What happened to ATV's, big and heavy these days!!

[BIGREDFREAKE250]

i rode my 250es bigred alot more then my 4x4.you could throw the honda around and have more fun.im dieing for a 350x.


i run the 4x4 some but not as much as i did the honda.its just to heavy.i also have a sunl 200cc sports atv i run around.

[Thorpe]

Well, let me be the odd guy out here, but ever since I destroyed my ankle, I have found a new appreciation for my big comfy wheelchair (Can Am Outlander) and 100+ mile rides are way less abusive to the body then 50-60 mile rides were on the BR or 350x... Dang, I am getting old!

[6speedthumper]

Lets not forget the "K" turns a lot big quads need to make. You can whip a trike, or sport quad for the matter, around a hair pin turn on a mountain side. Try doing that on one of those 800+ pound 4x4's! Just the aggravation of stop, throw it in reverse, turn the bars and back up, stop, throw into forward, turn the bars and complete turn, would annoy the heck out of me.

[The Goat]

...while I have sold my 800 sportsman, and am back to trikes, I can't help but laugh.

Put 200 miles in a day on any trike and youll be hurting. I did a few rides that long on my sportsman riding two up toting an icechest full of water...got off comfy. Not to mention the power is unreal.

For mud, give me a 300 honda on light 30s. For trail riding...Ill take my zuke these days. AC and no briars tearing me up.

[tri again]

im in agreeance with ghost, if you want a atv thats the size of a jeep and cost as much might as well just buy a truck, can do alot more with a truck, carry far more cargo and most of all drive it on the street, i just have no idea why a offroad only atv could cost 10k, ridiculous..

I wouldn't mind a subaru brat.
4wd and a HEATER and street legal. with a 90 or 2 in the back.

[ps2fixer]

I grew up on a 1999 Yamaha 350, fairly fast but nothing like a 350x trike. My first trike was a 84 200es big red, i'm a speed demon, however, I found myself riding the atc way more, actually.... i rode it so much more that the warrior needs the carb cleaned from sitting so long, been sitting probably 8 years now, and my dad bought it new ^.^.

I can even compare the different probs with them,

Warrior:
rear end bearings, several chains/sprockets (it was mud bogged quite a lot), swing arm bearings, brakes x2 and still has no brakes, engine noises in the top end, smokes a little, hard starting, even when new, starter rebuilt twice. 1 set of tires.

200es big red:
1 set of tires (it came with oem tires with good tread, just dry rotted and leaked), smokes a little (i beat the snot out of it since I do like speed, and I worked it 10x or more than it was rated for). High and low range is the best!

I used both machines a ton, each for about 10 years total now, both sit, but I know I can go to the 200es, drain the carb, put fresh gas in it, and it will still fire up, infact I did that about a month ago!

My dad owns a side by side, 680cc by honda (big red), it does ok, goes though some mud, but really nothing special in my book, he should have just bought a cheap small truck and a good set of tractor tires for it like I did... 1986 Toyota pickup with 30 inch trator tires. End result, both machines are about the same, except my is actually sealed with a heater, windshield wipers, and if I really wanted to, I could put DOT approved tires on it and drive it on the road. I'm not so sure if the honda would be able to hit the 270k miles the pickup has, that engine sounds like it is working so hard just to move, and the top speed of 40mph isn't anything special. Oh... I have $1000 total invested in my pickup.. my dad has $12k in the big red.

Ok.. my rant is over.

[6speedthumper]

I grew up on a 1999 Yamaha 350, fairly fast but nothing like a 350x trike. My first trike was a 84 200es big red, i'm a speed demon, however, I found myself riding the atc way more, actually.... i rode it so much more that the warrior needs the carb cleaned from sitting so long, been sitting probably 8 years now, and my dad bought it new ^.^.

I can even compare the different probs with them,

Warrior:
rear end bearings, several chains/sprockets (it was mud bogged quite a lot), swing arm bearings, brakes x2 and still has no brakes, engine noises in the top end, smokes a little, hard starting, even when new, starter rebuilt twice. 1 set of tires.

200es big red:
1 set of tires (it came with oem tires with good tread, just dry rotted and leaked), smokes a little (i beat the snot out of it since I do like speed, and I worked it 10x or more than it was rated for). High and low range is the best!

I used both machines a ton, each for about 10 years total now, both sit, but I know I can go to the 200es, drain the carb, put fresh gas in it, and it will still fire up, infact I did that about a month ago!

My dad owns a side by side, 680cc by honda (big red), it does ok, goes though some mud, but really nothing special in my book, he should have just bought a cheap small truck and a good set of tractor tires for it like I did... 1986 Toyota pickup with 30 inch trator tires. End result, both machines are about the same, except my is actually sealed with a heater, windshield wipers, and if I really wanted to, I could put DOT approved tires on it and drive it on the road. I'm not so sure if the honda would be able to hit the 270k miles the pickup has, that engine sounds like it is working so hard just to move, and the top speed of 40mph isn't anything special. Oh... I have $1000 total invested in my pickup.. my dad has $12k in the big red.

Ok.. my rant is over.

Ah, I see I'm not the only one with a Warrior that is sitting due to a 3 wheeler! I completely rebuilt my 88 Warrior over a year and a half ago. Built my own +2 arms, WORKS front shocks, Banshee rear shock, +4 axle, +3 swinger, and a bunch of go fast parts. Rides like a Cadillac, and I'm never sore after riding it, and I ride 200+ hard miles out a Hatfield. Since I got my 350X together back in May, I think I've started the Warrior about 6 times! I love my 350X. Just need to do something about that rear shock :/

[ps2fixer]

Nice to have something in common with a member here lol, I have an 87 warrior sitting as well that I bought dirt cheap, I'm planning to throw a 350cc 1974 Kawasaki bighorn engine on it though, 2 stroke + rotary valve should be very interesting if/when I finish it, but first I have to finish the twin 500cc blaster mud machine... too many projects lol. Can't beat a 350x though, I own 2 complete bikes and have a spare engine that I might pop in a 87 250x sports quad frame to give it a shot.

Throw the warrior on craigslist, you won't ever miss it... you have a 350x, then use that money to buy a 2nd 350x .

[phantombiker]

mickey dunlap sent me a couple posters of him standing next to what he called "mudzilla". huge as he!! and, if i remember right, very costly, but impressive nonetheless. killer pic but you need to have $ to make one...did i mention he signed it? and a ball cap...my prize possessions...but, an awesome looking 4 wheeler. i still prefer trikes, though.

[Ol Deuce]

I want a clutch
I want a manual shifter
I want to be able to lock my brakes up without a computer second guessing my decisions
I want a peaky engine with a narrow power band
I want a vehicle that I can lift out of a mud hole without calling AAA for a tow. I want to smell and hear my exhaust
I want to be able to fix what I brake and not just replace it
I want to HAVE to stand up and speed pray when I realize I'm about to hit a big rock, or log

Not because any of this is "better", than what some of these new behemoths offer, but because I want to DRIVE my vehicles, not ride them as some mysterious black box makes all the decisions for me. All that's missing on some of these beasts is a "BigBrotherMobile"decal.

Hahaha you can have it all ! that's the cool part of what we have!!! I love what I got ! I want MORE! BUTTTTTTTTT I have NO More ROOM

[Crazyktmmatt]

i like about anything with wheels. Not sold on the monster quads...

My bil just got a Can Am outlander xt. Thing is HUGE. I dunno if it will do trails? I took him out and some over grown roads. He stood no chance against the atc 70.... Even the wifes lil LT125 does better.

I bought a BR a couple months ago - its been kinda a lemon far as electronic issues so far. It runs now atleast. Im not sold on it either. Reverse is kinda nice tho. It will probally go away for a 200x I'm thinking.

Wouldn't mind having a Warrior or a Wolverine. I do really like the Big Bear, but the '03 kodiak my dad has is really nice to do stuff with. The front locker kinda spoils ya.

[thcowboy]

Yeah its wierd going from a three wheeler to even 400 polaris fourwheelers. They are smooth... Have some power... Umm but i would rather ride my 200cc semi auto big red even though it has no suspension

[hawaiirider]

I wouldn't mind a subaru brat.
4wd and a HEATER and street legal. with a 90 or 2 in the back.

i own and still daily drive my brat, you dont see many because people destroyed them by offroading them. i use it offroad only as a rescue rig - if somebody breaks down - these days, since it has over 300000 miles, i dont want to kill it off. pretty sure its the same size and weight as a new 4x4 these days tho!! lol. i still agree if you want something the size as a new 4x4 buy a jeep, a geo tracker or a samurai, there street legal seat 4 people are the same size, cost far less too.

[Dirtweed]

When I bought a quad last summer I thought it would be good to get a Rancher 420 4x4, but it was just soooooo darned big. Ended up with a TRX450R. Much more
fun to ride and toss around than the 4X4. Those 4x4s just feel like you're sitting on top of a tank.

[Husky250]

Well nobody wants to hear my opinion but I will give it anyway. I was a Husky guy in the 80's and we absolutely HATED 3 wheelers! They turned beautiful NE Ohio singletrack into veritable freeways rutted out beyond belief. They completely decimated mud holes making them almost impassable. Well I have come around to appreciating those same 3 wheelers. I still have a couple 2 wheeled Huskys in the garage though. Todays oversized quads and Side by Sides are absolutely ruining any terrain they run across. They are a large reason why we are losing more and more riding area daily. The damage they can cause to an area combined with the insane amount of noise a modern 4 stroke can make when you are trying to milk more power out of it is simply unreal. We have an area we ride about 300 yards from our back yard. My son and I have been riding there for years, me on my Huskys and him on his raptor 125. Some moron on a quad has since found it and has made sections of it literally impossible for my son's raptor to navigate the area. I can't believe this is necessary! The original trail was 24" wide and is now literally 25 feet wide over and through any tree that dared grow in the path of the rider. 30 days ago the owner put up a gate to keep all users out. Thanks bonehead, but they don't care, they have moved on to another spot to close that down. That area is connected to the Indian Trails park Here along the Ashtabula River. Illegal riding on quads as big as trucks have destroyed entire trail systems for anyone but themselves. I race bicycles and triathlons, in additions to motos and the severity of the damage keeps me from even trying to go into the area on my bicycle. We actually bought our house because of the proximity to this area and now these quads have made it so I can't ride there. They are our worst enemy, not the legislation, not the land owners. We are reaping what they have sewed and the owners of these things are either too stupid to know what they have done or just care about no one but themselves. Either way it's a damned shame!