Too bad BRP stopped making the traxter with the step-through design.

 

I have a grizzly 660 long story short... my buddies tend to tear up or hopelessly bury their wheelers a lot forcing us to ride double... I weigh in at 300 and my buddies are over 250 and wheeler rarely rubs my 28" tires through ruts and 65 on the highway is no problem!... you wont have any problem with a yamaha grizzly or a kawasaki brute force.

 

I vote for the Brute force or the Grizzly 700. Polaris makes some that would do the trick but I'm not a big fan of Polaris. I would recommend a bigger bore like a 700 because you may need the extra power sometimes to climb hills or come out of a creek bed. Sure a 500cc will haul you around, but the bigger bore quads will already have stronger components to handle the extra power and torque of the bigger engine. Kind of like a Chevy truck - the 1500 Silverado is fine and will haul, where the 2500 Silverado looks like the 1500 but is built stronger, has stronger axles, and is more capable of hauling heavier loads.

 

660 or 700 grizzly, new 850 polaris, outlander 800, bruteforce 650 or 750 if i were you i wouldnt go any lower in size than the new 550 grizzly, which may be a real good choice, you get a grizzly with power steering and im sure you would love it.

 

What ever you buy include the cost of a good set of aftermarket radial tires (Maxxis Bighorn or ITP Mudlite XTR etc.) in your budget, stock tires tend to suck. When I had stock tires on my kvf 650 (Canadian version of the Kawi Prairie), the sidewalls would fold over and the rim would bounce off the ground when making aggressive corners and I only weigh about 160 lbs. As was said above, you don't need to go with the biggest engine available (i.e. most expensive model) to have enough power, you'd be better off with a 500-600 class machine, some suspension improvements and a good set of rubber to improve ride/handling rather than a big engine and stock running gear for the same price. When you're choosing a machine compare front/rear rack capacities, the higher the rating the more capable the chassis is at handling weight.
Good luck and happy shopping.

 

well i would reccomend an arctic cat thundercat 1000, its like 950 cc, lots of power, will haul u around easy and still be snappy, like you would want. just have the dealer stiffen the shocks as hard as they'll go and u should be fine.

 

Would you recommend aftermarket tires for all individuals or just this person? I weigh a little over 200 and I have never put aftermarket tires on any of my machines until I wore them out and have never had a flat or lost a tire or had traction problems. I have been riding ATV's since 1986 and now own a 2006 Rhino and a 2008 Grizzly 700. I do not, however, ride in significant mud as I do not like to tear the ground up and will wait until it dries up as I most often ride on my own land and not public trails.

I have been meaning to post this question for discussion, but haven't figured out how.

 

Wow you guys are awesome. I never expected so many responses.
I went down and looked at some ATV's yesterday and while I was there the guy told me that there is a large Outdoor Expo in November. Its a couple hours south of me but he said all the major dealers would be there and I could try out all the brands under one roof.

The ATV community has really impressed me. No one criticized me, and honestly I thought a couple people would have. Everyone has been super helpful and I hope to obtain one for myself before Christmas. Soon as I get one, I'll be sure to post some pics.

 

cictowa,

I believe you will be doing the prudent thing by going somewhere you can look at and sit on all the different models, as we all have different preferences. I got rid of my Polaris Sportsman 700 not because it was a "bad" bike, I just did not like the controls or AWD system on the 2005 model. Small things like floor boards, foot brake position and other variables are something that may be unimportant to some, but a deal breaker fore others.

I still have my Harley, but have ridden British, Spanish and Japanese bikes. The motorcycle community seems to have always been fractured, but the ATV community seems much more accepting.

My philosophy has always been, "It is not important what you ride, but that you ride." This seems to be the position of most on these forums. Most don't care if you have the "latest and greatest" or an old worn out machine. I have seen no elitism displayed or very little.

All that is important is that you are interested in a sport from which we all derive a great deal of enjoyment and we want you to enjoy it as much as we do. How much anyone weighs, what they look like, or how much money they have is of no importance.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Cictowa

Wow you guys are awesome. I never expected so many responses.

I went down and looked at some ATV's yesterday and while I was there the guy told me that there is a large Outdoor Expo in November. Its a couple hours south of me but he said all the major dealers would be there and I could try out all the brands under one roof.



The ATV community has really impressed me. No one criticized me, and honestly I thought a couple people would have. Everyone has been super helpful and I hope to obtain one for myself before Christmas. Soon as I get one, I'll be sure to post some pics.</end quote></div>

FWIW don't worry about needing a 2-up machine or anything like that......

What has not been said is that even though you are heavier then the average rider (me too) your weight will still be centered on the machine. And thus will be dispersed to all four wheels from the center of the machine. It is not the same as having a 200-pound person in the seat, and 300-pounds on the racks. With the weight centered and spread from the center out, the machine will still work as designed for a lighter rider...

I weigh around 350, and there are those that said I was too big for a sport machine, and technically that is about 100 pounds more then my z400 is supposed to carry. But the things I do on it, you would never know.....I can keep right up with most of the guys who are 200 pounds and riding 450s in the woods, and even some of them on the track.....

All I did was take the time to learn and adjust the suspension, and add a few more PSIs into the tires, I generally run about 7-9 pounds as opposed to 4-6...... I also run radials because they handle extra weight better than a bias ply. But I ride very hard and so far the thing has held up like a champ. Even leaping the 25-foot table top on our track, the suspension handles it.....

A Utility ATV will not even blink with you on it. Especially one of the bigger Polaris, Can-AM or Arctic Cats.....