Good utility quad

[HondaEXrider22]

OK. My mom and sister want a quad of there own and decided on a utility or sport utility. I suggested a bigger one, with auto transmission. A used one for better price also. What do you suggest would be good for them, one where the dont have to worry about anything, like not making hills or getting stuck. I dont know all that much on utiltiys, like which ones are autos or semiautos.



tia

[jak1389]

my dad has a foreman 450es. es stands for electric shift (you shift with your thumb by pressing a up or down button). you can also get then in a standard shift. he's had it since 01 and never had any problems with it. i would highly reconmend one.

[400exstud]

Like the guy above me said, the foreman is a good utility. My mom and dad share a Rancher 350 ES 4X4. It is a nice quad because it is pretty light and easy to ride for a newbie.

[300excrazy98]

i have a kingquad 700, wow that thing rips, it topped out at 82mph you can do mad crazy wheelies with it, its just like a sport quad, its a ful auto 2

[bwamos]

IMHO the Kawasaki Prairie would be a great Utility.

Plenty of power for the hills and a great ride. 4wd & Automatic. And lots of used ones floating around to buy.

I personally dont like the Honda Utilitys much.. they leave a lot to be desired compared to the others. And I'm a honda fan. The utility's are just cash cows for them, though.

Suzuki and Kawasaki's bread and butter are the Utility's though. Of them 2 the Kawi's are my favorite.

[TheFontMaster]

Personaly my favorite utes are the prarie 650/700's but that is probably a little too much motor for you mom and sister, especialy if they are just starting out. A couple people have metioned the rancher and foreman. Ether would be an great quad for them. I would sugest the 400 or 450 though, the 350 is pritty underpowered. I would also stay away from the electric shifting if posible. My friend with a 350 rancher es has constantly had problems with it ever since he got it.

[RiderTRX400ex]

yea the praries are nice rigs, only thing i dont like is how heavy they are and the front suspension is too soft for my liking in slow cornering

[bman863]

i would go with the rancher 350 es 4x4.
my friend has one and it has been through hell and back and still runs like it is brand new!
My friend put a warn 2x4/4x4 conversion kit on his and it made it more of a sport/ute than utility.

[TwentyBelow131]

My dad just bought a kingquad 700. It is fuel injected with plenty of power. I think it would be a good choice.

[<DRS>GPF]

Originally posted by HondaEXrider22
OK. My mom and sister want a quad of there own and decided on a utility or sport utility. I suggested a bigger one, with auto transmission. A used one for better price also. What do you suggest would be good for them, one where the dont have to worry about anything, like not making hills or getting stuck. I dont know all that much on utiltiys, like which ones are autos or semiautos.



tia


im looking for about the same thing, for about the same reasons.(wife and daughter)

im swinging from a rancher to a polaris.. the polaris is less expensive all the way around and simple to operate.. preferrably an older 4wd scrambler 400 or 500..

as far as the rancher is concerned, many have had success with the electric shift, but ive personnaly ridden 2 and seen many that have had problems with it.. as far as im concerned, its a weak link on a great utility..

[bwamos]

Originally posted by <DRS>GPF
preferrably an older 4wd scrambler 400 or 500

It's jsut personal poinion... but I'd stay as far away from the old scramblers as possible.

Something about those tiny 1/2" dia A-arms and tree stumps. :(
Needless to say the a-arms get bent a lot more often than they should.

Note: they are Struts.. so you only have lower a-arms. An aftermarket set would make it much stronger. But, the scrambler is a wannabe sport. I'd get something with racks. Otherwise you just have a really heavy sport quad with bad suspension. ;)

[bman863]

i own a '98 scrambler and it is nothing but a pain! I am always having to fix the damn thing! it wouldn't be so bad if it was like a Honda, but since it's a polaris everything is different and a pain in the *** to work on! The 4x4 system is great. it locks in right away, but for a while it wouldn't like to unlock. (not a fun thing cornering at the end of a straight in unexpected 4 wheel drive.) Like i said earlier I greatly recomend the Rancher. I haven't had to work on that thing in 3 years, and that was just to put the 2x4 switch in it.

And as far as the a-arms go, i've given that scrambler hell. (even been thrown off by a few tree stumps) and haven't had any problems with them. And it is very true that they are heavy (as heavy as most utilities), but the worst part is that they are very top-heavy. most utilities have a lower center of gravity than scramblers. THEY SUCK!!!

[HondaEXrider22]

OK Im thinking the prarie. Anybody have one of these? How do you like it? Easy matenience?

[raptorrider686]

Sportsman 800, Grizzly 660. If those are to big then they could get a Kodiak.

[freak400]

Grizzly 660, nice quad and tough

[bwamos]

Originally posted by bman863
i own a '98 scrambler and it is nothing but a pain! etc.. etc..

Aye the polaris in that age group was like buying a 1985 Ford Escort.

They were made horribly.

My best friends brother had a 98' for a couple years before he got his Banshee. He did more work on that Scrambler in the 2 years he owned it than ha has on the banshee in the past 5 years. That's saying a LOT, since the banshee is a high maintenance quad.

But.... to avoid misrepresentation, todays polaris is a MUCH better quad. They finally got serious about ATV's. I have no issues with the Preadator and other current models. But, stay far far far away from 5+ year old scramblers.

[raptorrider686]

Originally posted by freak400
Grizzly 660, nice quad and tough

Yes they are really god bikes. Do you own one?

[gpd005]

My wife and even my mom both love our 03 Honda Rancher ES 4X4. We have not had any problems at all and we push a lot of snow with it in the winter! I've had it submerged in water and mud and have not had one problem with it at all!! Very nice machine. Big enough to do just about anything and small enough for almost anyone!

[greg_gorrell]

i would say either a polaris scrambler 500 or a grizzly 660. not too much personal experiance with the grizzly but one of my buddies had one and he likes it and hasnt really had any problems with it in the 2 years he has had it. my other friend which i ride with quite ofter has a scrambler 500 and he loves it. its an '03 i think and its tough. i dont really care for polaris' since i think the engineers that design them are just plain ****ing idiots, but if i were to get a sport utility, it would be the scrambler.