ATV experts show me your know how

[DHayden]

What's your favorite brand/model of "work" quad?

Honda forman? Polaris Sportsman?

Honda has so many that look the same but how are they different? Foreman, rubicon, rancher. How do they compare with the Sportsman? I don't hear allot about the other brands but are yamaha or kawasaki quads any better? What size is most practical? I am 6'2" and 240 so I'm thinking at least a 500 is in order, 650 or 850 would be nice but is it really necessary? I don't see to many diesel powered quads. Are they better? What are the pro's and con's of diesel in the quad world?



I know it's allot of questions but I'm sure you enthusiasts wont mind showing your knowledge and giving me an education Thanks for your help

 

[DieselMinded]

If your looking to buy a new bike



If I was you I would 100% be in the direction of the NEW KING QUAD



Ive never rode one tho my 2002 King Quad Suprizes the crap out of me all the time ,,,,, and its not even close to the new King EFI,,,,,, EFI,,,,EFI NO MORE COLD NATURED Ill trade up just for that if I had the $$$ .



700CC ,,,Fully Independent,,, Headlight on the handle bars and upfront ,,, digital gauges,,,diff lock,,,,''



but I think its like in the $8000 range or close,,,, I only paid $4400 for my '02



Polaris's are belt driven and my buddies get in the water and there hosed,,,,,, belt just starts slipin' have to push/pull them out and wait for it to dry



I wont say any thing bad about honda I spent most of my hours alive between the ages of 9-13 on the seat of one. and never had to touch it ... . ever!



You need to look at what the application is first then go from there each model stands on solid ground in its respected application.



No where near an expert on ATV's



just my . 02



DM

 

[Jeff Clark]

What are wanting to do with it? I gave up trying to work a quad and bought a diesel Mule. Much better for what I was using it for. I would suggest visiting all the major brands and test ride all the large models and see which one has the features you need and feels the best to you.

 

[Dieselnut59]

I love my Polaris Diesel Sportsman. It is a 1999 model and will pull anything you put behind it, as long as it gets traction. A tank of fuel lasts approximately 4 times longer than the comparable gassers and best of all, it is the PROPER fuel!

 

[rbattelle]

Wow, I didn't know anyone made a diesel ATV. Polaris' website doesn't seem to indicate any diesel options... .



-Ryan

 

[midlife crisis]

My ride is a Honda sportbike... but I ride with a group of 14 that prefer utility bikes. Our last trip to Paragon had mostly everyone being towed out by a new Suzuki King Quad. We were all amazed at the show that bike put on. Lifted/big tired Grizzlys and Honda Rubis were all outdone by the (stock) Suzuki.

Tough choice on my part, as I have gotten 3. 5 years of trouble free riding from my Honda. . but I would look at the Suzuki Vinson 500 first. The manual though, cause I prefer to shift, and select 2 or 4 wheel. The KQ would probably be my second choice. Hope this helps-

 

[scootergmc]

I have a 2004 Kawasaki Prairie 700 4x4. If the Suzuki King Quad 700 would've been out when I bought mine, it would've been a tough choice. The EFI would've been great, but the V-Twin of the Kawi is simply amazing... . Plus, I haven't had to be towed out by anything...

 

[DBogo]

Wow, I didn't know anyone made a diesel ATV. Polaris' website doesn't seem to indicate any diesel options... .



-Ryan

they only made the diesel for a few years the first year was 99 and the last was i think 01 you could get it 4x2 or 4x4 it was a 455 diesel if i were to buy a new one i would get the king quad over anything i am and always have been a suzuki fan honda does got there stuff together with 4x4s yamahas got a ways to go and polaris well there just polaris

 

[DHayden]

Thanks for your replies. I am not going to use it for anything special, just tooling around and exploring. I would just like to be able to go wherever I want and have the bike be able to carry me comfortably and maybe pull a small trailer in the future.



The King Quad didnt look as "mean" or tough to me as a few of the other bikes. I have read a few articles that give rave reviews on it though. I will have to look into them some more.

 

[DBogo]

ooh the king quad is definatly mean and tough as any of them its prolly my favorite utility out now it will get you anywhere you want to go it has full lockers and shift on the fly 4x4

 

[TnLRacing]

I have had my Artic cat 650 v-twin for about a year, and has taken everything I have thrown at it. Give it a look!

 

[TSpecht]

I've got a 2002 Polaris Sportsman 700 4x4. Nice comfortable ride, built like a tank (some don't like it because it's moderately heavier than some of the others, but I tend to suspect there's probably an advantage in strength in there someplace too). Some don't like the 4wd system on the Polaris, but even in deep mud it's not let me down. Of course it doesn't hurt to have a 2500# winch just in case, which I've had to use on occasion. Fastest I've had it has been 55 and it had a little throttle left over. There are only two downsides to this machine. The Polaris twins (at least the 02 and 03 model years) did not have a manual method of starting, just the battery and starter. The other downside is the very conservative stock clutching, which they did I suspect to appease the lawyers when they introduced bigger machines. I'm not sure if they've tightened up the factory clutching on the new ones yet or not. There are plenty of aftermarket options for upgrading the clutches though, including the "Heelclicker" which has fully adjustable weights. If I ever feel like trying to set mine up that is probably the clutch system I'll go with. But I digress...

 

[1smoknC]

go for a sporstman, you wont regret it ... . they are sweet.



if you want more info on quads, go to www.atvsource.com

 

[DHayden]

Like the looks and stance of the Polaris but a fellow TDR member a few posts up mentioned something about belt drive and slipping when wet? Slipping when wet is not good for me. . is it not as bad a problem as it sounds?

 

[DBogo]

the belts snap pretty easally too i forgot about the arctic cats too there a very good machine my uncles got a 500 and its a sweet ride

 

[lcoblentz]

I own a Polaris Sportsman 500 with just over 1000 miles on it. It's still on the original belt, which has NEVER slipped. Only problem, if you can call it that, was a slight misadjustment on the throttle cable which took about 3 minutes to fix. Gets ridden fairly hard, worked fairly hard, all at altitudes from 6000' to over 11000' here in Colorado. And I have ridden through creeks well over the floorboards.



I've heard all the horror stories about Polaris. Kinda like all the horror stories that circulate about Dodge trucks if you ask me



That being said, there are very few bad ATVs left on the market. Crap doesn't last long... ... Buy what you like, and don't look back. I've been very pleased with my Polaris.

 

[RankRam]

I have a Kawasaki Brute Force 750. If you want some amazing power be sure and take a look at the Brute. I have no regrets in this purchase. Oo.



Here is a link to a video that helped me decide to buy one. Click on: Playing on the hills 4 after going to this link!



http://www.bbertram.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core:ShowItem&g2_itemId=46&g2_page=2

 

[TSpecht]

If you plan to ride in really deep water the easy solution to wet belts is to make yourself a snorkel for the belt housing exhaust (stock it comes up behind the gas tank). I have yet to have belt slippage, but then again I'm not in the habit of riding through rivers either, although I have had it submerged most of the way over the belt cover thing without a problem. Basically extend both the belt housing vent/exhaust thing and air intake box and you should be good to go underwater if you've got it sealed up right... Just look on some of the ATV sites at all the Polaris and other belt driven models basically underwater running snorkels. I think if the machines wouldn't work in such an application they'd all switch to something else that would work.

 

[DieselMinded]

SUZUKI with 3 miles on the Read out



http://www.3d.otisnet.net/5-29-04 044.zip



This is a Brand new Eiger not a King Quad



But it shows that suzuki makes them ready to go right out of the box



DM

 

[PTalley]

As an owner of 2 Polaris. I have the new 800 and the wife has a 500 H. O. The 8 has plenty of power the 500 is good too. As of 06 the 500 will be EFI too..... Thats going to be the way to go if buying new. As far a belt sliplage, it was common on the pre 99 sportsman, but polaris seems to have it under control now. They redesigned the cover for 00. They all thve there problems, the Grizzly has overheat and fuel issues, the king reverse gear issues, the brute suspension and tie rod issues and the polaris ecm issues. these are mainly just whats being recalled as we speak. Like the last post said... ride them all, read some ATV forurms and go shopping... . Hope to see ya on the trails sometime.