has anyone her ridden the new beartracker? if so what was it like.

 

I rode a 2000 beartracker, I'm sure it hasn't changed since. It was a POS. It is tiny, suitable for a 9 year old, and not a good choice there either.
.....Shifting is VERY stiff, handling is squirrly, especially in sand. Since it is 2wd, it won't go anywhere even a decent sport will go.
....2 wd utilities are about the most worthless quads made anyway, they have lousy ground clearance, as bad as a sport, and with weak power and being overweight and under suspended they won't even climb a slightly loose hill.
.....There are so many better choices out there....Keep looking.
....4wd utilities make sense for rough country, mud, exploration, and work. Sport quads are just plain go-fast fun, and will outclimb, out manuever, just flat out beat all 2wd utilities at everything, even mud. Power to weight ratios and center of gravity are so much better.
......2wd utilities are cheap entry level machines. They are extremely low performance and deliver not much more than an initial "wheeeee..z!".
......I think the Polaris entry level machines have a lot more bang for the buck than Yamaha. The 325 Trailboss and Magnum handle pretty decent, and are a lot of fun. We owned them both, and quickly outgrew them. They won't climb anything tough or loose, but they way outperform a Beartracker.
.......Set your sights a little higher, ride some good stuff and you'll feel the difference right away. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

fourlix,
You have got to be kidding me. You gave an entire industry consumer report based on what YOU ride, how YOU ride, and the guy didn't even mention what he was wanting to use the machine for. Maybe he isn't concerned with ground clearance. Power-to-weight ratios? 2WD utity machines are useless?

Sounds like a ploy to get a job at Dirtwheels.

mertle,
If the kind of riding you do allows you to get by with a 2WD utility,then you have alot of choices. I will assume your price range for a quad based on you mentioning the BearTracker.
If you want to stick with the Yamaha brand, the BearTracker is a good choice. It rides well and handles well for the type of riding it was intended for. The Yamaha has a pretty decent warranty record but is not as good as the Honda Recon.
If you aren't that set on having racks and want a ride with suspension that is better suited for more sporty rides, then maybe you might want to check out the Honda 250EX.
Either way, don't buy anything until you test ride everything that you might be interested in.

 

The question was if anyone had ridden a Beartracker and what it was like.
I have ridden a Beartracker for a few miles in very worthy terrain, rocks, sandwashes, NOT a dealer's parking lot. I found the shifter to be ridiculously stiff, the handling squirrly, and overall, the Beartracker was a prime example of a too small for an adult, too narrow, underpowered, japanese, POS.
......It would have helped if mertle had provided some information about his size, experience, needs, etc. but he hasn't.
.......I think the point needs to be made that 2wd utilities may look like they can do some things which in fact they can't. I know I was astonished at their inability to climb even the smallest steep loose hills which sport quads or 4x4's zip right up.
.......Power to weight ratios explain a lot of this, ground clearance is a big issue, and sport quads weakest point.
.......Okay, not everybody can start out with a DS or a Grizz. I didn't either. But I have owned 12 quads and ridden every other quad I can swing a leg over. I just think the Beartracker is one of the worst choices out there. EXCUSE ME FOR SAYING SO! It is the WORST QUAD I HAVE EVER RIDDEN. In this category Honda and Polaris are much better choices.
.......mertle needs to ride some quads, and Knows a Lot needs to get the bug out of his butt.
[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]

 

Mertle

My brother has a bear tracker and We are quite impressed with it. (when compared to other machines in its class) He is 16 and weighs about 175. plenty of power for a 250. slides well top speed is about 43 mph. He rides with us (prairie 650's and grizz 600 /660) goes everywhere we go. gets stuck you cna just push it out. Comfortable ergonomics for adults compared to some other 250's. Very good starter quad or just around the house utility or slow trail riding.

Reverse lever is a pain.
ps, its got enough torque to pull all of us out of mud holes if he is on dry ground. Put three people oh it and hook up a rope. better than my winch [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

fourlix, I see that you realized what I was trying to point out to you about your first comments. Did you notice that in your first post, that you mentioned the word "I" only twice?

Yet in your last post, you mentioned it 9 TIMES! Every category has it's place for different individuals in the market and that if they were "worthless"[your words,not mine], they simply would not exist and sell in the large numbers that they do.

KNOWSALOT
P.S. The bug says hi.

 

There are a lot of cheap entry level quads out there. They are fun, and useful, for kids and beginners. They don't do anything particularly well, but they get around and can be fun if you are not too demanding. Some are obviously better than others. This is the 2wd utility class.
......After my first couple of rides on a 300 Honda and my son's new TrailBoss, I got the bug and bought the 325 Magnum. I rode very seldom,
when I rode with my friends I was always WAY behind even that 300 Honda.
I was very dissapointed in the way it basically got in trouble every time it got off the trail or tried to climb anything. It's a wonder I didn't completely give up on the sport. But I stayed with it, traded up again and again, in search of ...whatever it was I was looking to get out of this. Finally, after 3 years, I arrived at the DS-650, (with some mods).
......Meanwhile, a good friend of mine who had recently moved to New Mexico and has our favorite National Forest riding area in his backyard, had decided that a four-wheeler would be a good thing and was talked into, you guessed it, a Beartracker. When we first went riding together I had three Polaris. (I had bought and sold a 500 AutoCat after only 106 miles) The Magnum, EXP (my son's) and a Sportsman. He was blown away at the difference between the diminutive Beartracker and even the 325 Magnum. He bought both the Magnum and SP from me and sold his Beartracker. I bought an H.O. then sold it to get my DS.
.......The point is, there may be no way to convince a newbie to spend the extra money for the machine he is ultimately going to want and end up with anyway. But can't we be honest about the shortcomings of these cheap entry level machines? Selling a Beartracker to a 45 year old 200 lb. former go-kart racer who has 15,000 acres of National Forest in his backyard with over 500 miles of trails that he can ride to right out of his garage was just plain lame. He didn't know any better, till you-know-who came along.
...... A salesman just looks at a guy and figures out how much he's going to spend and sells him the "Greatest Quad on Earth",, in his price range. Maybe that's just the way the game has to be played. Would I have gone for a Sportsman or a DS or a Grizz or a Raptor as my first quad? Would I have been willing to shell out almost $7,000 for my first? Probably Not. But I should have. I would have saved a bunch of money. And how could anybody start off with a DS? A 660 Grizz sure. I taught my 10 year old nephew on it.
.......I just think we have to be willing to call a spade a spade, and the Beartracker, in my opinion, is a Piece Of Sh!+.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

I owned one of the first ones back in 1999. I used it for a guest bike and road it several times myself and I thought it was a great bike for the money. I know the current owner and it has still never been in the shop for repairs of any kind. I road that bike on sand dunes in oklahoma, mountain trails in colorado, to muddy river trails in arkansas. I am not a small guy, I am about 6 ft. 250 lbs and I thought it was laid out well ergo wise for even me. The only time I thought it was a little short on power was the sand dunes, but that being said it still got the job done. there was no spedo on the bike but I would agree I think it would run about 40 to 45 top speed. all in all I thaught it was a fun little bike. and everyone else I had let ride the bike said they had a lot of fun with it. In two years I never had any ground clearance problems with the bike it did just fine every where we took it.

You can take this for what it maybe worth I have owned several different quads including honda,polaris,suzuki,yamaha, and kawis, about 20 different bikes over the years. I would rank the bear tracker in the top 2 in the value department and in the reliability department.

 

I have not ridden the beartracker but my brother in law has a 97 Timberwolf and they look almost like the same machine to me except for the bumpers, racks and the brakes. The Recon is a much better design and for the money spent would be a better choice in my opinion.
fourlix you said ....2 WD utilities are about the most worthless quads made. You are way off base on that remark.
Chet

 

2wd Utilities are good for speed, better than their 4wd brothers...like a 350 Big Bear 2wd vs. a 4wd Big Bear...2wd would kick its butt because of less weight and the 2wd gets more power to the rear wheels than a 4wd because it doesnt have to split the power. Yes they are worse than the 4wd's because they dont have the traction.

Trust me, my buddy has a '99 Big Bear 2wd and it flies, it boots pretty good for a utility, and if you get stuck in mud, you just hammer the gas and the wheels spin like he** and get you out most of the times because of less weight.

Dont diss 2wd utilities, they have their advantages over their 4wd brothers.