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Eastern Shore of MD | I work on a lot of atv's as a part time hustle. 5 years ago I would've said you can't beat a Honda and a Polaris was junk. Today I would say quite the opposite. I have worked on a disproportionally greater number of newer Honda's with jumped timing chains (inference engine) and holes in the pistons from running lean. My opinion is the gear ratio's in the Honda automatics (especially the Rincon) are not low enough to handle oversized tires and the engines get over revved to compensate.
I'm a big fan of belt drives. While I was very skeptical at first, once you learn to not to feather the throttle when pulling a load they are great. I have found most people either love or hate a Polaris, not much middle ground. I like them because they are easy to fix, have standard (american factional) hardware and are made in USA. I am an Arctic Cat fan as well, great ground clearance with even better warranty.
The only ones I would stay away from are the Chinese knockoffs. Complete junk. Yamaha, Kawi, AC, Popo and Honda all make great machines.
For the record I've owned: Suzuki LT250, Yamaha Warrior (2), Honda 300EX (2), Honda 250 EX, Honda 400 EX, Honda 350 Rancher, Honda 400 foreman, Honda 650 Rincon, Suzuki Z400, Yamaha 660 Grizzly, Arctic Cat 650V2, Kawasaki 650 Brute Force, Arctic Cat 500, Polaris 250 Trialblazer, Polaris 425 Magnum, Polaris 500 Sportsman, Honda 300 fourtrax (2), Polaris 400 Explorer, and I sure I've forgotten a few. They were all great machines and would recommend all of them but for your purposes I would recommend a 4x4 capable of disengaging the front axle, it greatly improves the steering.
For used machines:
Check the wheel bearings especially for machines with IFS
CV boots - If its torn the CV is junk - No tolerance for dirt ($200 - $400 per axle replacement cost)
Brakes - rear drums have leaking issues and can be expensive to fix.
Put your hand over the exhaust while running - check for oil on your hand
If belt drive, Hold the brakes and try and move in reverse. Engine should over power the brakes if not - bad belt.
I had a Polaris with over 1500 hrs with no problems but wouldn't recommend anything with over 500.
Now is the perfect time to buy as most of the rednecks in this area are struggling with the economy and selling their toys but no one has the cash to buy. I'd recommend offering significantly less than asking price because the market is poor. | |
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Educate me about used 4-wheelers....
