My brother is 13 yrs old, going on 14 and got the okay on pretty much whatever ATV he wants. He asks me what he should get but i dont know a whole lot about utes, as all i have owned are sport quads. so i figured one of you would give him a better answer. He hates polaris's, dont know why, but he said he doesnt want a polaris so i guess they are out of the question. and i also didnt really know what size ATV to actually look at for him, he's about 110 lbs. so anything like a 250 and up would pull him around pretty easy, but he does want 4X4. He wants a powerful quad, but he doesnt need a KQ, brute, or anything in that class...i was guessing that he wouldnt need to go any bigger than a 400cc quad, i may be way off but i was just guessing. So what would you guys go with? he said he would drive anything but a polaris and mainly wants power, he's young so doesnt really care much about how good a machine rides, so my question i guess is whats the most powerful quad in that size range? 250-400? thanx in advance.

 

For example, a Rancher 350 4X4 is relatively light at 525 lbs. (real heavy by my personal standards!), and most utes weigh 600 lbs. and go up from there.

If a 110 lb. kid rolls a 600 lb. ute with hard rack on top of him..........well you get the picture...........

Start him out on a 250!

 

i understand what your saying, but anyone rolling a 600 lb. quad isnt gonna be a pretty picture. im not a big guy, i only weigh 160. does this mean i should be on a 250? he isnt starting out, he's been riding my DS for a year or so, he's just now getting his own now.

 

It's not so much how much he weighs but the fact that he is 14. 14 year olds may have the skill and may be able to handle a larger quad but they haven't developed the judgement or emotional skills to handle a larger machine. They make all sorts of youth models. His parents should get him one that is age appropriate.

 

what about a yamaha bruin 350

 

This is where things get ugly ..

Put someone on a machine that may be ok to ride it, but doesn't have the experience/judgement to be allowed on unsupervised. I see it all the time where I ride. The the kid gets hurt because of a stupid judgement call and it gets blamed on the ATV's instead of where it belongs .. with the Parents. The large UTE's are known up here as $12,000 baby stitters. Parents set their kids out on the roam on these huge monsters just to have them out of their hair. Then have the audacity to blame the manufacturer for making an unsafe machine.

Don't get me wrong however .. there are plenty of 14 year olds out there that would drive circles around me. I've only been riding for a few years. BUT, having said that .. I have the good sense to not try things I'm not comfortable with. My sense of danger/hazards is much keener now than when I was 14 and though I was immortal. Then again .. I've done stuff on my bicycle back in the old days without any safety gear that makes me cringe to think of now ...

My parents were correct I guess when they said "You'll understand when you get older" so true ....

 

well i started riding when i was 12 on a sportsman 500 (yeah yeah yeah) it was my dads but he let me puts around the house on it, but ive always been that kind of daredevil, but look at me now, 'putsing' around on an 800 [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]

i would get the inbetween and look at the Bruin

 

hey, i just turned 14, 130 poundsand for about a year ive been ridin my dads sportsman 400. i can handle it great on the ice and jump it about 15 mph off a 2 foot high shelf or ridge and do just fine on it. i also have more common sence than most people do. ive only had experience a few times on my friends lil 87 125 before that.

if he doesnt like polaris i recomend the bombardier outlander 330 or 400.

 

we went and looked at the bruin today actually, and he loved it, but the bruin 4X4, was priced not to far away from the big bear 4X4 400. why is the big bear priced so much lower than the kodiac? but we went across the street to the kawizuki dealer, and he loved the kawi 360 as well....hm....

 

i wish there were a bom dealer in paris, but now there isnt..i think he actually wants to see and sit on a quad before purchasing one so i guess bom is out of the question unless their is one semi-close to paris, TX