What ATV should I buy?

[trazerr]

Honda. Grew up in a farming town and we all only kept Hondas. A few bought Polaris's but those quickly disappeared. Now most of the farmers run a foreman and a Pioneer.

But if you wanted more power than what Honda offers in an ATV then Yamaha.

Buttt the Suzuki Kingquad 750 is sort of a sleeper. Hasn't been updated in forever and you don't really find much bad about them because of that. They used to be dirt cheap brand new, but that has changed these days.

 

[eye_zick]

I am looking for dependability. That's really my only major concern.

A Honda Fourtrax 300 (a Foreman 450 if you want a bigger machine) will not be beat for dependability. The suspension sucks and they're slow. But they are the textbook definition of bulletproof out of the box.

 

[wind gypsy]

I was looking for reliability first in a ATV for property maint a couple years ago and picked up a 2019 Yamaha Kodiak 700 EPS SE based on my research.

For the same $ the honda options had less power, less ground clearance, a straight axle, and gears. The kodiaks are setup to have a little more grunt down low and less top end than the Grizzly with the same engine and are cheaper. More utility oriented, less sporty.

I've been happy with my choice thus far. I use it spraying herbicides, dragging a harrow, cultipacking, spreading fertilizer, and even pulling a lime drop spreader with 1000#+ of lime on food plots. In the winter it wears tracks and I can get around thick wooded property much better than I could with a snowmobile.

If looking at used yami 700s, they went from the tried and true 686cc engines to 708cc on 2016-2018 model years and had some issues so they went back to the 686. So I'd avoid the '16-'18 model years if you can.

My dad has a decade old suzuki king quad 750 which has been trouble free and is a nice quad as well but they are also more expensive than the kodiaks.

The polaris and can-am options beat up on honda/yami when it came to things like horsepower and suspension travel for the $ but the poor reliability reports kept me away. My parents have been longtime polaris people with lots of toys but they advised me to stay away from polaris ATVs. They have 2 honda ATVs, a Can-am, and a honda UTV.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I’ve always had Suzuki 4-wheelers. A few years ago I bought my first Honda, partly, based on feedback from folks owning them and because it was a good bit cheaper than buying a comparable Suzuki. I wish I would’ve paid more and got another Suzuki.

Personally, I would never buy a used 4-wheeler.

 

[Thinkingman]

I was looking for reliability first in a ATV for property maint a couple years ago and picked up a 2019 Yamaha Kodiak 700 EPS SE based on my research.

For the same $ the honda options had less power, less ground clearance, a straight axle, and gears. The kodiaks are setup to have a little more grunt down low and less top end than the Grizzly with the same engine and are cheaper. More utility oriented, less sporty.

I've been happy with my choice thus far. I use it spraying herbicides, dragging a harrow, cultipacking, spreading fertilizer, and even pulling a lime drop spreader with 1000#+ of lime on food plots. In the winter it wears tracks and I can get around thick wooded property much better than I could with a snowmobile.

If looking at used yami 700s, they went from the tried and true 686cc engines to 708cc on 2016-2018 model years and had some issues so they went back to the 686. So I'd avoid the '16-'18 model years if you can.

My dad has a decade old suzuki king quad 750 which has been trouble free and is a nice quad as well but they are also more expensive than the kodiaks.

The polaris and can-am options beat up on honda/yami when it came to things like horsepower and suspension travel for the $ but the poor reliability reports kept me away. My parents have been longtime polaris people with lots of toys but they advised me to stay away from polaris ATVs. They have 2 honda ATVs, a Can-am, and a honda UTV.

I'm new and pretty ignorant re UTV/ATVs but following this thread with some interest.
Why are the gears in a Honda transmission undesirable?
I would think a transmission is preferable to a CVT?
What am I missing?
Thanks.

 

[sf jakey]

I’ve owned a 2006 Honda rubicon since new. I beat and abuse it and change the oil every few years. Never a single issue. Goes anyplace. Love the gears vs the prior kingquad noisy CVT. If I was buying today, I would want EPS and IRS. That said, I recently sold a Honda Pioneer 1000 and bought a Can Am defender. Can Am is a much better machine than the Honda. I would look into the can am ATV.

 

[wind gypsy]

I'm new and pretty ignorant re UTV/ATVs but following this thread with some interest.
Why are the gears in a Honda transmission undesirable?
I would think a transmission is preferable to a CVT?
What am I missing?
Thanks.

I just personally prefer the simplicity of operation with a CVT, others may not. I'd agree from a reliability standpoint that the honda setup is more trouble free than most CVTs but the yami CVTs have a very solid reputation and aren't known for trashing belts like some of the competitors. As mentioned above, the CVT is more noisy too.

 

[Coveyleader]

When people refer to any 4 wheeler as a "Honda" you know the answer! i.e. "go get the Honda" and the 4 wheeler sitting there is a Yamaha, Kawasaki, etc.

 

[Westernduck]

I guess I’m in the minority that likes my Polaris. Maybe I should be worried. Then again, all my friends say ford makes the worst diesel yet mine has half a million miles and they keep having to get new ones lol.

I’ve also got a few old Kawasaki’s that are amazing. No experience with the new ones though.

 

[Gobbler36]

I’m sorry but if you want ride quality and performance go with Polari the suspension and output is best of the bunch imo

 

[bozeman]

Have had my Polaris 500 since 2012. Maintenance every 18 months and have never had a single issue out of it.

 

[pamola]

We're running a Polaris Sportsman 580 EPS. 2021. Great machine thus far.

 

[Rooggvc]

So far the poll has highlighted what I have read and heard other places. Honda followed by Yamaha for overall reliability. Right now I am leaning heavily towards Honda. I am going to go and talk to some local dealers to see what kind of prices I can get out the door on some base models.

 

[FarleyMcJohnson]

A couple years ago I was looking at new wheelers, I was between the Grizzly 750 (or whatever cc it is) and the Can Am Outlander 850 North Edition (Comes with windshield, winch and lower gearing for tracks). After sitting on both and driving around the lot, I went with the Can Am. Been a great wheeler for 2 years now. I'm sure the Grizzly wouldve been good too but it was how it felt sitting on it that swayed me, the handlebars felt too low on the Yamaha. The Can Am was a little more comfortable for me.

 

[Eastonsgrandpa]

Seems lots of folks hate on Polaris but I’ve never had a problem. Even this one that bounced down the mountain was ridden out after getting it rubber down. I was in far worse shape than the bike. A couple thousand dollars in damage but it was running fine. Eventually traded it for a 1000 trail and love that machine.

 

[11boo]

Seems lots of folks hate on Polaris but I’ve never had a problem. Even this one that bounced down the mountain was ridden out after getting it rubber down. I was in far worse shape than the bike. A couple thousand dollars in damage but it was running fine. Eventually traded it for a 1000 trail and love that machine. View attachment 572872

I was afraid that would happen to me too, so I went SxS. Glad you made it out ok.

 

[WCB]

I have a Yamaha Bruin 350 (2003) a couple minor tune ups, a couple oil changes, 1 starter solenoid and a battery is all I have done to it. Runs like a champ. Use it to plow my driveway the last 5 years plus food plots (50gal sprayer, disk, roller, drag etc. Since 2003 it has hauled tractor trailer loads worth of Snow Goose decoys in and out of muddy, frozen, snow chocked fields for hours on end. Unless I forgot to put gas in it or turn the key off I have NEVER had an issue. I do need to put new brakes on it before this fall.

 

[Gman12]

Honda. We have had several and they have all been bulletproof. Just change oil once a decade and you are good to go. My dad decided to buy a pair of 4 wheelers and didn't ask anyone what he should buy. He came home with 2 brand new Polaris machines (15 years ago). These are the most unreliable ATV's that I have ever seen. Something is always breaking on them. Any brand is better than Polaris.

 

[Coveyleader]

Agreed on above comments Yamaha handle bars seem to sit low. They have aftermarket bars if that tells you anything. May be fine for shorter guys.

 

[Watrdawg]

Surprisingly no one has mentioned that Kawasaki's. I bought a used Kawasaki 650I Brute Force back in 2010 and have put some hard use on it. I've never had an issue and have only done normal maintenance.