best atv available if cost is not an issue....#1 priority is reliability #2 is comfort...please share your thoughts

too vague
do you want a utility ATV or sport bike?
what will you use it for?
ever have the need for more than 1 person to be on it at the same time?

Hi there
I was in your position of buying an ATV 9 years ago. I test drove a variety of brands through friends and acquaintances.I bought a Honda Foreman 450 with standard shift. I watched surveying and seismic crews all over NE BC in the two years leading up to the purchase. Well over 80% over ATV's in theirs pickups/ trailers were Hondas, due to their reliability. In the 9 years I have owned it, I have put on Mud lite Tires , instead of the factory ones, and changed fluids.The last fours years it has been a workhorse in landscaping and snowplowing at our new 4.5 acre place out of town. The newer ones have a better suspension, and will have the auto shifting as an option.
Depends who is going to use it the most and what you are using it for. 400-500 cc is good for general riding. 500-700 cc is better for yard work and pulling. The bigger the ATV, the better the winch and the better at muck hole removal you and your friends need to be.

When I buy another one, it will be a Honda with a 500-700cc engine.

I hope this helps.

just bought a new honda rancher ES this winter - like it alot. liquid cooled 430cc has power plenty for me plus the fuel injection - always starts right up even at -20 much more comfortable ride than my older ones. looked at others but honda is still the workhorse of the industry

Suzuki built the first 4 wheel atv's ever made. i bought a 2004 Vinson 500cc automatic,and i match it up against any honda ever made. you want the Best check out their King-quad series they come with all the Bells n whistles, better yet take one for a test ride!!!! regards

suzuki and yamaha i've least problems. more of the guy i ride with are going to polaris. they ride smoother on the rough stuff. honda's have not been the best for us ,replaced 2 motors and a trans in them . one was still under warranty when the crank broke. other 2 were costly.

2007 sportsman 500 x2 limited

I have a Grizzly 660 that has just been perfect. It has about 2500 miles on it. We use it for everyting on the ranch. Pulls, tugs, hauls, and goes over almost anything. Only thing ever replaced is the battery and tires. The Grizz is not the biggest, or the fastest but a great upper end cc atv that will get the job done. If something were to happen to it there would be no question, I would buy another in a minute.

For durability the old 350 rancher was hard to beat as long as you replaced the recoil start with a cover. Too many engine failures when water got into the recoil start and the little hole got plugged. This kept water against the bearing were it eventually got through to the engine.

They ruined the line with the new 420 in my opinion. Great engine and EFI but they replaced the steel skid plate with a flimsy/cheap plastic piece. This is fixable but even worst they went back to exposed axles like the old 300 had. This is a weaker design and you get to cut vines and sundry other stuff off your axles periodically. The final insult they also exposed the drive shaft after always having an enclosed shaft. Real stupid, but people still buy them.
They did get smart and put a plate over the recoil start on the 420's. Must have got sick of all the complaints about blown engines.

Honda!

Not the most comfortable, but DEFINITELY the most DEPENDABLE atv is HONDA! They're simply the very best!

Well Ill be the odd man out here but...

I have ridden them all and I settled on a polaris sportsman 500 H.O. in 2002 in the Remington Special Edition package.
I have 4900 miles and 600 hours on it, Some of them very Extreme but mostly casual.

Id be hard pressed to buy another brand due to the 4 wheel drive system that it has on it
It is truly all wheel drive and the components are heavy duty.

They all break if used very foolishly,

I have had alot of fun and done some extreme riding on mine and have only had to replace a couple of CV boots.
Its not the fastest but I will say this it is the smoothest riding machine in my experiance.




Cal30

Something from Honda.....

I'd go with an RTV...more passenger space, steering wheel is easier than handle bars, larger dump box, diesel engines available, etc..
YES, they cost more and are larger, but now that my father-in-law bought a diesel Kubota, the ATV's just collect dust.

I have a Polaris 500 sportsman fuel injected that is smooth as can be over rough terrain but have flipped it over backward coming out of a steep creek embankment. That was painful for an extended period. Due to the fact it was in deep loose sand I and the quad were not seriously injured.
I would consider trading it for a like model 500 / 550 in the longer wheel base model with a dump bed. The longer wheel base models are safer and more stable and ride better.
I have an older Polaris 425 6X6 which is a monster! It will go about anywhere and it will not tip over backwards. Much safer than a 4 wheeler although it is considerably harder to steer at low speeds.
It is my favorite; It will haul 800 lbs.
The new Polaris 6X6 saddle models are 800 CC and all independent suspension; A REAL MACHINE!

Bad Boy Buggy!

I have a yamaha kodiak 450 and it has been nothing short of awesome considering the price (I won it in a raffle), but if I was going to part with my cash the only option would be a honda in the 500+cc range. I have a friend who has one(Honda Rubicon) and has several thousand trouble free miles on it.

Honda or suzuki

Watson Lake

If you can find one used in half way decent shape, meaning no kids and no mudding, the 350 Honda is the best single ATV ever made IMO. For maximum reliability I'd prefer a manual shift model but I use the electronic shifts myself.

I'd still go with Honda but don't have any experience with the new versions.

Personally, unless you're going to use them for a junior tractor (food plots, etc) as some tractorless hunters do, I think smaller is better for most hunters uses. The 750s, etc are mostly for weekend warriors and play as far as I can tell.

Honda

You will never regret buying a Honda! They just keep on running!

I used to be a Honda guy untill I realized my 8hp outboard is not that great, my 150hp outboard is way to heavy , my 97 Crv is a cheap piece of shit in every way and my 03 Honda Ruicon engine siezed.

That's enough of "Honda" for me.



After making all the sacrifices honda quad owners have to make (no power, bad ride, no difflock, poor ground clearance bla bla bla) just to get the "Honda relaiblity" only to have the engine crap out...realy slapped my ass into reality.



Then I bought a Brute force 750 and blew the front diff apart. Oh well, at least has great power, a good ride etc........

quote:

Originally posted by jjohnson1:
I have a yamaha kodiak 450 and it has been nothing short of awesome considering the price (I won it in a raffle), but if I was going to part with my cash the only option would be a honda in the 500+cc range. I have a friend who has one(Honda Rubicon) and has several thousand trouble free miles on it.

Keep that 450 Ultramatic Kodiak! I've had several 4x4 atv's & it is still strong & trouble free after 7 years/5600 miles. Most atv's will only run as good as you ride & maintain them. IMO, Honda's "red-hot" reputation of being "reliable" is in the racing sector, NOT utv's...

i like SIMPLE ..
i ride the kawasaki lakota 300 (have 4 of them)
chain drive -- trivial maint.
2 qts of oil
fairly light weight
air cooled
no complex parts, PERIOD
manual shift, auto clutch (this rocks)
cheap, easy, light weight, and can be had with racks

to ME, they are the perfect atv .. hence, I have 4 of them.

I like em, and i like honda's .. i'll pay less for a kawa and ride it at least as long as a honda ...

then again, I don't care about 4x4, power steering, mondo winches, and gadgets

Chain Drive...great for racing applications, but for anything else, it's a pain in the ass.

If ya drive the shaft, all of your chain pain get shafted!

The Kawi 300 engine has been around for years, it is a proven performer. I wonder if this is the same engine used on the mojave?

mojave is a 250 .. same engine in the 300 bayou and the parrire ..

I like chain drive . if you screw it up, the chain is 20 bucks, and can be field replaced in 10 mins!

like many others, it is more a question of what you need the ATV to accomplish. I will say that having worked on every brand the 2 motors with the fewest problems are the kawasaki and honda (suzuki is a close 3rd.) There are a few reoccuring problems with the Polaris and arctic cats. They are pretty easy to fix, but are enough of a problem that you probably won't be able to fix them on the field. I ended up going with the Brute Force 750i. It is more than what most people will need, but I use it for dragging out wood and hauling an 8 ft. trailor. I have had it for 2 years now and have not had any problems what so ever.

Honda fourtrax 300 purchased in 1992. Replaced
boots on front cv joints, changed the oil, and thee batteries. Oh yeah gas and not much of that. Clearly not in the same class as the bombadier 800 performance wise or price wise,but rock solid dependable. Before this machine I had A 185s three wheeler that performed without a problem that I didn't aflick on it durring the nine years I owned it.

I had a yamaha grizzly FI 700 and put about 4000 miles on it with no problems at all. I chose it because I looked at all the aspects of every brand and I found it to have the best combo.

-Air intake and belt vent are located at the highest point on the wheeler.

-The belt never needed to be replaced because it has a clutch that doesn't grab and let go of the belt, so the belt doesn't seem to wear out, like others(exluding honda)

-good engine, not the most powerful in it's class, but decent on gas milage and dependable.

-Best downhill engine braking Ive ever felt. I could literally crawl down hills so steep your almost flipping over forward, all without touching the bakes. and all wheels have the engine braking

-push button 2wd, 4wd, 4wheel lock

-12" of clearence

-power steering is great(now offered on other wheeler) , if it fails it steers just like a normal non-power wheeler.

-lightest in it's class (600 lbs) vs other brands(750-800 lbs)

-engine started in -20 degree winters

Like every brand, it has a few down falls.
-the racks are small compared to some others
-every once in a while, the engine would stall when idling, but not a lot.

Really most all brand are reliable now days, but one of the biggest problems is belts breaking or getting wet. Honda has no belt, and yamaha has an actual clutch that doesn't involve the belt and is very water tight.
polaris and cam am are the most plush rides and also lead in the power department.


Still, my little honda 3 wheeler went 95% of the places my 4 wheeling monster went.

update.. now 5 of them, and wrench on a bubba's 6th one .. i flat out love my lakota

Buy American! Buy from Minnesota. Artic Cat is the way to go.

quote:

Originally posted by 22WRF:
Buy American! Buy from Minnesota. Artic Cat is the way to go.

which means buy suzuki ... unless you buy the largest displacement

quote:

Originally posted by eezridr:
I have a Polaris 500 sportsman fuel injected that is smooth as can be over rough terrain but have flipped it over backward coming out of a steep creek embankment. That was painful for an extended period. Due to the fact it was in deep loose sand I and the quad were not seriously injured.
I would consider trading it for a like model 500 / 550 in the longer wheel base model with a dump bed. The longer wheel base models are safer and more stable and ride better.
I have an older Polaris 425 6X6 which is a monster! It will go about anywhere and it will not tip over backwards. Much safer than a 4 wheeler although it is considerably harder to steer at low speeds.
It is my favorite; It will haul 800 lbs.
The new Polaris 6X6 saddle models are 800 CC and all independent suspension; A REAL MACHINE!

wow! do not know how you flipped the polaris sportsman. I like mine--- the winch is a great add on too!

my last yamaha was grate. i now have a 500 Artic Cat Ihave had no problems with it.

BOMBARDIER CAN AM 650: confortable for two persons, easy to drive, eficiency and brute force with a 650 cc motor.