All you ATV owners

I am considering buying an ATV out of pocket to use at work for site recons. We have a Kubota UTV, but the damned thing is almost as big a a vehicle. Plus it on a long term project.

I want your advice.

Looking for something smaller with part time 4wd. i;m thinking 250-400 cc

Looking to keep around $2500. Of course this means used.

I lean more towards Hondas, but the Recon (perfect sixe) is only 2WD and a lot of their 4WDs are full time.

There are a lot of differences and just don't know what is desireable and what to stay the heck away from. I've been on a couple of Hondas and a Polaris.

Fire away!

Not a current ATV owner but I've been around them a bunch. First thing: do NOT get anything chain drive! Stick with shaft drive, even if it means full time 4wd. You will thank me for this. Polaris seems to love chain drive.

Next, avoid two strokes. They are rare any more new but are still around used. Unless you are planning to race the thing, stay with four stroke engines.

If you think you might use this as other than just hauling you around (think pulling trailers, lawnmowers etc) go for the bigger motor. A 250 ATV is already a bit underpowered and adding another 150-200 pounds drawbar will make it a real slug. This is worse on hills.

All of the big names (Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Bombardier) make solid 4 stroke machines and it's hard to go wrong with them. The Chinese knockoffs are hit or miss, you either get a great one or you get a turd. They also don't have the parts support of the more recognized brands.

I have a soft spot for '05 and older Wolverines, it's a light, nimble 350cc, auto-clutch, quad, basically a 4x4 Warrior. Front and rear racks are optional. It would require an aftermarket doohickey for the selectable 4x4.

Had a '99-ish Foreman 450 ES, aftermarket wheels, oversized tires, ~2" lift, Warn winch, etc. It was a beast, really didn't think I'd care for the electric shift much at first, but grew to really appreciate it, like still being able to shift while standing on the seat when fording water/mud. It got stolen, that was the last "new" ATV I've had much experience with.

There's still an '86 Moto4, and a '95-ish, single seat, Kawasaki Mule on the farm, both 2wd, but the Mule has a locking rear, you'd be surprised the places I've gotten it into.

I love my Rancher. It does anything and everything I ask it to do reliably, without issue, and with minimal investment and zero maintenance.

It's probably the most reliable engine'd thing I own.

+1 to all of what curmudgeon said. Definitely go with a 400cc shaft drive 4 stroke.

Curmudgeon wrote: Not a current ATV owner but I've been around them a bunch. First thing: do NOT get anything chain drive! Stick with shaft drive, even if it means full time 4wd. You will thank me for this. Polaris seems to love chain drive. Next, avoid two strokes. They are rare any more new but are still around used. Unless you are planning to race the thing, stay with four stroke engines. If you think you might use this as other than just hauling you around (think pulling trailers, lawnmowers etc) go for the bigger motor. A 250 ATV is already a bit underpowered and adding another 150-200 pounds drawbar will make it a real slug. This is worse on hills. All of the big names (Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Bombardier) make solid 4 stroke machines and it's hard to go wrong with them. The Chinese knockoffs are hit or miss, you either get a great one or you get a turd. They also don't have the parts support of the more recognized brands.

Listen to this man.

Good stuff guys, Keep it coming

Thanks to golfduke I found looked for and found this. The 420 Ranchers are holding there value preeeettttty good.

http://augusta.craigslist.org/snw/4940196747.html

A 350 should have enough snap for about anything you can think of. For a couple of years, I used a big Bombardier 4 stroke for trail maintenance, IIRC it was a 500? and also a 400 Honda, anyway other than being eye watering fast on a dirt road there was nothing the big Bombardier had over the Honda.

I will say if you need a great awd system the Polaris is second to none then again I've had no issues with my sportsman 500 aside from it was Browning camp and that now looks like a blurple mess.

^^^^ a fellow brit car club member has a more modern version of that with a diesel motor.

I don't think 61 YO is the time to start riding bikes. I had actually thought about a trials bike.

I'm a bike guy through and through, don't really care for couches. But even I will say that for utility use, particularly if you might have to carry tools at some point, you can't beat an ATV.

yea I remember I was interested in your Hodaka?

Sssshhhh, this is a family friendly forum...

Curmudgeon wrote: I'm a bike guy through and through, don't really care for couches. But even I will say that for utility use, particularly if you might have to carry tools at some point, you can't beat an ATV.

Quad vs bike, why not split the difference and get one of these:

I had one just like it (200X) and one of the monster tire, no rear suspension versions (200S).

The “S” was so buoyant, I literally paddle wheeled across open bodies of water with it.

Good times – good times

I used to buy and sell ATV's and dirtbikes. The last time I made a list, the count was well over 100 units. I focused on semi vintage stuff from the 80's and 90's Typically anything Honda is a good bet.

Sometimes oddball stuff crossed my path, like four stroke Kawasaki and Yamaha trikes. They were mostly problematic, however a good investment for parting out.

Unfortunately my experience is with vintage stuff but in general Honda is certainly one of the best brands for parts availability and the engineering is top notch.

Quads are cool, but I always had a thing for fat wheeled trikes. If you know how to ride 'em , they are pretty safe.

I logged hundreds of hours between my 200X and 200S and the only two injuries I incurred happened while I wasn’t even moving…the 200S had a pull starter and I ripped up my finger on the gas tank starting it and the 200X fell off an egg crate while I was changing the oil and my hand got a little burnt and crushed.

The ATC has a lot going for it in the same way that a two wheel drive vehicle that has a lot of its weight on the drive wheels (think sand rail) can give stiff competition to a four wheel drive vehicle in low traction situations and then go on to totally dominate it in high traction situations.

I think the only credible criticism of ATC’s is that they pretty much have to run over everything in their path….you can’t thread your way around trouble like you can on a bike or at least straddle trouble like you can on a quad.

Of course, there’s a plethora of people that’ll tell you how dangerous they are (sound familiar Corvair guys) but that just keeps the price down so good.

Well I found one that would do perfectly, a Yamaha Grizzly 450. It tics all the right boxes. I just have to find one I can afford.

My work uses Honda ranchers and they seem to be reliable and perform well. The only one they had that died was from an accident that broke too much of the suspension to be worth repairing it.

I am not a fan of trikes and yes I know how to ride them. If I have to have something for low speed use in rough terrain with fat soft tires it needs to have 4 wheels. Otherwise, gimme a dirt bike; it will run rings around a trike all day long.

2WD Ural?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjTsLQpY-iA

Stick with Honda if you want something reliable and cheap to maintain

Our 2011 Foreman 500 4x4 has been bulletproof. Shaft drive, solid rear axle, shift on the fly 4x4, and what was important to me....no CVT. I personally just hate the way it feels.

All this talk of new age quads......I still have a mid 80's Suzuki 185cc quad that is used for field spotting. I'm surprised the autoclutch manual hasn't crapped out yet though. We're still considering getting a Honda Pioneer 500 though.

Modernish ones, I'd look at the older Polaris scramblers.

Aeromoto wrote: Stick with Honda if you want something reliable and cheap to maintain

Yup that was in the OP. Problem with Honda is all the different models and different features. It would be great if I had a pocket full on money to walk into the dealer and say, hey, this is what I want. The owner's of older atv's aren't real good at telling you all the features. But there certainly are a lot more Hondas out there that the others.