A few more ATV Questions

[greatwhite]

So I have a few more ATV Questions.

What is normally the life expectancy of an engine on these things? I mean obviously thing eventually wear out just like a car. What would you consider way to high.

I have seen some that were in around the 1000 - 5000 km. I did see a Suzuki Quad 400 appeared to be in great condition but it had 15000 km's on it. Car's can quite easily go to 300,000.

From what I gather The fourtrax and Big bear are probaly the best for my needs. Most seem to say stay away from Polaris especially the much older ones, but what about the Suzuki Quad, how are they?

[fishy steve]

as ive said in many many posts on here... i cant recomend the suzuki quadrunners/kingquads enough... toughest machines you could ask for... my old quadrunner 250 had 10000 miles (miles not kms) when i sold it, and i put it through hell and back on the farm, my new king quad is currently at about 4000 miles, no issues...

as with anything proper maintenance is the key, but generally, i expect a atv, to go 10-20000 kms (suzuki/hondas)...

[oaknut]

Mileage isn't a safe guide on an atv. You never know at what RPM those miles were logged. That being said my 400 big bear had 18000 km on it when I sold it. I always keep on top of oil changes and I think it was around 12000 that I changed the rings.

The older Suzuki bikes were great. The king quad although small and squat by todays standards was the king of the woods for many years. I know little to nothing about the newer suzies as they never struck my fancy.

[fishy steve]

other thing to consider is like a car, how was it driven... was it used and abused on a farm for 10000 miles, or was it driven on dirt roads, for 15000 kms....

check all your wheel bearings, u joints etc for play... bent tubes on the framework...

my old quadrunner was one heck of a machine... the old owner, rolled it down a steep hill at his camp, it cartwheeled, down the hill, and into the lake, so he fixed the plastic up as best he could, he then drowned it again in a deep mud hole behind his camp... that was when he decided to sell it to me, so i got it for a good deal, with only about 1500 miles on it, was an american fella from florida... i used it for hunting, and for farm work and dragging logs, drowned it twice myself in the bush, everytime she started back up and got me home lol new bike ive bin a bit easier on, but have already had the tires faceing the sky once already, luckily i was driving slowly, but had a gun in one hand, and got a root on a hill side haha so what im saying is... dont buy a bike off me haha

[fishy steve]

Mileage isn't a safe guide on an atv. You never know at what RPM those miles were logged. That being said my 400 big bear had 18000 km on it when I sold it. I always keep on top of oil changes and I think it was around 12000 that I changed the rings.

The older Suzuki bikes were great. The king quad although small and squat by todays standards was the king of the woods for many years. I know little to nothing about the newer suzies as they never struck my fancy.

still tough and good machines, just limited by a belt, old bikes being gear driven, would only be limited by traction... with that said, ive only had my belt slip once, and thats because i was trying to help pull a truck out of a mud hole, have pulled round bales of hay with it no probs...

[Fisherman]

We have 2 Yamaha 450's at work, one over 10,000km the other just under10k. Neither burn oil or have anything but "cosmetic" issues, little pieces of plastic missing. Last weekend we a fun trip in Haliburton on the trails, 1 Suzuki, 1 Yamaha, 6 Polaris. Saturday morning, the Suzuki, Yamaha and one brand new Polaris started, the other 4 were dead like cement. Another older Polaris with tracks showed up later, and after 2km the engine grenaded.

[SongDog]

All depends on the maintenance that was done over the life of the atv. If the air filter was kept clean, oil changed regularly and wasn't beat on too bad then 10,000km isn't all that much. My dad's old 1989 Suzuki 250 quadrunner has over 10,000km on it. 4 boys grew up on that bike and I seen it go through hell and back again and it still runs fine.

[400bigbear]

GW . Is it really worth your time and cash to buy used bud ?. Buy new. I'll sell you a 2008 BB that has always been highly maintained because it could save my life some day . Funny thing is even with almost 5 k on it I would not sell it to you for what I would want . WHY ? Because I SAID SO DUMMY . buy NEW just not a POPO . Want my 400 BB " ? I'll just buy a newer one with what I take for me to part with it so don't be a dummy , bud .

TD

[fishy steve]

GW . Is it really worth your time and cash to buy used bud ?. Buy new. I'll sell you a 2008 BB that has always been highly maintained because it could save my life some day . Funny thing is even with almost 5 k on it I would not sell it to you for what I would want . WHY ? Because I SAID SO DUMMY . buy NEW just not a POPO . Want my 400 BB " ? I'll just buy a newer one with what I take for me to part with it so don't be a dummy , bud .

TD

he does make a good point (about time he, was due) thats the only reason i bought my new bike, was i was worried about being stranded in the bush with a old broken down bike, though it never left me stranded in the 12 years i owned it, i still worried about it, especially traveling with the wife with me...

plus once you feal how a new bike feals to a old one, you will never ride the trails with a old one again... buddies wife hates me, cause i let him use my bike this fall when his old big bear broke down, now he wants a new bike lol

[B Wilson]

GW

there is a green 2002 Honda rubicon with a Detroit locker front differential, if you ever see it for sale don't buy it. It's my old machine and has issues deep inside the hondamatic transmission ...

if if you want a work horse with pulling power get something with a single rear axle, if not a independent rear suspension gives a nicer ride