ATV advice - looking for a couple

Blaze

Blaze

The Jeeper Reaper
Joined
Aug 9, 2005
Location
Wake Forest, NC
Looking for a little advice here. So most of you know that my wife is fighting cancer. She has been saying that she wants to make this an amazing Christmas for our boys. She said she wants something big that she can watch them enjoy in the morning and that they won't forget. Yeah, I'm not able to type that with dry eyes. Oof. Fuck this shit.

Anyway.....I tried to think of something and finally I came up with maybe some 4-wheelers. I have saved a bunch of money in my business so I have some money I can use. They both have old 4-wheelers but they are always being stupid and we are constantly fixing them. I think I paid like $800 for one and like $900 for the other. They've been decent machines but they require maintenance like a sub-$1k ATV.

So I thought maybe we'd spend a few thousand, get them some good machines that they don't have to constantly screw with and can take places reliably. I don't want something that someone wore out or got tired of.

My boys are 18 and 15. My older one is about 6'3" and younger guy is about 5'10". I was looking at Honda Rancher 450s and Polaris Sportsman 570s. Mostly because I grew up with Hondas and they were reliable as hell and the Polaris because Chase has mentioned liking them before.

So that's the extent of my knowledge of current quads. Our current ones are an old 2003 Suzuki Eiger 400 and a 1988 Honda Foreman 350 but neither run well or stop well. It has been a constant battle over the last few years trying to keep them running and stopping well. :lol:

Anyone have any advice? What brands to look for or stay away from? I can get a couple of new Sportsman 570s for $6500 each.
 
I like the footshift rancher 420s. Had a few issues with my dads es rancher. More power better suspension than they old 300 fourtrax we had.
But man growing up i had a ton of fun on a yfz450. depends on what type of trails you are after. With the right mods they were a handful.
 
83oldyoda4x4 said:
I like the footshift rancher 420s. Had a few issues with my dads es rancher. More power better suspension than they old 300 fourtrax we had.
But man growing up i had a ton of fun on a yfz450. depends on what type of trails you are after. With the right mods they were a handful.
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My older son is cautious enough that I'd be ok with him having something that is a handful. He takes after my wife. My younger guy....he's my kid.....so yeah, nothing like that.

When my oldest got his first ATV, a little 110, he took it through the ditch by the road. Slow and cautious, handled it perfectly. When we upgraded him and gave the younger one the old 110, he drove around the yard and then ripped full bore into the ditch and would have flipped it if I hadn't known EXACTLY what he was about to do and was there to catch him as it was about to flip. :lol:
 
Blaze said:
My older son is cautious enough that I'd be ok with him having something that is a handful. He takes after my wife. My younger guy....he's my kid.....so yeah, nothing like that.

When my oldest got his first ATV, a little 110, he took it through the ditch by the road. Slow and cautious, handled it perfectly. When we upgraded him and gave the younger one the old 110, he drove around the yard and then ripped full bore into the ditch and would have flipped it if I hadn't known EXACTLY what he was about to do and was there to catch him as it was about to flip. :lol:
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Oh for sure you have to respect them, most think its just a 450 but from what i remember they were about 50hp and 350lbs lol
I can say i had a few close calls in the woods. Also 400ex if you like the sport models, i rode the piss out of one for years and years before the 450 and never had any issues. The suspension wasn't as good as the 450 but it was honda reliable.

utility wise bang for buck i like the 420 ranchers, not sure what else
 
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