ATV What do you recomend and why

[500mag_guy]

The thing I hate about Polaris ATVs and UTVs is that the Earlier Polaris ATVs did not have engine brakes at all and you had to feather the throttle constantly going downhill to keep the clutch engaged so you wouldn't just freewheel down the hill Obviously also using the brake. With the newer Polaris ATVs it was the exact opposite the engine brake was so extreme that going down a steep hill or mountain with the engine brake being so harsh if only 2 wheeldrive would tend to Almost lock up the rear end with the engine brake sending you into a down hill slide. This was with a 2008 Polaris 800 I don't know about the smaller rigs.

My RZR also has no engine brake but it is a lot easier To operate the gas and the brake with both feet and then steer with my hands versus steer, operate the gas and the brake all on handlebars..

R TinVa : What bigger machines have you had over heat on you? I have been running the bigger machines since 2005 and I have never had one overheat on me And I rode them all hard and to the max all the time!

 

[mrbb]

Well I have been riding off road, in dirt bikes, atv's and 4x4's for over 35 yrs
best advi=e is, to seriously think about what you want to do with the atv
a 500 is a much more common sized atv, and thus the much more models and makes to pick from than a 300, and they will also be on the full size platform, thus fit you better
an auto matic/semi auto trans, on all models BUT a Honda, are belt driven
Belts wear out and will need to be replaced at a point in time or two over the life of the atv, and how hard its driven
But there very simply to operate, and thus why so popular
That being said, I own Honda Atv"s, and have for 15 plus yrs
we have Atv's of most makers in my hunting camp, all doing same like chores and riding, and all the honda's have out lasted the rest, had the fewest problems too!
so I am partial to Honda, there newer modela are more trail friendly, but stillfeel they are more of a work Atv, than a sportier trail machine, on most models
there foreman line is, if you ask me, the work horse of Atv
and what I own
if you shop about, a new 500 can be had for about 5 grand, so they are priced right
BUT they are geared low, so if sporty is your plans style of riding, I think there is better models for that
Just remember, that the Bigger cc models are NOT meant to be ridden slow, if you ask me, they are all ondersized on cooling, and need air moving at a decent spped to help in cooling, or bigger radiators!
so a 500 cc is about right for most situations, the 700-1000 cc's, get heavier, and the HP to weight ratio doesn't improve all that much, if you do the math in my eyes to justify the price
but consider what how you plan to ried and what you want to do with the atv, before you buy, all the brand names make good atv's, and all have pro's and cons pending how /what you want the atv to do

 

[silvertip-co]

I bot a fancy used Artic Cat Grizzley 454 for 2900 and bot wife a Honda TRX300 for 2100. The Honda is older, more well used, and is the way better machine. On the rr I worked for we bought only Honda Ranchers and Foremans in 350cc or so. They were awesome. One day I will get me a Honda, wife wont let me ride hers.

 

[kenpcpilot]

I hunt on a dual sport trail bike. It is a Yamaha TW200 that is street legal. I have found many advantages for this choice.

1. Street lega- It is illegal to drive a non-licensed on National Forest roads rangers love issue citations for this one.

2. I have racks and bags to carry all my gear and a gun or bow.

3. Great scouting vehicle (75 miles per gallon)

4. Extremely quiet (all my buddies ride quads and are jealous. the put me out to lead on trails to not spook the game)

5. Can haul without purchasing a special trailer since I have a bumper mounted motorcycle carrier. I haul my camping trailer and have the bike on the front of the truck

6. $3200.00 brand new with a 4 year bumper to bumper warranty. Yamaha has a 3.3% financing for 3 years.

7. I use it in the summer for a cheap commuter vehicle.

8. I have seen a few other hunters how have made a similar setup with theri yamaha tw200s

 

[Pdvdh]

The Polaris is a pile, I know that someone will get their panties bunched about that but you could not give me one after working on them and trying to service them. Hondas are my favorite for all round.
We've had the power steering models out a couple years now and I don't think think they are safe, more guys have got hurt on them because they flip so easy, a lot of them have been traded back in on regular steering machines.

Good Thread for a guy like me that's got very little time on an ATV. Even a little humor, ie the "Polaris is a pile".

 

[HARPERC]

I hunt on a dual sport trail bike. It is a Yamaha TW200 that is street legal. I have found many advantages for this choice.

1. Street lega- It is illegal to drive a non-licensed on National Forest roads rangers love issue citations for this one.

2. I have racks and bags to carry all my gear and a gun or bow.

3. Great scouting vehicle (75 miles per gallon)

4. Extremely quiet (all my buddies ride quads and are jealous. the put me out to lead on trails to not spook the game)

5. Can haul without purchasing a special trailer since I have a bumper mounted motorcycle carrier. I haul my camping trailer and have the bike on the front of the truck

6. $3200.00 brand new with a 4 year bumper to bumper warranty. Yamaha has a 3.3% financing for 3 years.

7. I use it in the summer for a cheap commuter vehicle.

8. I have seen a few other hunters how have made a similar setup with theri yamaha tw200s

A very good option,especially as noted in number one, Washington hates ATV's.

 

[Greg Duerr]

So does California..........................New law that went into affect last year .........Lots of roads that allow trucks or 4x4 trucks do not allow ATV's. As crazy as that sounded to me ..................I talked with an employee from the Nevada Dept of Wildlife that has a cabin in the area and he confirmed that. Its OK to drive your 4x4 Pickup but get caught on a ATV and face a fine. Whats more crazy than that ............during the winter you are not allowed to drive a snow mobile on top of the same snow covered road..................Now this is an example of what we are facing.....................

G

 

[500mag_guy]

Just another way for them to control us. Over here we are noticing a lot of trails being closed for absolutely no reason.

So does California..........................New law that went into affect last year .........Lots of roads that allow trucks or 4x4 trucks do not allow ATV's. As crazy as that sounded to me ..................I talked with an employee from the Nevada Dept of Wildlife that has a cabin in the area and he confirmed that. Its OK to drive your 4x4 Pickup but get caught on a ATV and face a fine. Whats more crazy than that ............during the winter you are not allowed to drive a snow mobile on top of the same snow covered road..................Now this is an example of what we are facing.....................

G

 

[aspenbugle]

I disagree...I don't think it's a power thing at least not here in CO. The idiots are ruining it for everyone, and I wouldn't blame the State for cracking down on them.

I like em I use them, especially if the terrain allows getting one in to retrieve. HOWEVER, many of the ATV guys I see hunting are some of the laziest, most disrespectful lot you'll find. No offense, but most times it's guys from out of State. Some 300lb porkers (sorry, just sharing what I'm seein) with a half dozen Atvs in camp. God forbid if they'd park it and walk into the woods. No - that's too much work, they'll bust down or go around road closed signs or just freelance off through the woods - even though the regs strictly forbid it. Nothing better than walking quietly a couple hours back in the timber and then sitting a secluded meadow for a few hours and then right at dusk, some lazy outta stater comes winding though the trees right to the same meadow just at prime-time (dusk). Arghhh!!! And they are a mile from the nearest legal road.

They cut new trails in all over, wrecking good hunting spots. I've complained to game wardens and forest service guys about em. I don't want em outlawed or restricted more for my use, but the morons are wrecking it for the rest of us. They are out of control...states have to do something. If you want to wind all around the forest and you're too lazy to walk, get a horse! If not, maybe they can issue ATV tags, if you see one off road, you can shoot it (hopefully allowing the owner to dismount first ). I heard of a buddy's Dad in MT who'd hiked way deep in, and later found some atvs parked miles from where they were allowed (and what had taken him better part of a day to get to) and he shot each one through the engine block (as the story goes). A bit extreme, but I share his frustration...

Sorry...just had to vent since the subject came up...I don't blame the state...I blame the abusers...and there are a TON...

 

[500mag_guy]

I agree there are a lot of people that abuse the Mobility of a four wheeler especially in hunting circumstances. And it is wrong I agree they should be punished.

But Id think you could blame the states that ban the four wheelers And leave it open to off roading or driving the trails with 4x4's. A 4x4 can do just as much damage if not more to a hillside then four wheeler and there are Idiots that do make their own trails in 4x4's. To leave it open for them but close it for four wheelers I think that is wrong. Sure there are people that abuse four wheeling but most abide by the trail regulations.

I'm not trying to start an argument, you specified in Colorado you don't think it is a power issue. I'm just stating that (I think) that the state in which the areas are closed to riding atvs must have something against four wheelers to leave it open to off roading in a 4x4.

(When I say off roading I'm talking about trail riding not making your own trails.)

But I do agree 100% that the idiots that have to use an ATV to hunt or to retrieve game when they are not supposed to are ruining it for us who enjoy using our four wheelers for where they were meant to be used.

Hahaha and heck with having the idiots dismount the atv first maybe only so they don't get blood all over it lol it isn't the poor four wheels fault.

I disagree...I don't think it's a power thing at least not here in CO. The idiots are ruining it for everyone, and I wouldn't blame the State for cracking down on them.

 

[HARPERC]

Just one more way to divide us, yeah its about control and kicking one group after another off public land. Trails cut where none were before predates ATV's by a bit. They stopped ATV access after someone yanked the gate out, yeah try that on an ATV. We rode (legally) into one of our hunting spots last spring looked like it was hit with a fuel air bomb, we laughed and said these ATV's are sure hard on the countryside. Nothing wrong with logging its almost as good habitat as burn. If your tax dollars cut the road, and its open to trucks and dirt bikes ATV's should have equal access. Guess what there are dirt balls in every activity are we going to ban it all?

 

[J E Custom]

Every brand of ATV has some features that different people like , so there is no one best brand
as far as I am concerned, Just the one that fills your needs best.

Having owned ATVs since the early 80s, My choice was clear back then. there was no question which
was the most dependable . Honda.

That is all that I will own because It fill my needs Perfectly and there is little or no maintenance
the way I take care of them.

I have gone from 2 cycles to fore cycles from 110 cc to 500 cc and currently have a 500 Foreman
and It has more power than I will ever use, So the next one (If ever) I buy will probably be around 350 cc. One of the best all around ATVs that I owned was a 300 cc 4x4 Honda. It would go places that no one else would follow (I was younger then also) It was also much faster than I needed to go.

With all of the new ATVs available I am sure there are faster, bigger, fancier and heavier . But in
My opinion None more dependable than the Honda. (My first Big red, a 200 cc with chain drive and no reverse is still running and the guy that bought it likes to tell me about it "Often" and that it is over 30 years old and he has only replaced the spark plugs, Battery and the tires on it.).

I have been hunting at High altitude's, sea level, in snow and ice, in rice fields(Lots of mud), steep rocky grades, swamps, and have never left to walk.

So for my needs and uses the Honda is the only choice for me (PS: I don't like automatic transmissions on any ATV because I like the control power of gearing)>

Just my opinion based on my needs.

J E CUSTOM

 

[aspenbugle]

I agree. It seems crazy to allow 4x4s and not ATVs..that does seem prejudicial. I also agree, there are bad apples driving all kinds of vehicles, and 4x4s do their share of damage as well sometimes.

However, I'm just relaying what I see hunting now, here, in Colorado...90% of the abusers are on ATVs. Definitely folks in 4x4s doing bad at times, but not nearly as much as I see from ATVs. I'm just upset that they will get banned, and when I want to use one to retrieve an animal, I won't be able to...because too many people lacked the ethics to not tear around all over the forest. I also don't like an ATV "highway" to what used to be an almost secret meadow, that used to take some time and work to get to on foot...now everyone can see and follow the illegal trail to a meadow that isn't remotely secret now, nor filled with game.

What they really need is enforcement. Game wardens and Forest Rangers are just spread way too thin to cover such big areas and ever catch these guys. I'd like to volunteer on some of the seasons I'm not hunting, to get sworn in temporarily and go sit some of these trails and catch and ticket these guys. You pass out enough hefty fines along with raising the odds they will be caught...the behavior will change.

 

[HARPERC]

We hunt one spot of private timber company ground, the manager told us the ATV's on that section aren't the problem. The tricked out extreme 4x4 monster truck types are their main source of issues. I can't say recently, but I know of a couple of meadows selected for the spring mud, that used to get brutalized by mud bogger types. Generally at these spots it was locals not NR. I'd rather share the woods with those folks than the growers and cookers that seem to take over after everyone else has been kicked off the land. Living with people is tough, but cutting each other a little slack, and keeping a bit of perspective, and proportion is the better way to go in my opinion. Anything can get misconstrued, I can tell you spring, and summer rock shooting can get you labeled a poacher, by those that can't believe any one would enjoy that activity.