Atv Quad Bikes

[JasonSelmes]

Hi Everyone,

Im looking at gettinga Quad ATV to take out in the field to get from stand to stand. Im figureing you can cover alot more ground with a Quad. do any of you have experience with Quads? Im looking for a farm type quad with racks etc but that also has a bit of get up and go?

Any ones experience is appreciated

[fangster]

Now you're talking mate.

The quads will take you anywhere, further than any 4wd vehicle ever will.

The best advice is to ensure you have a reputable brand, and that its 4WD.

Compare all the brands, don't just listen to hype or personal recommendations as gospel. Look at construction, engineering differences and how they suit you individually. One man's meat is another's poison as with everything else.

[PaulOS]

I am in the same boat Jason, I have to pick up a couple of them (Kids and Mum!). From my investigation (price, features and add-on's) I am leaning towards the Polaris (sportsman 90 and sportsman 500 or 550) range

Are you happy with your Polaris Fangster and what model did you go for

[JasonSelmes]

Now you're talking mate.

The quads will take you anywhere, further than any 4wd vehicle ever will.

The best advice is to ensure you have a reputable brand, and that its 4WD.

Compare all the brands, don't just listen to hype or personal recommendations as gospel. Look at construction, engineering differences and how they suit you individually. One man's meat is another's poison as with everything else.

Hay fang,

Nice rides there mate that yellow one looks good, Has the rack and all that. I wouldnt want to spend for than $7000. Its just so much easier and I have seen several aticles with guys using quads to get up high and cover loads more ground with a quad than you can on foot. Ive looked at Polaris ansd Yamaha. I want something good for 2 people when it needs it and also something with a little bit of guts. What brands and model are your ones in the photo?

Edited July 29, 2010 by Jason_Aus

[JasonSelmes]

I am in the same boat Jason, I have to pick up a couple of them (Kids and Mum!). From my investigation (price, features and add-on's) I am leaning towards the Polaris (sportsman 90 and sportsman 500 or 550) range

Are you happy with your Polaris Fangster and what model did you go for

hi Paul,

Yeah im checking out the 550 aswell. Wow looks like you have to buy for the whole family. I know the kids ones are relativly cheap but i want something decent that can get through the work and cover good ground aswell. Preferbly in black aswell as i think this might camo better at night and also during the day. I dont think the flouro colors wil help a great deal but i guess it wont make or break buying one.

let me know what you decide on paul... im looking at researching first and then purchasing probably around early to mid september ready for summer

Edited July 29, 2010 by Jason_Aus

[fangster]

Red one is a 500 EFI and the yellow is a 700 twin. Man the 700 is insane, suits me perfectly. Farmgirl's not scared of it at all, first ride she's got the throttle flat and throwing dirt everywhere, what a chick. The 800 is nuts, the 850 just mental, 4 wheel smokeups on bitumin in 4wd.

The independant suspension all round is superb, I sit behind the missus over all the rocks around here just to watch it working, whilst she just sits there flying over the stuff, the suspension does all the work. Makes for safe riding when the thing's not bucking around everywhere.

I made up a front bar for the 700 with mesh to stop big sticks hitting the radiator because I was paranoid at the time, but didn't bother with the missus's 500. As you can see, it doesn't look real flash but I've bounced a few billies with it.

That rack on the yellow one holds 2 rifles from when we both used to get around on that one. I hate the ones on the bars.

You should be able to pick up good ones with a few hundred hrs for that money you got. I've seen a few for sale, people buy them for hunting use, only get a few hundred hrs up over a few years, and offload them because the missus puts her foot down.

But they don't last for sale long.

We bought Polaris because of three real reasons:

1. Because size for size they are comparable in price to the jap stuff

2. The running gear, shafts, CV's, all that make the jap stuff look tiny, and the CVT brilliant, never in the wrong gear or without enough torque even with the smaller engines

3. David, my mate since before we both went to one another's first birthday parties and walked Sunnybank in the '70's with air rifles over our shoulders, owns a Polaris dealership, The Rocklea Group PTY LTD

4. The servicing is p1ss easy, ATF and gear oil for the diffs and gearbox and Mobil 1 for the engines, and simple, cheap Ryco Z411 oil filters spin straight on, you can get all your servicing needs from Supercheap. Last time, the missus got oil filters from Big W.

And I'd never hear the end of it from me mate if I bought a Yammy, my second brand choice. But everyone has their own reasons, which is why i say, don't listen to anywone, especially me, look at them for yourself.

And really, they don't seem to have an achilles heel at all, except you have to watch out for sticks reaching the CV's, but that's only happened once to us in the whole time we've had them. The CV/axles come out in 10 minutes and dismantle with normal tools anyway, they are almost as big as the ones in a Hilux. Simple guards can be made under the A-arms to stop that, but I haven't bothered.

EDIT:

Forget about colours and camo models or any of that other crap making any difference to "stealth". The animals will hear you coming a km away and will be watching for you to show up, they'll easy put the noise to use to see your movement. It matters SFA, strictly for the must-have fashion conscious only.

[JasonSelmes]

Red one is a 500 EFI and the yellow is a 700 twin. Man the 700 is insane, suits me perfectly. Farmgirl's not scared of it at all, first ride she's got the throttle flat and throwing dirt everywhere, what a chick. The 800 is nuts, the 850 just mental, 4 wheel smokeups on bitumin in 4wd.

The independant suspension all round is superb, I sit behind the missus over all the rocks around here just to watch it working, whilst she just sits there flying over the stuff, the suspension does all the work. Makes for safe riding when the thing's not bucking around everywhere.

I made up a front bar for the 700 with mesh to stop big sticks hitting the radiator because I was paranoid at the time, but didn't bother with the missus's 500. As you can see, it doesn't look real flash but I've bounced a few billies with it.

That rack on the yellow one holds 2 rifles from when we both used to get around on that one. I hate the ones on the bars.

You should be able to pick up good ones with a few hundred hrs for that money you got. I've seen a few for sale, people buy them for hunting use, only get a few hundred hrs up over a few years, and offload them because the missus puts her foot down.

But they don't last for sale long.

We bought Polaris because of three real reasons:

1. Because size for size they are comparable in price to the jap stuff

2. The running gear, shafts, CV's, all that make the jap stuff look tiny, and the CVT brilliant, never in the wrong gear or without enough torque even with the smaller engines

3. David, my mate since before we both went to one another's first birthday parties and walked Sunnybank in the '70's with air rifles over our shoulders, owns a Polaris dealership, The Rocklea Group PTY LTD

4. The servicing is p1ss easy, ATF and gear oil for the diffs and gearbox and Mobil 1 for the engines, and simple, cheap Ryco Z411 oil filters spin straight on, you can get all your servicing needs from Supercheap. Last time, the missus got oil filters from Big W.

And I'd never hear the end of it from me mate if I bought a Yammy, my second brand choice. But everyone has their own reasons, which is why i say, don't listen to anywone, especially me, look at them for yourself.

And really, they don't seem to have an achilles heel at all, except you have to watch out for sticks reaching the CV's, but that's only happened once to us in the whole time we've had them. The CV/axles come out in 10 minutes and dismantle with normal tools anyway, they are almost as big as the ones in a Hilux. Simple guards can be made under the A-arms to stop that, but I haven't bothered.

thanks for the info fang, muchly appreciated. Do you mind asking how much you paid for yours? and was it second hand or brand new? How do you tend to use yours? Do you ride around and use the binoculars to scout land etc? Im probably going to do that but also scope stands for foxing then if nothing drive onto the next stand etc...

cheers

Edited July 29, 2010 by Jason_Aus

[MR243]

Hey Jason,

I own a Polaris 600 sportsman 2003 model. I picked it up about 4 or 5 years ago with about 200 hours on it for $7500 it had a few scatches as it was used for hunting also. Mechanically i have never had any major problems.

Performance wise they are awesome, the places i have taken it and the steep hills i have gone up you have to literally wipe your ass after it !!!

Plenty of power, doesnt use much petrol.

I found it was a little noisy so i adapted another small muffler after the factory muffler. No real reduction in power from it. Mine is the carby model so it takes a little while to run completly smooth on the cold start.

I have adapted a polaris gun boot off the rear right side and also a twin gun rack from the front.

It fits nice and snugg into a 7 X 4 trailer.

I have a mate that bought a brand new polaris 800 sportsman X2. That is a power house !!!

[fangster]

Started off as a hunting quad to get around wherever we went hunting, we'd take it out on a box trailer. They just fit into a 6x4 if you can take off the rear tailgate. An X2 would need a 7x4 min.

Nowadays, both are used to get somewhere and check out the things that you do around the place. So they never get washed really, and I always write on the oil filter the hrs from the display, I change it every 50. 5 litres of Mobil 1 does two quads with some left over.

Last time the creek flooded, we drove both in and washed them with a broom.

The fuel tanks aren't really up there, the filler is. The real fuel tank is a black poly item that sits further down to drop the CoG, and the air intake is up under the fake "tank". So they have a nice deep fording depth.

Binos work just the same off a quad as when on foot, a bino harness is a good idea so they don't flop about. But I only use the binos when checking stock, off the quads ferals are immediately noticeable because they are running flat out away from you. Movement is a dead giveaway.

As far as the rifles go, David gave me a Polaris Kolpin gun boot to try, and I gave it back, I hated the thing. You have to be a contortionist to get the gun out quickly, wheras with the rack on the front, you just stand up on the running boards, reach forward and lift it out.

I sit them in a soft gun bag as well, with the zip just cracked open, keeps the dust off them and you'd be amazed at the mud that flies off them chunky tyres and you don't want that flying over the end of your exposed barrel.

Both have TX3200 CB's on them, with 6db aerials.

But they save an enormous amount of time. For example, to get to our top corner from the house, it takes 45 minutes in the Cruiser. But on the quads, 20 minutes is all it takes, and never feels like a chore or like you are racing along at all whereas in the Tojo I've just about had enough 4wding for a week and hate it.

[JasonSelmes]

Hey Jason,

I own a Polaris 600 sportsman 2003 model. I picked it up about 4 or 5 years ago with about 200 hours on it for $7500 it had a few scatches as it was used for hunting also. Mechanically i have never had any major problems.

Performance wise they are awesome, the places i have taken it and the steep hills i have gone up you have to literally wipe your ass after it !!!

Plenty of power, doesnt use much petrol.

I found it was a little noisy so i adapted another small muffler after the factory muffler. No real reduction in power from it. Mine is the carby model so it takes a little while to run completly smooth on the cold start.

I have adapted a polaris gun boot off the rear right side and also a twin gun rack from the front.

It fits nice and snugg into a 7 X 4 trailer.

I have a mate that bought a brand new polaris 800 sportsman X2. That is a power house !!!

Hay man,

sounds aweomse I might look at the 800 then. I could be willing to go up to $10,000 but that would be a total limit.. is your one still kicking along strong?

[MR243]

My mate owns an X2 and he tows it with a 8 X 5 trailer, no way it would fit in my 7X4, my sportsman 600 just fits in my 7X4.

[MR243]

STRONG AS A BULL !!

[PaulOS]

I know the kids ones are relativly cheap but i want something decent that can get through the work and cover good ground aswell.

I am in no rush either Jason as long as its before xmas for us...

From memory the kids 90's are about 2.5 - 3K and whilst I can get a hold of the Chinese ones for about 900, from all accounts they are not worth the rubber they sit on. As I will have to get 3 of them eventually and they will be using them for some time to come I might as well just cry once....

My second choice fanster was the new BRP Can-am range, the yammy and honda's seemed to be a little behind the times I thought, but in saying this where we are every other atv is a Honda and there's alot to be said about that.

[badbudgie]

I like my Honda Foreman 400 , easy to maintain and goes where i want it to.

[penguin]

EDIT:

Forget about colours and camo models or any of that other crap making any difference to "stealth". The animals will hear you coming a km away and will be watching for you to show up, they'll easy put the noise to use to see your movement. It matters SFA, strictly for the must-have fashion conscious only.

If you want something a little different, that can carry from one to four adults and is as stealthy

and quiet as you can get, and wont spook game, try an electric hunting buggy. They are not as quick

as a quad, but some will do over 30kph and 60-70km on a single charge. With an electric motor

you dont need speed as you can drive silently up to your game. I have driven as close as 15mtrs up

to feeding pigs before they have looked up at me, 30-40mtrs is usualy the norm. Even when they have

looked up, they usualy just stand there looking at me for a few seconds before they move on. Some

have stayed still until a shot was fired.

They can be purchased in your price range, mine was less than half of what you are looking at spending

from Pickles auctions, and it was brand new.

Anyway best of luck with whatever you decide to buy.

Heres a couple of pics of mine.

[Jock]

Penguin,

Great alternative for Blokes chasing a Hunting Buggy.

[len]

I have a 2003 Polaris Sportsman 600 myself its a very capable machine in the scrub and on the beach

[JasonSelmes]

Started off as a hunting quad to get around wherever we went hunting, we'd take it out on a box trailer. They just fit into a 6x4 if you can take off the rear tailgate. An X2 would need a 7x4 min.

Nowadays, both are used to get somewhere and check out the things that you do around the place. So they never get washed really, and I always write on the oil filter the hrs from the display, I change it every 50. 5 litres of Mobil 1 does two quads with some left over.

Last time the creek flooded, we drove both in and washed them with a broom.

The fuel tanks aren't really up there, the filler is. The real fuel tank is a black poly item that sits further down to drop the CoG, and the air intake is up under the fake "tank". So they have a nice deep fording depth.

Binos work just the same off a quad as when on foot, a bino harness is a good idea so they don't flop about. But I only use the binos when checking stock, off the quads ferals are immediately noticeable because they are running flat out away from you. Movement is a dead giveaway.

As far as the rifles go, David gave me a Polaris Kolpin gun boot to try, and I gave it back, I hated the thing. You have to be a contortionist to get the gun out quickly, wheras with the rack on the front, you just stand up on the running boards, reach forward and lift it out.

I sit them in a soft gun bag as well, with the zip just cracked open, keeps the dust off them and you'd be amazed at the mud that flies off them chunky tyres and you don't want that flying over the end of your exposed barrel.

Both have TX3200 CB's on them, with 6db aerials.

But they save an enormous amount of time. For example, to get to our top corner from the house, it takes 45 minutes in the Cruiser. But on the quads, 20 minutes is all it takes, and never feels like a chore or like you are racing along at all whereas in the Tojo I've just about had enough 4wding for a week and hate it.

hay Fang thanks for a great write up. I like how you did the bars on the front to hold the guns in the case with easy access... very nice indeed mate. Did you make the stands? or did you buy then as pre made?... I am going to go through your thread to make sure...

These things let you cover alot of ground it seems. IS yours pretty loud? I mean if you spot game say some 2-400 metres away do they get spooked?

[JasonSelmes]

I am in no rush either Jason as long as its before xmas for us...

From memory the kids 90's are about 2.5 - 3K and whilst I can get a hold of the Chinese ones for about 900, from all accounts they are not worth the rubber they sit on. As I will have to get 3 of them eventually and they will be using them for some time to come I might as well just cry once....

My second choice fanster was the new BRP Can-am range, the yammy and honda's seemed to be a little behind the times I thought, but in saying this where we are every other atv is a Honda and there's alot to be said about that.

Agreed Paul.. the $900 ones are bad. A mate had one and it died after 8 months and rusted a fair bit... i guess you pay for what you get huh? Let me know how you go and post up some pics when you get em.

[JasonSelmes]

If you want something a little different, that can carry from one to four adults and is as stealthy

and quiet as you can get, and wont spook game, try an electric hunting buggy. They are not as quick

as a quad, but some will do over 30kph and 60-70km on a single charge. With an electric motor

you dont need speed as you can drive silently up to your game. I have driven as close as 15mtrs up

to feeding pigs before they have looked up at me, 30-40mtrs is usualy the norm. Even when they have

looked up, they usualy just stand there looking at me for a few seconds before they move on. Some

have stayed still until a shot was fired.

They can be purchased in your price range, mine was less than half of what you are looking at spending

from Pickles auctions, and it was brand new.

Anyway best of luck with whatever you decide to buy.

Heres a couple of pics of mine.

Great idea Penguin... never even thought about that at all. hmmm now you guys are confusing me lol