ATV

[Carnifex]

I'm in the process of moving to the new house, which includes a 3,000 acre state forest next door, and I'm thinking about/wanting an ATV to putter around the woods with, and whatever else you can do with those things (I'm in particular thinking about a plow for the driveway in times of snow)

It's been a long time since I knew much about ATV's - the last one I had was one of the 'original' Suziki QuadRunners, a LT185 from 1984. I know I don't want a 'racing' style, but more or a 'work' style.

What's important? Who makes a good one (or are the all about the same?). The local Hardley dealer also sells Polaris and I'm tempted by them because they're so close. The dealer where I got my Feejer is a little further away, but sells Honda, Yamaha, and Kawasaki.

Any particular concerns with displacement? When I had mine, 250 was as big as they came, and there weren't any 4x4's - should I want/do I need that? How about used, or should I stay away from used ATV's?

Thanks in advance.

 

[KSFJR]

This is going to be a this ATV that ATV post. I have a Yamaha Grizzly and it works fine. I am sure that any one of the major manufacturers it is going to do yeoman service for you. Do get 4 wheel drive which it sounds like that is what you are after. Also, look at aftermarket tires. I use mine on my farm and we have a lot of hedge and black locust around here which have some serious thorns and I get no flats. Additionally, I can pretty much go in 2 wheel drive in places that would take 4 wheel drive with the factory tires. Additionally, I have a winch on mine and although only used a few times, it paid its way then.

If I were going to buy one today, I would look at the Bombardiers. They had a 1/2 hour long commercial so it needs to be taken with a grain of salt but the results of different tests of its machine vs other brands looked pretty good.

 

[sks700]

We have Polaris's (Polari?) Anyways, I just replaced (saturday) my '01 Sportsman 500 with an '05 Sportsman 500. The '01 had about 5000 miles on it and was (is) still running great, I just wanted some updated features. I sold the '01 to my father-in-law, and I wouldn't have done that if there was any real fear of problems with it. Mine gets used year-round. I plow the driveway, use it for hunting and trail riding, and even mow the lawn with it. I have a Swisher 60" mower deck that I attach to the front and I switch over to turf tires; it does a great job mowing.

As far as displacement goes, I guess it depends on exactly what you will be doing with it, but I have never felt a need for any more power than the 500 has (and yes, I do like power). It will spin the tires long before it will power out.

Like KS said, all of the manufacturers have decent products, but I have been very happy with Polaris.

My other Polaris toys are an '02 Trailblaser 250, a '97 700SKS snowmobile, and a '99 Victory.

Lee

 

[ChrisW]

Get a dirt bike and a snow blower.

You'll have more fun on the bike and you'll have a cleaner driveway after a storm.

I plowed with an atv for a few years but I had to plow about an acre of lawn so I'd have some place to put the snow in May. The snow blower ends up being quicker and cheaper.

 

[Carnifex]

I hate to admit this, but I've always been afraid of dirt bikes. The first time I rode one was when I was about 13 and I traded off with my cousin - his Honda 80 for my Quadrunner, and I proceeded to immediately run the thing into a marsh. Even since I got into riding streetbikes (and that's almost 10 years ago now), I'm afraid of motocross bikes.

I was leaning towards the ATV also becuase I can toss the kidlet on the back and we can go exploring in the woods - she's not nearly ready to be a 2-up passenger. I had been looking at the 'truck-like' ATV's, like the Yamaha Rhino or the Polaris Ranger, but when I showed them to the wife, her first comment was "We already have a Jeep".

 

[ChrisW]

also becuase I can toss the kidlet on the back

That's a pretty good reason to go with an ATV.

The DRZ-S model has pretty decent accomodations for a passenger, depending on how old they are I guess.

IMO, nothing improves you street skills better than beating yourself up on a dirtbike.

 

[GunMD]

I've been saying that I wanted to get an ATV for some time now...all my friends who ride dirtbikes keep telling me how I'd have more fun if I got a dirtbike. So this weekend I went riding with them at Ocotillo Wells, CA on a borrowed XR600. Cool bike. Tons of power. Not my thing. I'd rather just cruise and explore...with a cooler and XM radio.

I like the Yam Grizzly and the Polaris Sportsman series. Love that AWD 800!

 

[red2kcbr]

Carnifex,

If you check statistics, I think you'll find higher numbers of severe injuries from 4-wheelers, not dirt bikes.

It's the weight, I believe. A 4-wheeler is so much heavier that they do more damage to riders. Also, I think people take more risks on 4 wheels.

No, I'd stick to dirt bikes.

Here's a link I found:

Kids' ATV Injuries Rising

 

[donaldb]

Suggest you ck w/your state w/respect to their laws about motorized off road vehicles. Those who don't permit have hefty fines

 

[Carnifex]

The injuries I'm aware of - I'm 1/2 way between "Yes, that is a little dangerous" and "I never had any problems when I had mine as a kid". The little one is nowhere near ready for her own yet, but I do like the idea of being able to wander out in the middle of that big nowhere. It does disturb me how many 'kids' I see riding 4-wheelers without helmets, which I never did. (not then, not now)

As far as rules go, I'm good - as long as it's not hunting season I'm ok to ride in the woods.

 

[sparky3008]

I have a few friends that have the big ATV like the foreman and such. While they have tons of power and can do wheelies a mile long they are still very big and heavy. If you want to have some trail blazing fun with them and it happens to go over on ya it weighs a ton.

Now like the other guy said buy a snow blower for the drive way and buy a sport atv for having fun. The yfz 450 is IMHO a bad ass sport atv... It has a great suspension, much better than say the raptor 350, and the bike is race ready off the show room floor. It is also less money than those Foreman types. Of course the yfz being sport isn't 4 wheel drive so if you really want a big heavy Utility type ATV then forget everything I said...

 

[sparky3008]

I had a raptor for a while and I had that thing go over on me a few times. Usually doing wheelies up steep hills and such. Now I can bench press over 200lbs but I simply went off the back, held onto the handlebars, didn't panic and held it up no problem. I laughed the entire time. Now roll overs are something different and a light sport atv is much easier on ya than a Heavy utility atv... Again my 2 cents...

I have a lot of change in my pocket don't I

 

[Toynut]

For a pretty good all-rounder I would suggest you look at one of the new Suzuki King Quads or the new Honda Rincons. They are fuel injected for easy all season running(particularily when pushing a plow early on a cold winter morning). I would also opt for heated grips (aftermarket) and a throttle extension lever and handguards. For a plow, I would suggest a 48inch if you have sidewalks or a 60 inch model for driveways only. An electric plow blade lift that uses a Warn winch is more useful than an electric one that uses a modified window lift motor. You can always use it as a regular winch in the summer/fall. I retrofitted my Honda with Radial Maxxis Bigfoots with aftermarket rims within the first 100 miles. They seem to keep the ATV from feeling like you are going to roll the tire sidewalls over on a hard corner (plowing) and definitely feel better in the dirt and on hard pack at speed. The tread is more aggresive as well. I also swapped all of my standard factory shocks to adjustable gas Progressive Suspension units. I believe that only one or two companies currently make legal two up machines(it is illegal to ride two-up on a single seat ATV in most states).

The recommended machines, while heavy, generally do quite well in spirited driving, and yes, you have to be carefull in the turns, and use body english just like on any sport ATV. The new machines can easily crack 60MPH and have lots of torque to let you power slide them in the loose stuff. You can also outfit some of the new machines with all sorts of implements and accessories for yard/field/camping/hunting duties more readily than the sport-only models.

Happy shopping!