New ATV
 

I've been looking alot lately. Checked all the usual big boy offerings. Some were nicer than others. Polaris Sportsman 500 was definately nice... and quite powerful. Then I got on a Outlander MAX 650 HO EFI. It was designed as a two-seater... helps pass the wife test! Holy crap Batman, this is a brute. Hauls a$$ and tons-o-torque. As I understand it, these are Canadian made... used to be Bombardier. They also had an 800 which was even badder. Anybody have any comments / criticisms of these? Anybody been on one? Whatcha think? Reviews I've seen were mixed with some bad and some good comments. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks alot.

RE: New ATV
 

I think that they have a lot of power and pretty good suspension. If you watch there infomercial test-off against other brands and actually believe them, they are the best thing out there.

RE: New ATV
 

All I know is that the 800 has an insane amount of power. I have seen several movies of guys doing wheelies- even in reverse- on the net. I don't know anyone who wants to fork out the money for one, though, so I have not had the opportunity to ride one.[:o]

RE: New ATV
 

They are very expensive... that alone would probably knock it off the list. It's tough though. There are alot of great machinrs out there.

RE: New ATV
 

Honda Ranchers are not the #1 seller for nothing! In a word, DEPENDABILITY! Speed and power doesn't do any good if it doesn't work!

RE: New ATV
 

When I get back from Ohio I will probably get the Suzuki 450 King Quad. Nice full sized machine with EFI and IRS /11" of clearance and a price tag of less than 6 grand. I was looking real close at the Yamaha 700 Grizzly but don't need something that large or expensive.

RE: New ATV
 

How much do those King Quad 450's weigh? They might have a pretty good power to weight ratio if the reduction in engine size from the 700 shaves off some weight.

I'm too lazy to look it up myself.[8D]

RE: New ATV
 

I can touch on a few things here.

We ( the wife and kids) often spend a few weekends in the summer riding ATV's. Went to the Hatfield/McCoy trail system last year. I ride often and have ridden ATV's for many years.

I also have friends and family that also ride. I am not a brand loyal type but there is one brand I wouldn't want even if I won one on a ticket I'd sell it. That is a Polaris. I had several friends that had themand they had nothing but problems. I know others will dissagree, but the aren't very reliable in my opinion.

My personal ride is a 660 Yamaha Grizzly. I love it.

My wife has a Honda Recon.This is a good ultra reliable little quad.

The boy has a Yamaha Warrior. Also reliable but no mud protection. Its a sport quad.

The daughter has a Suzuki Ozark. A Fun little quad and very reliable.

We are not brand loyal as you can see. I have also owned Kawasaki and had no problems. In my opinion, all the Jap brands are good reliable machines with the Honda being just a tad above the rest in this department.
Can-AM ( Bombardier) are also good machines. The 800 being the top dog of all big bores. More power and speed than the others. Their only problem is the are way too expensive.

Test ride as many as you can and read some of the reviews in ATV magazines.

RE: New ATV
 

From what i have read and heard the canam 800 is in a class all of its own for power and speed. I will be looking seriously at one my next purchase however they do not seem to have a great front end. That has been the only complaint i have read is that the front end is not beefy enough to handle the weight. I have read where a few guys put on heavier shocks and this seemed to eliminate the problem. Will be interesting to see if they beef this up on next years models. I have a 06 kodiak and i like it but i am a little let down. Seems like they just don't make bikes like they used to no matter what brand, even hondas are cheapin out these days.

RE: New ATV
 

Love that Honda dependability,have a Rancher,great machine wouldnt
trade it for anything!:)