ATV advice

[Oaktree]

Whatever you do, don't buy a Can-Am ATV.

After 35 years of riding Honda, Suzuki, Polaris, and Arctic Cat I bought a brand new Can-Am Outlander 570 last year. It's been the worst piece of **** I've ever spent money on. I work on it more than we ride it. 13 months old now, 800ish miles on it, and I think it might be to the point where I can use it this summer without fixing something else. What a piece of trash.

The plastics have gone brittle and literally fell apart in some areas, it overheated constantly so I had to install a radiator relocation kit, servicing it is a nightmare, brakes literally fell apart and the pads and calipers were destroyed, front diff whines like a couple of cats fighting, front diff drain screw is installed from the factory at an angle so it got stripped upon first service, I can't even remember all the issues. And this is in the first 12 months. Pathetic.

Man, either you got a lemon or you're really rough on it. My 2012 Outlander has stood up well for me. Had to replace a rear half-shaft and bearing seal, but that's it. It was that way when I got it, I think the PO used it hard.

Only complaints are the throttle is a bit hard to modulate, but that seems to be the case on most of the ATVs I've ridden regardless of make. Battery's a little tough to get at...cables could stand to be a bit longer and the + terminal is only a half inch or so from the (aluminum) mounting shelf, - terminal is inaccessible with battery installed. Not sure who thought that was a good idea.

 

[deserteagle71]

Only complaints are the throttle is a bit hard to modulate, but that seems to be the case on most of the ATVs I've ridden regardless of make.

I thoroughly detested the thumb throttle on my Yamaha Kodiak when I first bought it for the same reason. Installed a twist-throttle conversion made by Motion Pro - works same as a motorcycle throttle - and have loved it for 17 years and 9000 miles now.

 

[Grumpycat]

I thoroughly detested the thumb throttle on my Yamaha Kodiak when I first bought it for the same reason. Installed a twist-throttle conversion made by Motion Pro - works same as a motorcycle throttle - and have loved it for 17 years and 9000 miles now.

The darndest thing is my business partner in a Beta dealership is an A rider and uses a thumb throttle and LHRB (Left Hand Rear Brake). Racing.

 

[arto98607]

The darndest thing is my business partner in a Beta dealership is an A rider and uses a thumb throttle and LHRB (Left Hand Rear Brake). Racing.

It should work fine for racing since all they want is to go as fast as possible, but users like me who for example need to back up ATV with a trailer full of firewood want to be able to better control partial throttle while steering in reverse gear.

It is a pain in the bu*t with thumb throttle "control".

 

[Grumpycat]

It should work fine for racing since all they want is to go as fast as possible, but users like me who for example need to back up ATV with a trailer full of firewood want to be able to better control partial throttle.

Ha ha ha. He races hare scrambles through trees on single-track where average speed might be 25 MPH. Very technical.

There is an art to matching twist or thumb controls to the throttle. Companies sell cam kits to change the rate of opening depending on position. Or to make the throttle move faster or slower.

 

[arto98607]

No racing here on my property - for us ATV is a for work.

 

[ArlyA]

All we do is work with our 85hp atv.

 

[RidgeHiker]

Got a 2022 Kawasaki Mule Pro MX this year and set it up for snow plowing which has not happened yet. Very impressed with it so far. Looking forward to sitting inside it when the snow is flying.

 

[BarryTX]

Got a 2022 Kawasaki Mule Pro MX this year and set it up for snow plowing which has not happened yet. Very impressed with it so far. Looking forward to sitting inside it when the snow is flying.

That should be very capable and fun to drive. Our 2020 Pro-MX just got a new set of tires from 4Wheelonline and ready for hauling stuff.

 

[WilliamBos]

Absolutely love my 2023 Sportsman 570 EPS. Polaris made major improvements when they did the upgrade for MY 2021. I would not buy a pre 21 570, far too many issues with them.

 

[deserteagle71]

Absolutely love my 2023 Sportsman 570 EPS. Polaris made major improvements when they did the upgrade for MY 2021. I would not buy a pre 21 570, far too many issues with them.

What improvements did they make? Did it get a front locker? Engine braking? 4wd or still only AWD?

 

[WilliamBos]

What improvements did they make? Did it get a front locker? Engine braking? 4wd or still only AWD?

The improvments were a major clutch upgrade with EBS, looks like a cooling upgrade, and NVH (noise, vivration and handling) aswell as multi select (tri mode) EPS.


I bought a 2012 Sportsman 400HO May 2012, sold in in 2020 with 4,000 trouble free miles on it. The improvements coming from the 400 were long overdue.

I bought new 2021 Honda Rancher 420 Foot shift, sold it in 2022. Polaris has easily equalled the Honda quality with this refresh.

No need for a front diff lock, the Polaris AWD is by far the best system on the market, keep the fluid changed.

 

[deserteagle71]

No need for a front diff lock, the Polaris AWD is by far the best system on the market, keep the fluid changed.

If all you use the ATV for is farm/ranch work then yes, the AWD is fine. Once things get really rough - to where you are actually on 2 wheels because one front tire and one rear tire is completely off the ground then you have to wait for the AWD system to kick in. Better to have all 4 tires under constant power in that situation.

I'm part of a Search and Rescue unit. We have 2 Polaris Rangers (AWD) and an ancient Yamaha Rhino with 4wd/lockers. The old Rhino is what we take when in gnarly terrain in the mountains. No need to keep punching the throttle to get engine braking and all 4 tires are always either pulling or providing braking. The absolute worse part of the Polaris AWD system (on our Rangers) is that going down very steep hills, where the front tires do most of the braking, the AWD system disengages the front drivetrain so the front tires don't hold back at all. The rear tires just slide when engine braking does cut in, making for a dangerous situation as the rear end wants to come around.

 

[WilliamBos]

If all you use the ATV for is farm/ranch work then yes, the AWD is fine. Once things get really rough - to where you are actually on 2 wheels because one front tire and one rear tire is completely off the ground then you have to wait for the AWD system to kick in. Better to have all 4 tires under constant power in that situation.

I'm part of a Search and Rescue unit. We have 2 Polaris Rangers (AWD) and an ancient Yamaha Rhino with 4wd/lockers. The old Rhino is what we take when in gnarly terrain in the mountains. No need to keep punching the throttle to get engine braking and all 4 tires are always either pulling or providing braking. The absolute worse part of the Polaris AWD system (on our Rangers) is that going down very steep hills, where the front tires do most of the braking, the AWD system disengages the front drivetrain so the front tires don't hold back at all. The rear tires just slide when engine braking does cut in, making for a dangerous situation as the rear end wants to come around.

Feather the throttle so the ebs does not engage, its that simple.

I have ridden atvs with and without ebs, prefer having it.

 

[dfkrug]

I'm part of a Search and Rescue unit. We have 2 Polaris Rangers (AWD) and an ancient Yamaha Rhino with 4wd/lockers. The old Rhino is what we take when in gnarly terrain in the mountains. No need to keep punching the throttle to get engine braking and all 4 tires are always either pulling or providing braking. The absolute worse part of the Polaris AWD system (on our Rangers) is that going down very steep hills, where the front tires do most of the braking, the AWD system disengages the front drivetrain so the front tires don't hold back at all. The rear tires just slide when engine braking does cut in, making for a dangerous situation as the rear end wants to come around.

Interesting. That is valuable experience. You are right that many 4x4 ATV ranch/farm users do not max out their machine's capabilities.

I live on 19 acres with very steep trails. Going down them has always been more dangerous than going up. For years I used a full-time 4x4 Honda 300 (LSD, not locking front diff), and I could get up OK, as long as I had really good tires. Going down required some throttle to avoid free-wheeling. Not ideal.

Fast forward to a few years ago when I bought a FI 4x4 Kymco 450i. This one has lockable front diff, and that really helps, but man it makes it hard to steer without power steering. But best of all is the confidence I have going downhill in 4L at idle. No special engine-braking mechanism is apparent or advertised.

 

[BruceSH]

If all you use the ATV for is farm/ranch work then yes, the AWD is fine. Once things get really rough - to where you are actually on 2 wheels because one front tire and one rear tire is completely off the ground then you have to wait for the AWD system to kick in. Better to have all 4 tires under constant power in that situation.

I'm part of a Search and Rescue unit. We have 2 Polaris Rangers (AWD) and an ancient Yamaha Rhino with 4wd/lockers. The old Rhino is what we take when in gnarly terrain in the mountains. No need to keep punching the throttle to get engine braking and all 4 tires are always either pulling or providing braking. The absolute worse part of the Polaris AWD system (on our Rangers) is that going down very steep hills, where the front tires do most of the braking, the AWD system disengages the front drivetrain so the front tires don't hold back at all. The rear tires just slide when engine braking does cut in, making for a dangerous situation as the rear end wants to come around.

deserteagle71, know that you've been told to simply feather the throttle and all these problems will go away, at your next SAR meeting be sure and inform the unit how simple braking is when you are going down steep terrain.

 

[deserteagle71]

deserteagle71, know that you've been told to simply feather the throttle and all these problems will go away, at your next SAR meeting be sure and inform the unit how simple braking is when you are going down steep terrain.

I know that. We ALL know that. Point is, who thought up such a silly system...having to goose the throttle to engage engine braking? Other manufacturers have figured out how to have excellent engine braking that works whenever you back off the throttle. Even the UTV magazines mention this problem when testing Polaris units.

 

[DK35vince]

I know that. We ALL know that. Point is, who thought up such a silly system...having to goose the throttle to engage engine braking? Other manufacturers have figured out how to have excellent engine braking that works whenever you back off the throttle. Even the UTV magazines mention this problem when testing Polaris units.

Some Polaris models have engine braking, some don't.
My RZR 900s does have engine braking all the way down to a stop, no need to feather the throttle to keep the clutch's engaged

 

[ArlyA]

We don't do anything special to have engine braking on our 2022 outlander.

 

[Darth_DMack]

I had a 2021 Honda Talon 1000R with the Live Valve Fox Shocks. This machine was a HOOT! But, it is strictly considered a Sport UTV, and I loved it. But, when we bought our property, I needed something that I could use to haul some firewood, chicken feed, gravel, etc... The Talon did not fit that need. So, I sold it...

I bought a 2023 Yamaha RMax2 (1000 Two Seater). This "buggy" as I call it, does it all. It will run right with my old Talon, Has a live rear axle and a locker up front, has a dump bed with a 600 pound capacity, can tow 2k pounds, and I can SEE out of it. That was my one complaint with the Talon... I couldn't see anything, especially backing up.

For me, and my uses, the RMax is the perfect blend between Sport and Utility. The red one below is my brothers 2018 Honda Pioneer 1000. He loves that buggy as well.