jaysun

Then again, what do I know. I've literally only driven utility 400s with non-clutch manual shift...ever.

I hope you're right. She's given me a lot of sh** since I started looking for bikes about not getting autos. I just find it so hard to believe that a 700 (even auto) doesn't easily get away from an inexperienced driver. That's a lot of power.

I just really hate auto. I feel like I don't have enough control. Do you think my girl can easily handle this bike? If so, I'll just leave the auto to her and I'll get the sport bike I want. (of course, you can't answer whether or not my girl can handle the bike. I'm just saying, overall, is it an easier bike to handle, even with 700 CCs?)

I contacted the person with the 700 and convinced them to hold it for me until I can pick it up on Monday or Tuesday. Not only did I have people in this thread suggest it, but a friend of a friend also suggested it, so it's worth a shot. I don't like automatics but it'll certainly come in handy for riders that don't know how to operate manual. If I ride it and like it, I'll scoop it up, but I'm not really sure where that leaves me. It seems to kinda ride the middle ground between sport and utility. I guess I'll give it a ride and see which way I wanna lean for the 2nd ATV.

Thanks. So that's two votes for the Kodiak. I appreciate the input. I also have to plan for the the Kodiak no longer being available, though. What would your 2nd choice be?

Precisely the type of input I'm looking for. Do you think the 700 is too much for someone new to the game? I'm basing this question solely on engine size. I'm not sure how that 700 is distributed or how it handles. It just seems like a lot of power. Have you ever ridden one?

Also, I have no idea what year that Rancher is, and the axles and front racks are rusted, which leads me to believe this thing may have been stored outdoors. Any idea what year that thing is?

First off, are you saying that the 420 is the only 4wd of the bunch and that some of them are auto? I didn't realize I had chosen any automatics. I definitely do not want auto unless it's some sort of incredible deal that I can't pass up. Secondly, I suppose I haven't made my lack of knowledge clear enough. I don't understand most of what you said. FI, IRS, 3 speed transfer case, Hi lo superlo mean nothing to me. I'm the type of person that generally uses forums to get input on large purchases like this and take the advice of the hive-mind at face value to make my decision, learning to use the equipment after the fact. I did the same thing with photography, which I have many thousands of dollars invested in. It's just the way I work. That being said, I suppose what I'm looking for is this... if you had to choose one of those utility quads and one of those sport quads (and had to keep it under $7k), which ones would you choose, and why? I understand that it's asking a lot for people to look at all those bikes and evaluate them, but I don't have any other options. I don't know anyone that knows anything about ATVs. I figured posing these questions to a site full of quad enthusiasts would be better than just jumping in completely blind. Some of those bikes have almost no use and it's effing hard to try and figure if it's worth getting an older bike with a few hours or a newer bike with hundreds of hours. Keep in mind that I know nothing about repair or maintenance. I'll have to use a shop for that. Also keep in mind my lack of experience. I want to learn to ride sport but I've never even put my as* on one and I've never driven clutch. I greatly appreciate the feedback. Thanks for taking time to review my mess of a post.

Both the GF and I grew up on UTVs. Manual, no clutch. I think that's why she wants a utility quad. I wanna spread my wings a bit, though, and learn something new. When I was 10 years old, I used to push 400s as fast as they'd go and whip around turns. Since I was teenager, I haven't really ridden at all, but I don't want to start where I left off as a child. I wanna step it up and get something with some balls. Admittedly, I'm pretty intimidated by it, though, but I don't have the luxury of being weened into it. When I choose my sport bike, I'll have to go pick it up and I'll have to test drive it even though I've never driven clutch and never driven anything with a 0-60 anywhere near what these sport bikes can do. I'm just gonna have to wing it.

Apparently, utility quads are tough to find around these parts. After spending most of my day searching, this is all I could come up with... http://www.quadcrazy.com/atvforum/general-atv-discussion/12326-i-seriously-need-help-choosing-some-quads.html#post77627 Five. Five decent utility quads.

My budget is only $7k for 2 quads

I think that's where I'm going with it. I'm only comfortable on a utility quad but I wanna learn to ride sport. If you're willing to waste an hour researching for me, I created this thread... http://www.quadcrazy.com/atvforum/general-atv-discussion/12326-i-seriously-need-help-choosing-some-quads.html#post77627

I joined this site today because I'm in need of some help from people that know what they're talking about. I posted a thread earlier with some basic questions... http://www.quadcrazy.com/atvforum/new-members-area/12324-new-rider-looking-some-purchasing-advice.html ... but only received one reply, telling me to appease my GF and buy two utility quads. Since then, I spent pretty much my entire day (while I should have been working) researching ATVs in my area and I understand that this post is going to be extremely long, but I would GREATLY appreciate some feedback on these bikes. I'm going into this blind and it would be awesome to get suggestions on what to buy and/or what to look out for or stay away from. I simply found things in my price range that seemed to be in good condition and slowly whittled them down to the following few. It should be noted (if you didn't follow that link) that I'm looking for one utility quad (preferably manual) and one sport quad (preferably one that won't kill me), but I'm not completely opposed to two utility quads. My max is $7k total but it would be a beautiful thing if I could keep it closer to $5k. Here are the utility quads I found: 2005 Honda 500 2wd - $3,500 Atv honda 500 2005 Kodiak 400 with snorkel (pictures are horrible) - $3,100 2005 kodiak 400 2005 Honda Rincon (is that a 650?) - $2,900 This one is a little suspect. No contact info and I live in Florida. It's odd that there would be a snowplow on it. 2005 Honda rincon 4x4 Honda Rancher 420ES (no year provided) - $2,700 Honda Rancher 420ES Fuel Injected And here are the sport quads I've narrowed it down to: 2008 Yamaha Wolverine for $1,500 (seems too good to be true) 2008 yamaha 350 wolverine 2005 KFX 400 - $2,300 2005 kfx400 2004 Suzuki LTZ 400 - $2,000 ATV 2004 YAMAHA YFZ 450 - $2,500 04 YAMAHA YFZ 450 KFX 700 (not sure of the year and might be too much bike for me) - $2,500 KFX 700 (ATV) 2500 OBO 2006 YFZ 450 (supposedly $3k in upgrades and less than 3 hours on it) - $2,500. Listing says $3,500 but I've talked to him and he'll do $2,500. BRAND NEW 2006 YFZ 450 WITH 3K IN UPGRADES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2007 Raptor 350. This thing looks cherry. Less than 40 hours. - $2,600 2007 YAMAHA RAPTOR SPECIAL EDTION 1007 KFX 450 with a bunch of upgrades. Again, a cherry looking bike - $4,200 2008 Kawasaki KFX450r - SUPER CLEAN!! Again, I know it's a lot to go through, and after my first post fell flat, I don't really expect much feedback, but I appreciate anything I can get. Thank you.

Oh, I also have another question. Do all (or most) sport ATVs have a clutch? The ATVs I used when I was a kid were manual but they had no clutch.

Hey all! I grew up riding friends' ATVs from about 9 to 14 years old. Since then, I've only gotten to ride 2 or 3 times (I'm 32 now), so I'm very much out of the loop. A friend of mine just started dating a girl with an ATV and just talking about riding gave me the itch so bad that I'm about to buy a couple for myself and I could really use some help. The ATVs I grew up riding were 400cc Honda 4x4 utility quads and I've never so much as sat on a racing bike but, looking at my selection on Craigslist, I'm finding a ton of sexy, seemingly well priced race bikes. My girlfiend, on the other hand, is dead set on utility ATVs. I may compromise and get one of each. I'm a bit worried about stepping into race ATV territory, though, for a couple reasons. First, I'm finding that several people are selling theirs because they're "too fast". I'm all for some speed but I don't wanna kill myself and I don't wanna be intimidated by the bike. When I was a kid, we'd throttle those Honda 400s all the way down the trails, hitting about 50mph, but these 450 race bikes are topping out closer to 70 or so, not to mention I'm sure they have a lot more get up & go in the low gears. Secondly, I'm worried about the ability of race bikes to handle mud. I live in Florida and I'll primarily just be riding dirt trails but rain and mud are inevitable. I see a lot of the race bike sellers saying things like "never been in mud". Is mud that damaging to these types of ATVs? I'm sure I'll have more questions. I'm spending all day today just perusing Craigslist and narrowing down my choices. I appreciate any help you guys can offer. Thanks!