You cant go wrong with a 500 polaris h.o. best all around with speed, smooth ride ,and great 4x4.

 

pharoh. Check out the Honda Rancher AT. It allows you to switch from auto to manual (esp). It also allows you to move between 2wd and 4wd. It tops out at around 52 mph. Not sure how many mods are available for the Honda, but they build a tough machine.

 

the big bear is awsome, needs a sixth gear, and its a little slower than the grizzly and prarie, but has ***** to the walls. maybe you should get the kodiak 450, or, if your a man, get the big bear. but the 450 has diff lock, which will not let u get stuck, but,.... the big bear is a manly mans machine. ps. im not homosexual, but i do like my quads to have *****.

 

If your thinking about a Big bear check out the Honda rancher, Unless they updated the suspension on them the rancher has much nicer suspension, its less tippy and feels better behaved on the trails, it also shifts alot nicer, the only downside i have found is that the motor doesn't have as much grunt as the big bear, but the improved handling charactaristics more then make up for it on anything but a straight away on an upgrade. We have both a bigbear and the rancher (both full time 4wd the bb is an 01 400)

 

Hello there,

I was reading your post and noticed that you are looking for something a litte different... I ride a 250 ATVKart, it tops out at about 40MPH, I ride in Canada and we have alot of the same terrain you described.

If you would like me to send you some photos I would be more than happy to do so.

Karter

 

i would chose the eiger over the BB not only because since i bought mine new a few years ago i'm hooked on suzuki but i was on the fence between the BB and the Eiger the eiger i believe has more overall power and the dual shocks as opposed to the monoshock in the rear really sold me i thought the eiger was a much better ride and now i have about 2000 miles on mine and no problems yet i would rally for them any day and my machine has had anything but an easy life as for the ranchers i believe they have about 2 inches less ground clearance and that is huge other than that i haven't heard anything bad about them.

 

If you are not looking for a straight utility machine, and want speed, then I have to mention the Polaris Scrambler. It has switchable 4-wheel drive and is fast and is an automatic. I was interested in one but I decided on the Wolverine . The Wolverine is full time 4-wheel drive though. I know there is a kit for it to switch to 2x4 but I think we should compare stock machines. Good luck with your choice and if you decide on a Big Bear you will have a great machine it just won't have the speed you want.

 

well after looking some more, and even test riding a number of atv's new and used, overall considering everything im still pretty content on the big bear 400, the speed thing i dont have to worry much about even in flat out terrian, most of the ppl i ride with will rarley even reach 50.

 

i have both the 01 big bear and an 03 kodiak 400 . i like both for different reasons . the toughest of the two in my opinion is the big bear but i cant validate that because the kodiak takes all i dish at it to . the kodiak is liquid cooled , has a speedo odometer tripmeter , little higher top end also . i really like the wolverines to but they stay high priced . i also have a 2001 lakota sport 300 with a pipe filter and jetting and aftermarket tires . they are a tough machine that bridges the gap between sport and utility in that they handle like a sport but have an auto clutch tranny with reverse and you can put rack on the back or get a pre 2000 and down and they have front and rear racks . we have ran the crap out of our lakota and it comes out good everytime . you wont go wrong with a big bear though we get about 46-50 mph tops out of ours but we hardly ever get up that fast , even riding some fast rails we usually hit 40 more than any other speed and i ride with guys on yfz450s and raptors .

 

The new '05 Foreman S (footshift) wouldnt be a bad idea, dosent have diff lock.. and is priced around $6,200... they're tough too. my friend has one and his topped out at about 50-56 mph. Plus give the Kodiak 450, and Polaris Sportsman 400-500 a look.