I DONT like when they declare a winner. ATV sport did not declare a winner in a test last month simply because everyones riding needs are different. They presented the facts, the highs and lows of each unit and let YOU decide which one you like best. I like that idea. I dont care what a bunch of guys in Cali think is the best... it annoys me more than anything, except 100 pages of ads like in dirty wheels.
And dont even start me on ATVTV! that character, wow![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img]

 

Well In my own opinion the mags are there to be objective not destructive. I feel the reason ATV Magazines differ from Auto Review Magazines is this.

In the Motor Trend Magazine there are Tons of Automakers and Different models sports cars, SUV's, Trucks, ect... Tons of material to write articles on.

Then you have ATV manufactures there are only 5 really Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Polaris. How many models do they offer. Maybe 10 each estimate. They all make basically the same stuff. Cars and Trucks are a little different as far as purpose, cargo capacity, leg room, engine size, and most importantly they CHANGE EVERY YEAR. And "Car Review Magazines" are given a chance to retract the statements of last year by saying they made a remarkable change, by giving the car a new feel by adding some stuff, made the engine bigger, changed the design. And Pow INSTANT new material to write about. What is the biggest change to happen to a quad. Yamaha changed the front plastic on the Blaster (small potatoes). The Auto market is Huge and more competitive compared to the fractional ATV market. To make my point do you know more people that own a (Car, Truck, SUV) or ATV's. Big difference I would say. Everyone NEEDS a car for transportation. Where ATV's are more of a Hobby.

The ATV's remain the pretty much the same year after year. Yamaha Has made the warrior for years and will continue to do so. With little change if any. There is only so much you can say about a single machine before you start repeating yourself over and over. Would you buy a NEW Dirt Wheels magazine off the shelf that said "for warrior details read this article or the one from 10 years ago it will be the same crap". Of course not they know that so they have to shuffle the same crap. There is no clear winner because if they said the new Yamaha YFZ is the best quad out, period they would have nothing else to write about until something else came along. Who knows when that will be. We don't know, they don't know, heck the manufactures probably don't know for sure.

I agree to some point that you need a machine that matches you style of riding and you may have brand loyalty. Nothing wrong with liking a certain manufacturer over another. Just be an informed consumer. Here is another huge point. Would you contine to buy or subscribe to a magazine that constantly bashes your brand/model of ATV. My guess is "no". Who wants to know that they spent all their money on an obsolete machine. So the magazines have to cater to there readers by saying crap like "still a great machine after all these years". Even though they know how out-dated something is.

So don't take the magazines word as gospel. Just be informed. These forums CAN be the best place for better in depth reading material. The magazines are advertisements (at best). Have you ever heard an ATV magazine say "when we were jumping the z400 the back axle snapped like a postal worker." Get on a forum you will find someone who has posted a similar account while riding.

Advertising money fuels those mags. So you won't hear what's wrong with a machine but, rather what another machine is better at.

Thanks for reading, but form your own opinion

 

I guess that's another thing that gets me. I don't want to read a "first-test" of the 2004 yamaha warrior. It's the same quad it has always been and there is no need for a review of it except to compare it to new competitors. Also, when a quad wins a shootout, it doesn't mean that the other quads are crap or that they need to be bashed. It means that based on a number of categories, the quad performed better than the others as a whole. Plain and simple. When a BMW beats a Mercedes in a shootout does that mean the Mercedes is a worthless automobile? I don't think so. Another observation.....if newer quads were continually beating out the older ones that never get updated (ie yamaha warrior) maybe the manufacturers would start listening. Then again, probably not because they know the magazines are a joke. Also, about the automobile industry being different than the atv industry, i agree. However, compare the atv magazines to the motorcycle magazines......again, worlds apart. Much more informative, not just a bunch of loose talk ie "the front suspension on the honda bounced more over rough trails than smooth ones."

 

I really dont care what they compare....leave that to the MFRs. that's their problem. the warrior and 400ex are both overdue for replacement but that doesnt change the concept.
See, I am in the car biz and know that if anyone is gonna spend 40 large on a rig they want side by side comparisons,
not a verbalization of what the boys did last weekend at the the dunes with the loaner rigs. Those are places and conditions I will never see.
As it is, had a magazine done a side by side like atv sport did, I may have bought a DS650 instead of a raptor. But at the time it was all subjective reporting.
An informed purchaser values highly an expert opinion.. that's what I want...that's what most people want.
declaring a winner to me is irrelevant to 99% of the readers, because they're not THERE, and chances are their riding conditions will be different.
this post is worth exactly what you paid for it and is only the opinion of a bald guy with 40 years in motorsports.
[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

if your looking for a mag. that is all racing and nothing else check out www.atvracinextra.com

PS: this mag is on its way to being the Cycle News of ATV's.