Or you could learn how to ride. I never had any problems decending hills.

 

I had a 1996 Polaris Magnum 4x4 and it DID NOT like descending slippery hills at all. That thing had absolutely no engine braking and you only had 1 brake lever to operate. If you wanted to control the back brake only, you had to use the foot brake although it was pretty much worthless with stock tires. You usually had to cross your fingers and hope for the best when descending steep, slick hills. I'm not sure how the engine braking is on the new Polaris' but I do enjoy it a lot on both my Grizzly and Rubicon. Engine braking to 4 wheels during steep descents does help a lot. The individual brake levers help here too.

 

Zorro,

No the rincon does not have low range but with the 3speed tranny 1`st gear is pretty low to tow and pull. The Rincon is not made to be a workhorse. It is made to be a sport utility. Light, agile and very easy to manuver. Its handling is awsome. Much better than most utes out there.

Captain,

Not sure why everyone is so hell bent about having EBS. Not saying you dont know how to ride but who needs ebs? I have been riding for over 20yrs. I did not have ebs growing up. I do however hate the 1 brake lever on my Sp600. It sucks. I like the brakes on my rinny. If you have front and rear brakes then there is no need for ebs.

 

I have to chime in here about the ebs. Sometimes when I go down really steep hills I put it in Low 4x4 and ease off on the gas the engine brake slows the bike to a snails pace, sometimes I have to use the throttle to get it moving. I rarely use the brakes thats why I'm replaceing them this weekend with over 4500km on the stock pads. I took my fathers kodiak 450 down some of the same hills trying out the ebs and on that bike isn't as strong as on my vinson as it will roll faster but its better than none at all.

 

You're right. Nobody NEEDS EBS but it is very nice to have. Especially 4-wheel EBS. It's handy for descending steep, slippery surfaces.

Nobody NEEDS 700cc's, 12" ground clearance either but sometimes, it's nice!

 

The annoyance and limitation of the Polaris EBS is a known issue. I know the first time I experienced it I was test riding a new sportsman my friend had brought over. I about dumped the thing when it started skittering and clanking around and it started sliding around the hill I was negotiating. It about scared me to death. For one I about dumped the thing and another I thought I had broken my friend's new ATV. I rode over and told him and I was shocked when he told me that was how it was suppose to act. I tried it on several more hills and a steep gravel trails and it just would pull that same stunt and I just couldn't get use to the way it acted. If the hill had traction it didn't seem to be as much of a problem but loose material like gravel and loose dirt and stuff it was really tricky. It was great for everything else though. It rode great and handled pretty good except for the EBS issue. The power was decent too. The 4x4 system was a bit odd but worked ok as far as I could tell in most cases. The singe brake lever, an unfortunate ?feature? shared with can-am, is indeed annoying and combined with EBS was definitely a handful on steep hills. I've read where people are actually disabling EBS somehow it is disliked so much. The new 4 wheel EBS that Polaris just introduced isn't that good either from what I've read and heard from people personally.

I've always found it a shame that Polaris has a really good machine that is essentially crippled by a couple of defects that they just wont seem to address. Much like the way Honda is crippled by the fact they won't put a low range or a locker in their ATVs. (much to the annoyance of one of their dealers as I was reminded yet again this week)

 

The problem with the Sportsman downhill/EBS problem isn't really an EBS problem. The EBS works great. The problem is that there is no way to keep the front wheels locked while going downhill. The reason the've never done anything about this is that they would have to abandon thier 4x4 on demand system. It is a mechanical lock that is only "enabled" electrically. If there is no forward load on the front wheels they will unlock.


I am a former Sportsman owner, and will more than likely be again, but have to agree that that was my only complaint. It got to the point where I would take it out of gear and just use the brakes on steep downhills.

The Polaris systems work great. EBS is good, and the 4x4 system is great. It is true that the rear wheels have to spin before the fronts lock, but it is so fast you never notice it. THe only time I ever wished that there was a manual lock on the front wheels was trying to crawl over an obstacle. Would be handy for that. I will be looking for a new top of the line quad in the next couple of years, and Sportsman will definately be at the top of my list, but I will look at others with a manual front lock for these reasons.

Dave

 

I have been down some steep hills and I do not know what you guys are talking about. My dads 97 SP500 has no EBS and I just put it in low and it rides the engine compression down hills and if thats not enough I guess thats what the brakes are for. My SP500 with EBS is usually enough just to let it free wheel down a hill ,put it in low range and I wounder if I'm going to get to the bottom sometime today. If all that is not enough you just feather the brakes.

Low range it a must on atvs.

Honda does Have a very low 1st gear but many times you need a little more speed yet still need low range and thats why a low 1st gear is no substitute for a low range tranny. Many times low range 2nd or third gear is the compo you need in many situations. Even my old 86 250 moto4 2wd and 89 350 Big Bear 4x4 had a sub transmission yet my friends $8000 05 Foreman 500 does not have one?[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

 

I seriously hope you're kidding when you refer to your friend's Foreman as a $8000 Foreman. I've seen those things for $5500.

All that aside, the only Honda automatic with low range is the Rubicon. It does extremely well going downhill.

 

Thats in Canada and Im talking Canadian money. I'm sure a 500 forman is 8 billion Rubies in Russia. I sold my 2000 450 FormanES for $5000 just this spring. The cheapest 4x4 ATV sold in Canada is a 350 Briun and it still goes for $6200+15% tax.