situation. My friends and I ride with 700+ Quads all the time (we have Foremans) and we have never come across a obstacle we couldn't get through that they could. We ride rocks, snow, mud, mountain and trail here in the North East and we see all kinds of conditions, except maybe dunes, but that doesnt apply here. Granted they can get where they're going quicker, but when your on the trails we ride and it goes from flat to side hill and you can roll over in the tip of a hat, its a different story. This also has to do with the caliber of the rider, I realize this. But all in all, other than speed and towing ability. I have yet to see in my experiences a reason to go with the big machines. Never been in or seen a situation where the Foreman could turn its wheels, I cant even dream up one in my head. The low gear on the Foreman has ample power to turn the wheels anytime, anywhere. Again this is just from my personal experience and some other may have seen different.

 

I'll say it again, each quad and their size are for certain purposes....I like the speed of the larger machines, the tow capacity, the rack capacity and the plow performance....

As far as mudding...the larger machines with more power and bigger tires work better....

as far as trail riding, tight, twisting turns, the smaller machines work better....

as far as technical, climbing, etc. all machines work well, the smaller displacement machines will climb almost anything the big ones will....there advantages and disadvantages to both....depending on the terrain....if a narrower wheelbase is better, the smaller machines you usually work better...ones that have a narrower wheelbase....other times trying to straddle washed out area's, the wider machines work better....although engine displacement doesn't make much of a difference here because even the smaller sized engines will climb almost anything in low gear....

But we all know one thing...we all have machines, we're going to have fun whether we have an 800 or a 250....we may do different things....but the good part is that we can get out and ride and have a great time....

 

Ya it's like having money in the bank, it's nice to know it's there.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

When I bought my machine this is what I looked for. (no specific order)

1 sporty machine with 4x4

2 good amount of ground clearance, with my tires I accomplished that

3 SRA

4 under 500 pounds

5 manual transmission (semiauto clutch)

6 price range was up to 5,600 at the time

7 overall comfortable feeling of the ride and handling

8 ability to modify

It was all of the above plus the custumer service and known reliability that made my decision on a wolverine. When it all comes down to it everyone has a riding style and certain preferences. I don't think that there is a "monster quad" out there that fits what I want. If someone uses there utility truely as a work quad, I guess I can understand going with something huge even though when I need a quad for work purposes my dads 500 HO does the trick without a problem. I guess I don't understand people buying monster utility quads just to go fast, you might as well buy a sport quad. Anything technically difficult comes down to the rider more than the quad anyways. This is just my opinion on the subject.

Ryan



PS On the subject of power, I drive a 300 HP car, I like lots of power too [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

there has never been a situation where my scrambler wont follow a sp700, or a prarie 650. if they get stuck, i do. they make it through, i do. my kodiak was almost the same, if only it had the diff locker. on hills no other machine could compare to it. no hill could really stop it thnx to the WARN bumper and a winch. you really dont need the 700cc class. i really wanted to get one, but now that i look at it, my 500 is MORE than enough power, and will go just the same places. its really amazing where the scramblers can climb...

the great part of the big bores is the power. dont ever ride one, you just may end up buying one. as for work, as hard as this is to believe, our old sp500 pulled more than our sp700. the 700 just spins out, where the 500 seemed to have more low torque, and it would pull anything. we used the sp500 to pull a John Deere 730. its a decent sized tractor. well the 700 wouldnt pull it.

overall, im not going to a big bore if i ever get another one.

 

To each his own. I like getting there faster and having more power to do whatever. Since I make good money...I don't mind paying it out on my toys for the top of the line. That's just me though. Some are happy with what they have...I like the best I can have.

 

Since I have small and large bore quads I will submit my 2 cents.

There is nothing worse then eating your buddies dust while you have your 360cc bike at WOT and your buddy is at 3/4 with his 500 poopoo. Having said this, to know that one's bike has the ability to tame the toughest trail/mud hole etc is worth it to me but I ride for pure fun so a 700cc quad is worth the extra bucks.

I bought the 360 first saying this is all I need but after I rode with bigger quads 500+ I needed/wanted (same thing) a bigger bike.

But since I can afford the larger quad why not, other wise we would all be driving Lada's or VW's Bugs just like in the 40's and 50's.

For the record my wife hates the 360 as she is addicted to raw power of our 700. If your wife wants more power then by all means grab your ***** and get the larger quad!! Just a statement its not meant to flame anyone owning smaller quads. LOL

 

Amen brother. I hate it when people's opinion is stated so that it appears the rest of us are all dumb-azzes for purchasing anything that doesn't equate to their level of standards.

 

Tdelong,

You are missing the point entirely. No one is calling you anything either so I don't like when you say these things either. There is nothing wrong with larger quads and that's not what the post is about at all. As far as money goes I'm sure everyone buys the best they can and that's not what this post is about either. There are people who buy things because they need them, there are people that buy things because they want them, and there are people that buy things just to keep up with the Jones and are never happy. Is there anything wrong with any of these? I would have to say no. I don't care what others ride as long as I'm happy with my ride but don't look down on me because my machine has less CCs than yours.

 

For the most part anyone with 400-500 cc or more can do and go about the same.
I still find myself wanting more power, but not for a lack of it. I have been mudding with a few machines of the smaller cc variety that couldnt even spin the 27" mudders they had on in the thick stuff and would get stuck. Any time i've ever been stuck all 4 of my wheels are still spinning and throwing mudd, just that i'm holessly bottomed out.
In the wet sloppy stuff its different, i have been through up over the seat without a problem and i'm sure smaller machines have too.
There are also some extreem hill shooting and towing situations too.