Buying a new quad! need help desciding.

I'f the OP is looking at a can am 800 he should have a peek at a Brute force 750 as well. I'm surprised no one has suggested one yet, there are a ton of them here in N.S. The can am is a nice machine but pricey and still break down like the rest.

I just bought a 2013 brute 750 to replace a 2005 750 with 10,000 km. Original brakes, 2nd belt ( replaced cause I thought it was a good idea, didn't break)maybe a rear wheel bearing but that's about it. I used to be a die hard honda guy but I bought a new foreman 450 in 1998 and it must have been made on a Saturday by a guy on his last day cause it was a POS.

I'm not gonna bash other bikes that I have no experience with but take a look at more than just 2, you might be surprised what you come home with!
 
30-06BangStix said:
I don't have a lot of riding experience on the Polaris but I do have a lot of experience towing them after they go through water and the belt slips off, unless you want to stop and drain your belt housing every time you go through a puddle.
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If the belt is getting wet from a puddle, he's got other issues. My clutch box is completely submerged nearly every ride
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168bergersapper said:
Just left the Artic Cat dealership and really liked the TVR 700 or 550. Any complaints about Artic Cat out there?
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If you mean TRV 700 they are a good machine. The 700 is a very good motor. The limited edition has a trunk and I would not get it. Anything in there bounces around unless it is tied down. The 550 is good as well but would not be my first choice.
I think most ATV's now are well made. You will find that if the owner treats them like a piece of crap, that is what you have. You would not believe the number of ATV,s that come into the shop, cylinder filled with dirty water and want it fixed under warranty. If you look after them, they will last a long time.
 
if its just for "old man" trail riding and hunting, anything will do, and the smaller bore machines might be better suited for you. And by "old man" trail riding, this means you could ride all weekend in a white shirt and still have a white shirt when you loaded up the machine at the end of your ride. Water and mud riding will eat up bearings and brakes, BUT like I said, if you are going to old man trail ride, it will not be an issue and you could get several thousand miles out of a machine THIS WAY.

Now if you are just telling yourself its "just for trail riding and hunting" but you want the HOLY CRAP factor, get yourself a Can Am, they have insane torque and power.

Whatever you get, make sure it has power steering, and if it doesnt, send me a PM and I'll price out a PS unit for you ;)
 
FWIW, Honda are largely underpowered which is why they dont break as much stuff. And you NEVER see a honda follow a popo or a can am though a big bad hole, they never make it.

As forthe belt drive systems, theres a reason why ALL of the OEM's use this system except Honda, Honda refuses to evolve with the rest of the industry. Further more, for ATV Sales, Polaris has had the highest market share for years now when it comes to ATV's and Side by Sides.

And there have been times me and my polaris have been towed back to camp......by someone on the sidelines afraid to go where real machines lead ;)

Heres Rick Mercer on my Polaris 850 at one of our races a couple years back, he was a hoot

 
i went to a town and test drove artic cat,can am's and honda's.
artic cat and can am through free weekends in vegas blah blah and there is more
movement on their prices.....get haggling

honda is different,what the price says the quad is,thats what your paying.
i loved the ride,gearbox and bought two.
i ended up coming out of a honda dealership with two 2012 canadian trail edition quads
helmets,back boxes and a trailer.
all the accesories i got discounted and almost got the trailer for free.

wait for a promo and the deal will be better

ride and decide,but haggle
 
I have an 08 Kawi 650i, and an 06 Honda 680. Previous to that I had an 07 Honda 500 (foot shift).

I love my Kawi, the 650 V-twin is a great motor, the sealed rear brake is very nice, ride is a bit rough, but overall I love it. My Honda 680 is an equally good machine, but a very different machine. My Kawi is built to go plow into mud, crawl and chew; the Honda is closer to being a 4wd sport quad. Not to say it doesn't claw it's way through the mud well, but it does not have a front locker, and while you can lock it into first gear, it isn't geared as low as a true low range. When you get it onto trails though, it is a low nicer to ride, the suspension is smoother, and while the single cylinder 680 doesn't have the torque the 650 v-twin does, the bike is more "flickable".

The oddest thing about the 680, and Hondas in general, is the transmission. The 680 uses an actual torque converter, so it shifts like a car...very weird to feel the first few times. You can get a regular boring foot shift transmission in a Honda, which if you are looking for reliable is the way to go. But I take major issue with their automatic transmissions; most quads now are using CVT transmissions, sleds have been using them for years, they are simple and they work. Honda uses odd hydrostatic, electronically controlled things; when they work, they work really well, but I have seen a few that have been beat, and ended up acting like a rubber band.

My roommate had an 09 Canam 650, that thing was a beast! Massive amounts of power, the ride was amazing, but it was heavy as hell, and had had it for 300km and it had to go into the shop 4 times for electrical gremlins; he finally said "to hell with it" and sold it. He now has a Griz 700, not nearly as a refined, doesn't have the power, but he's had much better luck with it.

My next machine will be a Kawi 750, for what it's worth.
 
Buy Honda if you want a work horse with no power and absolutely no fun on trail.... no doubt it will last forever but they're soooooooooooooo much NOT fun ...... If you want the best of the best, its CanAm all the way..... you get what you pay for.
 
I was in the market for an ATV a few years ago. I worked out my decision to either a CanAm, Polaris or Honda. Ended up with a used (300km) 2009 CanAm Outlander 800 XT. About a year ago this month, went riding on the Hatfield/McCoy trails in West Virginia, great ride, except when I tried to navigate down a 45deg ledge/hill and rolled it pretty bad. My friends at the top of the hill thought I was hurt really bad, but after patting down my legs/arms to make sure nothing was broken, I stood up fine. Yeah, I hurt.... a LOT, but I was alive. :) My quad suffered some damage, relocated rad housing was crushed down a bit (no leaks though!), my handlebars were bent, as well as my steering column. But it was still ridable, so I limped back riding my quad to the cabin and started repairs while the rest of the guys continued on their ride. I was the 2nd guy in our group to attempt the 45deg down hill (I'm guessing it was 60+ feet). After I took my tumble, no one else tried it, they went around. :p

Not sure how I got on that tangent.... but the largest ATV forums in Canada is mudhole I think. Sign up there for everything you want to know. htt p://www.mudhole.ca

OverKill
 
Hmmm.... Maybe I'm missing a wheel but who buys a bike from a manufacturer just because it's the current worlwide leader in ATV and side by side sales? Buy a Honda and never mind the rest! :D
 
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