Hello, at first I thought I wanted a 2wd quad, well after a full day of riding today in mud up to our knees I found out that I want a fast 4wd quad. So my research has led me to the wolverine from yamaha. Does it hurt the drive train if you go fast with the full time 4wd? How fast does it go stock? How good is the 4wd drive? Please tell me what you think the pros and cons about this quad are? Any help will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

I have a 95 Wolverine . The only difference between it and the new ones is that it has a 36mm flatslide carb and the 96 and up have a 34mm CV roundslide carb.It has better throttle response than the new ones . I personally like the bike a lot . I do a lot of trail riding but i'm not scared of a good mudhole now and then.It has 25" tires which are a must cause the stock 23"tires dont give you enough ground clearance. Also with the larger diameter tire my top speed is higher than stock. It will do about 60mph on a good stretch on a dirt road and it gets there quick too.They will do about 55mph with the stock tires.The bike is light for a 4wd. quad so it steers like a 2wd bike. But I find the turning radious is terrible.One of the cons. is the engines dont make a lot of torque cause its geared so high. This causes it to bog down bad in the deep mud if you dont downshift and pin the throttle.I added a good pipe to mine and it raised the torque level quite a bit.Another con is the rearend likes to take in water at any given chance. This is not too good for the bearings so you have to do regular maintenance like changing the gear oil or the rearend wont last long. A lot of people overlook this until its too late.Some guys bend their rear axle by jumping but I'm 6'3" and 250 lbs. and never had a problem with mine and I drive quite aggressive when I'm in the mood.
One of the pros is they have good suspension for a 4wd bike . They ride good even with my big butt on it!!! Another pro is the bike only weighs 485 lbs which is light for a 4wd. If it gets stuck its easy to get it out. I dont think steady high speed riding would hurt it cause thats what its made for . The only thing I'm gonna do to mine now is a 365cc overbore piston to really raise the torque and maybe a .390 lift cam to open the top end a little more.

 

I think the best thing about the Wolverine is that there are alot of mods you can make, and there are alot of aftermarket products available for them. I love mine, and keep makin it faster.I have too many mods to list, but the thing has never let me down.

 

hopes this helps

Pros:
Great power
awsome handleing
reliable engine
fast
very versital
all the mods out there
good supension and ajustable
light wheight
disc brakes
8.7inches of clearance
great in any terrain
and allot MORE but the list would be endless!

cons:
stock tires are somtimes punture prone
bearing somtimes go bad
not the beat airbox design
axles somtimes bend on jumps
I havent had any problems other than the axle