atv's

[husky455rancher]

hey guys ive always been into the racing atvs. i still got my old decked out race quad but shes been parked for a lotta years. im thinking for getting something else possibly a 4x4. i know nothing about 4x4 atv's. what do you guys got and do you have any reccomendations of what direction to look? also what should i stay away from? im definalty looking to go used as im a poor working man haha.

 

[loadthestove]

IMO you would be hard pressed to beat a Honda four wheeler.I have owned several over the years and beat the crap out of them and they always were ready for more.

look for something like a foreman or a rubicon.these are both excellent machines.
Check your local craigslist or ebay and you can probably find what you are looking for.

As with anything used ,test ride and check it over carefully or have someone look it over for you because you dont know how they have been treated.

 

[EXCALIBER]

Yamaha grizzly 660 or 700 top of the heap, then maybe bambardie max 800 or 1000, then kawasaki, polaris. Honestly honda would be my last choice. Have always had problems with their frames cracking, sketchy transmission shifting, lack of decent engine braking. Just depends if you need something hard core of if anything with 4wd would work for you. There are even Polaris Scramblers that are 4wd but are basically a sport quad. Do your research find what will work the best for you.

 

[ShaneLogs]

Hi there, I am big into four wheelers too. I have a '99 Honda 416ex Race Quad that is all tricked out. What kind of race quad do your ride ? If you are looking for a 4X4, Differental lock is a must in the woods. It depends on what range of "cc's" you are looking for. They all range from a 250 all the way up to a 1200! I would highly recommend a Honda Rubicon though or a Rancher because they are built very tough and you can never kill a Honda.

 

[memory]

I would recommend a Honda if you want something reliable. We have a 2005 Honda Rubicon with almost 12,000 miles and nothing major except needing a new timing chain. If you want something more simple and even more bullet proof, check out a 350 Rancher.

The best thing about the Rubicon is the transmission. You can either select full auto or you can choose to shift yourself with push button shifting.

How much are you looking to spend?

Shanelogs, a differential lock is not a must, IMO. Out of all the places I have been with the Rubicon, I have never been in a situation where I needed a differential lock. As long as all four wheels are on the ground, they will all spin. Now if you were into rock crawling, then that would be a different story.

 

[atvguns]

Honda

 

[ShaneLogs]

I would recommend a Honda if you want something reliable. We have a 2005 Honda Rubicon with almost 12,000 miles and nothing major except needing a new timing chain. If you want something more simple and even more bullet proof, check out a 350 Rancher.

The best thing about the Rubicon is the transmission. You can either select full auto or you can choose to shift yourself with push button shifting.

How much are you looking to spend?

Shanelogs, a differential lock is not a must, IMO. Out of all the places I have been with the Rubicon, I have never been in a situation where I needed a differential lock. As long as all four wheels are on the ground, they will all spin. Now if you were into rock crawling, then that would be a different story.

I have used diff. lock many times in the woods when pulling logs and such. Helps out quite a bit when your in the mud pulling logs and going up hills.

 

[memory]

I have used diff. lock many times in the woods when pulling logs and such. Helps out quite a bit when your in the mud pulling logs and going up hills.

On my Rubicon, if I have all four wheels on the ground, all four wheels are turning so a differential lock is not needed.

 

[dave_dj1]

They are all good except stay away from AC, I have had many Polaris wheelers and never had a single issue with any of them.
I had a Kawasaki Teryx and loved it but I'm not sure about their quads.

 

[husky455rancher]

i used to race a blaster. i bought it new and quickly got the bug. no one could believe how fast that thing went for being a blaster. i started messing with it a couple months ago. unfortunatly its been sitting for about 10 years in my shed at my parents house. lets just say mouse factory!!!!

honestly at this point while i do enjoy tearing ass in the sand pits there just arent any to ride in anymore. so im only left with trailriding. i would like it to be able to work too. pull a trailer or something around the yard and in the woods. i use a crappy old lawn tractor to trailer logs out of the woods now so anything has to be an improvement. maybe plow with it (if their even capable of efficiently plowing)

as far as cc's go im really not sure with 4 strokes. like i used to tell my ex wife im a 2 stroke man! haha. but unfortunalty thats the way of the dinosaur and i suppose i should move on. ive ridden 400ex 500 scrambler, warrior, heavily modded 660 raptor. thats the extent of my 4 stroke experiance. im really not sure what is adaquite in a 4x4 format honestly. id like to be in the 2-3k range if thats even logical, thanks guys

 

[OH_Varmntr]

If you're looking for an ATV that you will use for your wood cutting and hauling, spend the extra money and get a side-by-side. If you don't want to spend that kinda money, I'd suggest you go out and ride everything you can throw a leg over to figure out what suits you best.

 

[memory]

If you're looking for an ATV that you will use for your wood cutting and hauling, spend the extra money and get a side-by-side. If you don't want to spend that kinda money, I'd suggest you go out and ride everything you can throw a leg over to figure out what suits you best.

I think most people would love to have a side by side but they are just so expensive. I believe they are around $10,000, good grief, I don't want to spend that much on a truck.

 

[OH_Varmntr]

I think most people would love to have a side by side but they are just so expensive. I believe they are around $10,000, good grief, I don't want to spend that much on a truck.

Brand new, yes. However, you can find a decent used one for the price of an almost new ATV.

I'd love to have one for what I do, but my 02 Yamaha Grizzly 660 works fine. If I were to go bigger, I'd buy a skid-steer. :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[Hardwoods Inc.]

i used to race a blaster. i bought it new and quickly got the bug. no one could believe how fast that thing went for being a blaster. i started messing with it a couple months ago. unfortunatly its been sitting for about 10 years in my shed at my parents house. lets just say mouse factory!!!!

honestly at this point while i do enjoy tearing ass in the sand pits there just arent any to ride in anymore. so im only left with trailriding. i would like it to be able to work too. pull a trailer or something around the yard and in the woods. i use a crappy old lawn tractor to trailer logs out of the woods now so anything has to be an improvement. maybe plow with it (if their even capable of efficiently plowing)

as far as cc's go im really not sure with 4 strokes. like i used to tell my ex wife im a 2 stroke man! haha. but unfortunalty thats the way of the dinosaur and i suppose i should move on. ive ridden 400ex 500 scrambler, warrior, heavily modded 660 raptor. thats the extent of my 4 stroke experiance. im really not sure what is adaquite in a 4x4 format honestly. id like to be in the 2-3k range if thats even logical, thanks guys

I had a built Blaster years ago myself and it was fast!It would hang w/ my buddy's stock Banshee.Anyway,I have always preferred Yamaha's over anything else including Honda and I really liked the 300 fourtrax and the Foreman I had.The Kodiak 400 4x4 and the Grizzly 660 4x4 I have now are bullet proof and have been used abused skin up and bruised.The Kodiak is a 2000 model and has never had anything replaced except brakes,fluids and batteries.The Grizzly is much newer but still have never had a problem.

 

[mesupra]

I just picked up a grizzly after owning a Honda 110 atc, Honda foreman and yamaha big bear. I would walk before I would ride that buckboard of a atv Foreman again. People say Honda are the best work rig, why not work in comfort? The Big Bear was light years ahead of the honda and the Grizzly is awesome for work and play. Yamaha reliability great as well, between myself and friends we own 5 Grizzly's (02-07) never an engine, transmission, belt, frame etc problem, we all ride hard as well, rear diff oil seals seem to be the only issue (wicked easy fix). I ended up giving $4000 for my 2007 660 camo edition with rear seat and rear pegs & front basket with 700 miles on it.

 

[stihly dan]

Long time ATV rider. I have a kfx 400, and an arctic cat 650 4x4 twin. 500cc or higher is a must. If trail riding, plowing, and light trailering is what your doing, then independent suspension is a must. If it's mostly for working wood, Solid axle is needed. Also a work horse should be manual shift, no damn belt. For brands I would say Honda for work, Yamaha grizzly for work and play. If you ride hard like a racer does, stay away from Polaris. They like to eat axles, and a arm's. This hurts me to say that, where they are the only American quads. Hope this helps. Oh and DON'T get an arctic cat. Balance, handling, ride are terrible. They have ground clearance, and mudding ability going for them, thats it. Also make sure It has a dedicated front brake.

 

[ShaneLogs]

i used to race a blaster. i bought it new and quickly got the bug. no one could believe how fast that thing went for being a blaster. i started messing with it a couple months ago. unfortunatly its been sitting for about 10 years in my shed at my parents house. lets just say mouse factory!!!!

honestly at this point while i do enjoy tearing ass in the sand pits there just arent any to ride in anymore. so im only left with trailriding. i would like it to be able to work too. pull a trailer or something around the yard and in the woods. i use a crappy old lawn tractor to trailer logs out of the woods now so anything has to be an improvement. maybe plow with it (if their even capable of efficiently plowing)

as far as cc's go im really not sure with 4 strokes. like i used to tell my ex wife im a 2 stroke man! haha. but unfortunalty thats the way of the dinosaur and i suppose i should move on. ive ridden 400ex 500 scrambler, warrior, heavily modded 660 raptor. thats the extent of my 4 stroke experiance. im really not sure what is adaquite in a 4x4 format honestly. id like to be in the 2-3k range if thats even logical, thanks guys

That is cool! I had a heavily modified 300ex that I was just a string-pull away from trading mine for. The guy brought it over and he said that he had a 240 Vitos kit in it and had a lot done to it, but when he brought it over and wheeled it in to my garage I saw that it was fairly not worth a trade. It needed all new bearing and bushings and I didn't feel like spending cash on it to fix it up just after I spent a few thousand on my 300ex. So long story short, Didn't get the Blaster and got a 400ex instead. I had many of 2-stroke dirtbikes before and I still got my 2-stroke race snowmobile now.

 

[brenndatomu]

I'm a Honda guy from way back, still am.
That said, I spent a total of 9 years working on bikes at a multi line dealer. Honda still makes a good product, but, Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki have all really stepped up their game in the last 10 years or so.
I've been thinking about a 4x4 quad for myself, a Yamaha 450 Grizzly would be my personal choice, nice mid size quad. A 660 or 700 Grizz would be a good choice if you wanna go with a bigger model. I like the Grizzly line because of 1. reliability 2. 4 wheel independent suspension 3. reliable centrifugal clutch style auto trans. 4. part time 4x4 5. push button locking front diff. 6. hi/lo range trans.
If you go with Honda, be aware that the electric shift and "auto" trans models haven't been the epitome of rock solid reliable. Oh, and most, but not all, of the Honda models are full time 4x4 and front diff. is full time "limited slip" making them tiring to ride all day, extra wear and tear on the machine, and tear the heck outta the yard when turning tight, just something to keep in mind.
Just my 2 cents...

 

[husky455rancher]

That is cool! I had a heavily modified 300ex that I was just a string-pull away from trading mine for. The guy brought it over and he said that he had a 240 Vitos kit in it and had a lot done to it, but when he brought it over and wheeled it in to my garage I saw that it was fairly not worth a trade. It needed all new bearing and bushings and I didn't feel like spending cash on it to fix it up just after I spent a few thousand on my 300ex. So long story short, Didn't get the Blaster and got a 400ex instead. I had many of 2-stroke dirtbikes before and I still got my 2-stroke race snowmobile now.

yeah prolly a good call. the vitos kit isnt worth a damn if you dont port it. ill prolly get it running over the winter once the garage goes up at my dads and i can dig it out of the shed. but thats only a pit bike really and theres no pits to ride anymore

 

[bcorradi]

My honda love was inspired back in the 3 wheeler era. However, if I was to buy a new four wheeler, I'd personally choose one in this brand order: Yamaha, Honda, and Suzuki.