whats your opinion on predators?

[dartgt471]

I'm considering buying a new qaud.....I'm looking for the best bang for the buck and reliablity.

I noticed Predators can be bought for about 5300. how fast are they?

400ex for the same or less..I was told they are slow

KFZ400 for a little more

Yamaha's and 450r seem to be a bit more pricey.

[yater]

If you want bang for your buck and reliability, polaris is NOT the way to go. I would suggest something japanese. All of the new jap bikes seem to be right up there. From there it's just your preference. The predator (like all polarises) are heavy compared to their competition.

[Bumb]

I think that polaris quads are great. Every one that i have been on was great. If its any think like where i live they will let u ride it befor u buy them. I would try to test drive it and if u like it get it.

[yater]

Bumb--you said it--"every one that I've been on" -- if you haven't owned one or been responsible for it's maintanence, then you don't know jack about it's reliability. I'm here to spread the word. POLARIS RELIABILITY SUCKS!! Partially because of shitty engineering/partially because they try to save a buck here and there on the assembly line.

[Bumb]

People i know dont have any probloms with them. I think their great never herd of any probloms.

[yater]

I'm trying to give an informed opinion. I KNOW they have reliability problems--I've dealt with them first hand. Maybe if the word gets out, they'll think about fixing these issues. Who's gonna admit they bought a $6000+ piece of trailprotrailprotrailprotrailpro? That's why I'm here.

[smokinwrench]

I own an older Polaris 350L and think its a damn good machine. A friend of mine has all Polaris 02 scrambler 500, 02sportsman 500, 03 Preditor. He has them because of reliability. He bought a new honda something a couple years ago and had nothing but problems. I say you can get a lemon with any brand.

Back to the original question

He loves his preditor and thinks its the best machine you can buy and trust me $$ isn't an issue. I on the other hand have ridden it some and it is not built for me. It does have great power and nice handling but the handle bars and seat our out of wack for my riding style or something.

Go ride one and see what you think. Let us know

[Wickedfinger]

Bumb--you said it--"every one that I've been on" -- if you haven't owned one or been responsible for it's maintanence, then you don't know jack about it's reliability. I'm here to spread the word. POLARIS RELIABILITY SUCKS!! Partially because of shitty engineering/partially because they try to save a buck here and there on the assembly line.

I take exception to that statement that sounds as if it was spoken by someone who has read too many "Honda is the greatest thing in the world" Dirtwheels articles and I'm willing to bet probably has 0 ride time on one .... I have been defending the Polaris name for years now from this "Reliablility" scourge that is completely unfounded. Every manufacturer has its lemmons, its going to happen with any mass produced "machine" and Polaris dosent have anymore than the next guy. Personally, I'd have to say this issue is really due to the fact that when they first came out, they were so different than the next guys ATV, that they drew this unfair scepticism because of it. Also, at the time, they were a small snowmobile manufacturer and didn't have even close to the vast resources and infinite engineering pedigrees that say Honda had. Alot has changed since 1985 when they first came out, mostly due to following the example set by Honda. As far as engineering goes and just to show how close the original 250cc A/C 2 stroke engine and now 400 series really is to Hondas 250R motor - they actually share the same reeds and the reed block is only different by the bolt pattern!. In the 8 years total I've owned Polaris Quads (my '96 Sport 400L from late '95 until late 2001 and my '00 Scrammy for 6 months now) I'd have to say they are as reliable, if not more reliable than any of the other 23 quads, trikes and bikes I've ever owned. The '96 Sport 400 was ridden nearly every sunday for 5 of the years and it only left me stranded on the trail once - due to a blowtorched piston that was COMPLETELY my own fault because I took the air snorkle off but didn't rejet. In those 6 years the only things that had to be replaced on it were the tie rod ends, the brake reservoir rebuilt and the topend rebuild - which I only had to do once and is pretty good for a high hour pinger. Never any tranny problems, motor problems, bearing problems (although when I sold it it was probably time for the rears to be changed), waterpump issues, Oil injection pump issues, or electrical issues, including the starter (which I will admit is a weak link on some models) .... never, none. By contrast, my '84 ATC200S which I had for 9 years (from 1989 until 1998) , and can be considered by some as one of the most reliable ATV's ever made, needed the hub bearings replaced three times and the front wheel bearings replaced once, The stearing head bearings went twice, the brakes rebuilt twice, the forks rebuilt 3 times with two having to be replaced in what can be decribed as "minor" accidents, the frame had stress cracks that were rewelded, the motor was totally rebuilt once and top end rebuilt twice, the stator fried on me, the carb was a nightmare from day one and I ended up replacing it with another one that was almost as bad, the crappy "pull starter" design was engeneered by a sick twist of a man at Honda and is world famous for breaking 10 miles from the truck, Gas tank rusted out on me, had to replace the CDI unit once and the coil twice, and the compression release NEVER worked and I had to remove the cable, which (I had no idea this was bad)allowed the cam arm to ride on the cam tab, which caused the cam bearings to fail and wasted the valves (Another poor Honda design).

Some facts about the Predator that I do know from some limited saddle time is that they are a great open class quad. Good in the woods (no reverse sucks though) They are very quick once you get used to the power delivery and are both quicker and faster than a Raptor. Their low to mid speed steering and turning is phenominal and can't be touched by anything out there. They are only 20 dry pounds heavier than the Raptor, but are almost 70lbs lighter than a DS650. Hope this helps.

[jacob]

Polaris is nothing but a pile of crap .Eever one I have ever had has broke down on me. I was always replacing or fixing something. If you do any muddin the dam 45 doller belts always break .And then they get stretched out and slip like hell then you have no more aceleration (you didnt have much to start with). All I can say is from my experiences and many of my friends, a polaris is worth nothing but the stick of dynamite it would take to blow it up. (Polaris is a pile of sshhiitt)

[TimSr]

The Predator is SO different than any other Polaris, that Polaris generalizations dont even apply to the original question which was specifically about the Predator.

I have not owned one or even ridden one, but compete with a lot of them in both MX and HS, and , of course, I talk with the owners. First off, they are extremely competitive in both types of racing. In MX, the Predators outperform the 400/440EX's by far, and they also seem to have an edge over the Z400's. The new YFZ450's jump and corner a little better, but nothing noticeable over the Predators on the holeshot. You rarely see a Raptor on the MX track for a reason. The HS guys love them for cross country as well. One guy switched from a Raptor to the Predator. He said the Raptor had a lot more grunt, but he liked the gearing better on the predator, as well as the handling (keeping in mind this is trail handling, not jumping and cornering). He said the Predator delivered better top end than his Raptor. He just bought another one for his wife. You do see plenty of Raptors running HS.

I have not yet found a disatisfied Predator owner who had any issues with reliability, but this is probably a sample of less than a dozen. Based on this, I wouldnt hesitate to buy one if it suited my personal tastes. Im not a major fan of belt drive models, and most guys dont know beans about working on them, but the Predator is a whole new breed of Polaris.

[Wickedfinger]

Polaris is nothing but a pile of crap .Eever one I have ever had has broke down on me. I was always replacing or fixing something. If you do any muddin the dam 45 doller belts always break .And then they get stretched out and slip like hell then you have no more aceleration (you didnt have much to start with). All I can say is from my experiences and many of my friends, a polaris is worth nothing but the stick of dynamite it would take to blow it up. (Polaris is a pile of sshhiitt)

Spoken like a true gentleman, a grammatical asset to our atving community.

[cmracer15]

I would have to say i do not care for the "polairs " brand too much. The belt issue also has givin me and friends problems. Maybe beause we ride them hard but we also ride honda's suzuki's and yamaha's hard. And dont have the stupid problems we did with a polaris. I was a little weary on the predetor because of polaris having one of their first actual Gear Drivin tranny's. I rode my friends the other day and was seriously impressed on its power. The thing will lift the wheels in 4th gear so easy its not funny , I weigh about 145 pounds and it had all the power i could ask for. Take a corner in 3rd gear and floor it and the dam thing will throw side ways on you. THe power is crazy. Suspension i liked also...very nice riding macine. As far as reliability goes...he hasnt't had any problems ...hes had it for almost 4 month's and we ride it as hard as we can. Shift on the rev limiter alsmot every time..lol. I think polaris Caught on to the Sport type quads and reliazed that a goofy AUTO belt POS Like the Scrambler just wont quite Do it compared to the z400's and yfz 450's. Or the 650's. I was impressed from polairs...a very...VERY quick quad but i wouldnt buy one at the moment..i would wait another year or so and se how they do after a couple years....as far as the reliabilty issure goes...Just my .02 :)

[TRI-Zbrian]

a friend of min just got an 04 and my tri-z kicks its ass in the sand pits big time... the predater has a higher top speed but my tri z kicks its ass untill its maxed out speed wize.

[bigred110]

I heard that polaris suppose to be coming out with a sport quad line up next year. I heard that they might have a 450?
It's suppse going to be from 250cc quad to 700cc quad, I would kinda wait until the 05 comes out.

[dogger]

i personaly have been impressed by the predator. if I were to buy a open class quad right now that would be it. I've ridn' several including one that a local shop built for there race team. they preform alsome and realy handle second to none on trail's. as for realablity as accorfing to yater I don't own one so I guess I can't say . which bring's me to my question for yater do you owe a predator or do you like to trash just the brand because you feel they can't build one good bike?also the motor is fuju and there is no belt drive set up on it so it seem's that polaris has adrressed at least some of it's issues.

[yater]

After owning 1 polaris, I can't say enough BAD things about them. (no it wasn't a predator) Since I'll never get my money back, I'll BASH the brand until the day I die. I've paid my dues and I can give an informed opinion about the brand, their engineering, and how they take care of their customers--they SUCK!! Yeah, I'm bashing Polaris--so what??!!

[jacob]

I agree with yater polaris is nothing but a pile crap. I will also bash on them till the day i die.

[REDMAN225]

i love my polaris scrambler. the engines are built by fugi motors. the predator is a great quad and some early model kinks appear to be worked out. just my 2 cents

[Wickedfinger]

I agree with yater polaris is nothing but a pile crap. I will also bash on them till the day i die.

Ok, just be ready to get piled on yourself then, I don't give up. By the way, what are you driving around on?.

[Wickedfinger]

After owning 1 polaris, I can't say enough BAD things about them. (no it wasn't a predator) Since I'll never get my money back, I'll BASH the brand until the day I die. I've paid my dues and I can give an informed opinion about the brand, their engineering, and how they take care of their customers--they SUCK!! Yeah, I'm bashing Polaris--so what??!!

...hmmm, take all 4 of your machines to the dyno, add up the figures, and you still wouldn't have the horsepower of my pile pf crap, under engineered piece of garbage Scrammy. Next lets race ...........

[jacob]

well i got my 111 john deere lawn tractor it will take me anywhere a polaris will and maybe even more places.

[yater]

Take all four of the above mentioned machines, add up the cost, and they won't come close to your pile of crap, under engineered, piece of garbage, scrambler.
We'll race when your scrambler is 20 years old LOL--

Truth is, I don't care what you ride. I'll ride with anyone on anything (almost). I just feel it's my duty to warn others about my past experience with polaris. You can do the same--end the end it's up to them.

[C W.]

it seems to have some quality componets on it but it is ugly as hell.

[HemiChallenger71]

I've ridden and do ride ocassionally a Polaris 400 2-stroke 4X4, and a 500 4X4. The 400's starter went out, and the brakes went out too, but the thing still manages to run on the original spark plug, about 4 years old. The 500's belt went on me while I was riding it once, and the starter went on that machine as well at one point. I personally think Polarises are fairly comparable reliability wise to any other manufacture. I think what people need to understand is if you take care of your stuff from the start, it usually lasts very very long no matter what it is unless it is a lemon. All the people that I know that own polarises do ZERO matinence on them and they still run pretty decent.

[REDMAN225]

alot of people think its ugly. personally i think its sweet lookng. some people think the new 450r is ugly too. i like that also.

[Groundworx]

I haven't ridden one. I have read up on them a lot. I haven't heard of any problems or even many complaints. You can't really compare the other Polaris machines to the Predator. They are totally different. If it were me, I wouldn't go by one now. This is a brand new machine. I would give it at least 2 years, mabey more for it to prove itself before I dropped that kind of cash on one. I had a 02 400EX and a 02 Raptor Limited. I loved both bikes, but I wouldn't buy another new one. I now have a 86 TRX250R with a 89 motor. I love it and I would take it over most any new bike out right now. I am a die hard 2-stroke fan though. Just my opinion, but I would talk to people who actually own the Predator and who have owned them for a while before I made a decision to buy a new one. That is a lot of money to spend and then not be happy.