which is better, some of the guys i know that have both say they both have goods and bads, but whats the low down, how do they perform and hold up, trannies and engines and such

Rider

 

Which models are you looking at and what are you going to use them for? My husband has a 2006 sportsman 800 and I have alot of friends that have artic cats but the only thing we have ever done with them is mud never really had one for "work" or trail riding.

 

For fourwheel drive, if you want the best, I would go with the Can-Am. It is the sportiest and most powerful utility quad available.

If you want easy to operate, a little less powerful, but more than most need, try the Yamaha Grizzly; my parents have one and it is a dream to drive. Power steering is an awesome innovation for these bikes and you don't feel beat at the end of a ride on it.

I have several friends that swear by Sportsman 800's, but I always felt burdened by the steering and the girth of the bike.

 

All of the four wheelers have their own issues and you just have to decide which ones you want to deal with. Everyone has their own opinions and truthfully you just need to go test drive them and figure out which one is for you. IMO I wouldnt own a can am if it was given to me, their visco loc on the can ams is crud IMO but someone else may love it I do know though that in 2008 they supposedly upgraded it so that it now engages faster than before. I had a 2006 brute force 750 with a icm power pak, clutch kit, 29.5" outlaws, snorkles and I smoked a can am with smaller tires and a few more mods, its was about a 150ft race but who knows he could have caught me if the race was longer. Techinacly the new thunder cat is the most powerful atv available it is a 950cc atv that weighs only 700lbs thats why I asked what you are looking to do with the 4 wheeler, once you narrow down your choices you really just need to go to the dealer and ride each of them your self. I tried to give you a link to a guy that does great write ups on ATV'S (unbiased write ups) but his site now requires you to be a paying member, if you are still interested I can give you the link to it. Also you can join on www.highlifter.com they have a good forum with lots of information, your best bet though is to just read if you ask over there you will get alot of people who say one is better than the other "just because" and will start a argument.

 

My Polaris experience...2006 Sportsman 800EFI

THE GOOD

-true four wheel drive...it's locked up at both ends for real..no fakey fakey here.

-plenty of power...for a utility bike that weighs 765 pounds dry it'll beat a Predator 500 for the first 100 feet...but I ride a lil bit "aggressive and dangerous" so YMMV...

-strong parts...I barrel rolled mine at 35mph and rode it another 3 1/2 hours before going home. (I was more sore than the bike was...) Polaris bikes are strong, and all that "plastic" that people like to dig them on is pretty friggin' thick and heavy duty stuff...no lie.

-Lock & Ride accessories....30 second snowplow mounting, 10 second windscreen mounting, change cargo boxes, gun scabbards, and the like in less time than it takes to put your helmet and gloves on.

-CVT with EBS...in layman's terms, a snowmobile belt drive system with an overrunning clutch for engine braking. My bike will come to stop just with the EBS from 20mph in less than 60 feet without ever touching the brakes. Kinda hairy on slippery slopes as it likes to slide the tires sometimes...

THE BAD

-heavy...it weighs almost 800 pounds dry, and when you start adding accessories it becomes portly very quick. Not bad in that it has the huevos to move around, but if you ever have to tug it, move it, shove it, or pick it up off you...best of luck.

-CV boots...the Sportsman's shaft angles are pretty extreme and they tend to be hard on CV boots. Better options than stock are available aftermarket, however.

-Fuel economy...granted this is the 800EFI but wow, when you're on the throttle--which is a given being that it's so fun--it only averages about 13-14 mpg's.

-stiff steering....they take some arm strength to turn at slow speeds...even worse in 4wd.

Some people don't prefer the one lever hydraulic braking...it's nice for everyday use but on technical riding or backing down a slope a lever for front brake only would be nice.....

Many people have a bad taste in their mouth from older Polaris bikes, but the newer machines are significantly better in every way than the older ones.

Can't speak for Arctic Cat, other than they share many traits with Suzukis.

Can-Am...like everybody's favorite quad calendar gal said...they're 4wd system stinks....

If I wasn't riding a Popo, I'd be on a Brute Force.

Always partial to Honda as well for straight up workhorse machines...they're gettin' sportier, though.


Hope this helps some....

 

good post What your looking to spend has alot to do with all of these options as well. In different areas different ATV's go for different prices but here in TX I got my Brute Force for $1,000 less than my husband got his sportsman 800, I looked at getting one of the new big bears but when I found out I could get a Brute Force 750 for the same price I figured 750cc's is better than 400cc's.

One thing I didnt like about my Brute was it felt a little top heavy to me but I also had 29.5" outlaws and lift springs on stock wheels, so basially it was at stock width but alot taller. The guy that now owns my Brute force lives in Canada and the day he got it he called me to tell me within 10 min of riding it he rolled it but it didnt even get a scratch. The Brute Force is a very light bike for a big bore weighing in at 600lbs where as the Sportsman is around 800, while in the mud I loved my Brute but while riding the Sportsman I had to work my butt of to move the thing around but im sure for a man wouldnt be nearly as much work. All the 4 wheelers have a different I guess you would say "sitting position" the seats and handle bars are all set differently so thats another reason its best for you to just go ride one because one may feel more comfortable to you than another and when your riding for long periods of time it makes a difference. The Sportsman has a amazingly soft/plush seat where as alot of the other ATV's dont I know my brute force and the Hondas we have owned were like sitting on a brick, after riding for a whole weekend your butt was sore .

 

This is what I know being in the powersprts bussiness.

The Can-am outlanders are all awsome in the power range, and look good to. BUT the brake frames with that sst frame style you dent it one time and it will bend or break. or it you hit something had one here it just folded up and it had 2 miles on it.

The Polaris is strong and some say they have had problems but they all do. Polaris is american made very reliable and have stong motors that i know can be even better with just a few mods. But if you are a fast trail rider the can am and polaris sportsmans seem to dip in the front end in corners and brakeing.

The Kawasaki Brute force is very powerful also and can be made to easy out do the Can-Ams and is more for the aggressive trail rider cause it is sprung a little stiffer.

BUt i do sell all 3 of these brands and have riden them all. I would rate it Kawasaki 1 polaris 2 and can-am 3 so the can am is fast but how fast can you go on a rock climb etc.

The arcitc cat i can say this i sell there snowmobiles and could sell the 4 wheelers but no way so they have a 950 cc now it maybe fast but i see to many of them with problems and the are heavy and tanks

hope this helps a little

 

Good post, thanks!

My Sportsman pushed really bad in the corners and dipped the front way down when the suspension settings were stock.

I moved the rear spring preloads up to the top "click" --as stiff as I could get 'em stock-- and added the plow spacers in the front. This helped a ton...

The stock Popo tires are really soft and are a major reason they dip and lean so much. Change them out for a stiffer sidewall tire and a experiment with tread patterns to find rubber that matches your riding style.

Later on, I spent big $$$ on the Elka suspension changes and found it to be well worth every penny...turned a heavy utility bike into a serious sport machine.

My best tires, believe it or not, are the old school Spider Tracs.

This bike will kick the **** end out, drop the outside rear corner, lift the inside front corner, and powerslide at will like a dirt Late Model on rails.

 

We usually have about 20 riders in our group... trails, mud, high speed road riding, a bit of everything. I have the only Polaris and it's been great. It is an 02 500HO Sportman.... zero break downs, rolled a couple of times. My only complaint is 'check the oil & change the belt', mine gets wet easily. Not a problem if you can wait 10 seconds, but who does that... . Anyways, in our group a couple of Cat 650 were bought, all of them lasted about six months and were traded off. Can't seem to pull there own weight. The folks have Can-Ams, a Traxter that's a workhorse, not much fun but tough. The new 500 Outlander EFI is great but I agree on the frame... not for rocks or agressive riding. Non EFI Can-Ams start hard, and flood easily. Last two years have been funny, every weekend somebody was unloading there new Grizzly 700FI, I think the FI stands for FREAKIN' IMPRESSIVE. Can cat walk stock, and run with the sport quads. If I hadn't taken so much flak over defending the Polaris and a die-hard Honda guy, there would be a new Grizz in my garage. JM $0.02.

 

Yes elka is a serious suspension and works awsome. I put them on my kfx 700 zero pre load and wow is all i have to say took a stiff some what handleing sport quad to a awsome fast trail blazing beast/