Looking 4 a new quad any suggestions?

Hi all, I'm not looking to start a forum war here

Anywho, I'd like some input from you guys on the various types of ATV's and which would you think would be the best quad for me and where I live/ride.

First off, I live on the side of a mountain so all of my riding is hill climbs, creek cross and mud. Now the mountain I live on has a lot of shale and other types of rocks, the ground is pretty soft from a lot of dead root mass.

With all the loose rock I do tend to use my brakes more than the average Joe coming back down the mountain. I have a Kawasaki Lakota and it eats breaks like their slices of pizza.

Speaking of which I was looking at a kawi brute force 660 and that model has a sealed oil break, does anyone have any experience with that type of break?

Secondly, all my friends that I ride with have 400's or better so I'll need a quad that will keep up with them are there any 4x4's that are pretty fast off the line or are they all pretty sluggish?

Third, I like riding my roomates TRX. It's a great bike , super easy to pull wheelies and does pretty good at jumps she also does great on the terrain up here, she'll go just about anywhere that my friends KingQuad will go except for the real heavy muck.

I'm really leaning on getting a 4x4 because it would just be more beneficial. I have a 1/4 mile dirt driveway and a 4x4 would be great when it snows to plow that white mess out, not to mention scraping the road when it gets washed out.

I would really like to be able to play like I can on the TRX, I seen some videos on youtube where they were riding wheelies on their 4x4's sitting down right from the start but I cant remember which ones can do it might have been a Grizzly. And how about jumping on a 4x4? Can that be done safely without breaking the suspension up, or the driveshaft?

I do know the one brand I really do not want to buy is a Polaris, several dealers in my area agree that Polaris is a huge money pit and spends more time in the shop than any other bike, I have enough of that with the Lakota :)

I'm also a little hesitant on buying Suzuki, I've had several Motorcycles and dirt bikes in the past by Suzuki and had nothing but issues. even my friends newish kingquad acts like it don't want to start 1/2 the time, take 15+ cranks to start it when cold and stalls out often been like that right from the dealer.

Another feature I would love to have is a snorkel which comes stock on Arctic Cats, are there any other brands that do that? I like the looks of the Cat but they look like their plastics are not very sturdy, with banging into trees around here I would like something pretty stable.

Anyone have any thoughts on what would be a good purchase for me and why?

Thank you
Jeff

Can Am has some of the fastest 4x4 quads around. Well into the 70mph range. The Grizzly is a solid machine too. I like sport quads so I would prefer a 450 but that is just me.

The Grizzly sounds like it would be a great fit for you, Jeff!!

Come to think of it, all my musical instruments are all Yamaha and they've never let me down, I could get a ride to match the tunes lol.


I've not heard much about the can-am's other than seeing pictures of them, are they a reliable machine?

Can Am is an expensive machine. I have heard of a lot of electrical issues with their sport machines but their 4x4 machines I have heard nothing but good things...

Sorry that was me, I was logged in as "Drtygrl"

yea i would have to agree DrtyGrl the grizzly sounds like a good match for you....or even the arctic cat 700 would be just as good..both machines would surpass what your looking for...ONLY thing i would not recommend is really jumping the atv suspension issue won't arise, but breaking axle shafts and messing up the differentials will eventually be an issue (very costly one)

The Can-Am Renegades are the best comprimise for someone who wants sporty performance and 4wd. But, they are expensive like mentioned earlier. I really think it would be the best thing for you considering what you are looking for, and the 500 will keep up with most of your friends bikes and the 800 will eat most of them up. Polaris also makes a sportier 4wd machine, but you mentioned that you aren't really interested in purchasing a Polaris. The Yamaha Wolverines are also a sport oriented 4wd, but they are a bit underpowered. The Polaris or Yamaha will be much less expensive, but if you have the budget for it, you won't likely be dissapointed with the Can-Am. If I ever bought a 4wd quad, it would definately be the Renegade 800.

Thanks guys on your opinions, I am liking the Can-am, been watching youtube and they do look sweet whereas the Grizzly looks like it's pretty husky though Yamaha has a good name I have a lot of tight areas to ride in.
I'll have to go test ride them to make a final decision, though I really love the idea of a sport 4x4 best of both worlds. The Can-am dealer is about 20 miles from me which is also the same dealer that I get some of my Kawi parts from Where the Yamaha shop is about 10 miles from me I think it would make more sense to stick to one shop :)