Hi, new here, been riding off and on for a few years, but never personally owned a atv(which is why i only ride off and of), as of late my mom has gotten serious with a guy very into 4 wheeling, getting her into it, and giving me the perfect chance to get one(ill get 17 in april by the way). they ride praire 650's, nice rides, but auto aint my favorite. we live around the mountains in pa, so tons of places to ride, and just about any kinda riding you can think off, we can find here(no sand, but some of the old mining areas are close to it)

so im looking for something that can handle alot of stuff (without to much alterations per ride), something that can keep up with the other types i wide along with(ozark 250's, praire 650's, kodiaks 400's , grizzlys, etc), also something thats priced under $6000, and has alot of mods u can get for it(i like to have different look than stock) also anothing non auto is a huge plus, i've been looking at the 2004 and 2005 big bear 400's, and for the most part like them, but i've heard they are a bit slow, speed aint everything to me, but i would atleast like to be able to keep up.

thanx for anyhelp

 

look at the suzuki 400 eiger and 500 vinsion

 

i've looked at the eiger, but the shifter being on the gas tank, makes me just plain forget about it. and the vinson, i did some research into and got alot of varying results.

also, dosent have to be a utility, but does have to be able to handle the stuff a utility handles. i like the sporty look, just most of the sports i've riden werent able to handle the mud and snow, thou i've heard the bigger stuff like the 660 raptors are able to handle it half decent

 

I have a big bear, and I love it. It is kinda slow, but I dont need it to be fast. Mine tops out around 50mph. It will keep up with most anything in the trails, but when they open up it gets tough sometimes. I like the ability to shift as well, and that kind of drove me towards the BB. That and two of my riding friends both have one. They are tough as nails, and have mods available. I'am getting ready to order up a HMF and power pack. That and maybe some new tires. All stock tires suck IMO. If you are sitting still in second gear, I can punch it and lean way back to pop wheelies. Gets tricky keeping it up enough to shift into 3 or 4 but can be done. It is by no means made for jumping, and it will work with the best of em. I guess it all depends on what you want out of it. Hope I could help. Good luck and welcome to the forums.

 

anything you can do to increase the speed? without putting a ton into it?

 

by the way, if you know of a auto that can hold up like the big bear, and has speed and look, let me know, im not realy looking for a auto, but if i find something i like enough i would get one.

 

brute force 650

 

well thanx for the help, i've looked at every atv maker i know of(lol even john deer) and i still thinking the big bear 400 4x4 is what i want, guess im now going to try to find a way to add some speed to it, if i could get it to 60ish it would be great.

 

why dont you look at the wolverine...it sounds like what your looking for...a sporty quad with a manual transmission that will do around 55...and theres tons of mods for it

P.S....i dont know about your trails...but here we rarely get above 20 mph...only in a few places...so think about if you really are even going to be able to use the extra speed if you get it

 

most brands making sport/utility quads are going to automatics due to their easy use and maintenance.

one thing you need to remember when asking us what to get is that most of us are gonna recommend whichever brands we ourselves own. all I can tell you is that I have two 2004 Polaris Sportsman 700EFI's and have to say that I love my quad. I chose the 700EFI because of the EFI and IRS mostly but I really liked the way polaris has made the sportsman series quads with a sporty feel/comfort/handling.

when I was looking for the quads I narrowed it down to the grizzly, rincon/rubicon, and the sportsman series. when I first started out I was gonna get the Yamaha wolverine sport/utility but found out that they were full time awd and I wanted to be able to switch from 2wd to 4wd. what I recommend you do is go to a few different dealers and look at a few different brands/models to see what your looking for and then test drive a few to see which ones ride the way you want them to.