I am looking for a used ATV and I'm not sure what brand to look for. I have noticed that there are MANY more Hondas for sale than anything else. Iodn't know if that means they are more popular, more troublesome or both. I want something from 300 to 400 cc and preferably with selectable 4x4.

[b]bunghole[/b], my dear friend, have you ever considered purchasing a dune buggy or sand rail as some refer to it?

Street legal, street legal, street legal.

Keep saying that over and over again.

Easy to work on and find parts for VW engine.

Attractive.

Goes just about anywhere an ATV can go, plus it's....street legal.

Plus it's got a top end of 60 - 70 mph!

[img]http://webpages.charter.net/jeff.hoeft/farm/Buggy.jpg[/img]

I think you may have seen one or two about.[:D]

Eric The(BTW]:)]

I'll buy yours. [:D]

Post from bunghole -

Heh-heh-heh. No!

I love my dune buggy!

I'm inseperable from my dune buggy.

I can't live without my dune buggy.

What's your best offer? [:D]

Eric The(Nope!ThereArePlentyOutThere$1500-$2000-Get'EmNow!)Hun[>]:)]

Arctic Cat has a 500i, it's basically a Suzuki made in the good old USA.  The Arctic Cat has a lot of ground clearance and the independant rear wheel suspension is so sweet.  Ride one without and then with night and day between the two.  Suzuki's and Hondas are both fine ATV's also, shop around do your homework and buy what you like best.  After all your riding it and making the payments, also Suzuki makes a Quad Runner 250cc, this has independant rear, selectable 4wd and locking difs sweet.

Bunghole. Do you want to sit on a box with four wheels or drive a real machine? lol

Seriously, What do you want to do with it? Honda makes a fine machine and has a fantastic support and parts network. I race and ride the Honda machine below. It's called a Honda Odyssey FL-350 and was made in 1985. I can still get parts and it's seventeen years old.

[img]www.efcyber.com/dust2.jpg[/img]

Anyway, I guess you need to ask yourself what do you want the machine to do and then look for the machine that fills that need. I've ridden and repaired a lot of different machines so if you figure out what you want to do, I'll try to guide you along. Suzuki, Kawasaki and Yamaha makes some fine machines too. I'd stay away from Kasea and some of the clones.

Stay away from those VW guys, I hear they're unstable. Not the machine, just the people...wink...wink [:D]

E.T. Hun,
Just roughly what does a buggy 'like' yours cost ??

The only real choice is POLARIS. Most powerful, highest clearance, nicest ride out there. Check out the Polaris Sportsman, you wont be disappointed. Also check out these websites, they have all the info you could want.
[url]atvtime.com[/url]
[url]atvconnection.com[/url]

Good luck!

I picked up a 2001 Yamaha Grizzly 600 from a friend about a month ago and the thing is KICK ASS! 4X4 selectable, more than enough power to haul my fat butt around, good suspension, 70MPH top speed. He got a brand new Kawasaki Prarie 650. I guess thats the best on the market right now. But I'm happy with what I got and it puts most of my friends quads to shame! And I picked up a year old quad in very good condition for $3200!

Eric -

You should transport that rail to the sand dunes west of Yuma, Az. if you want to find out what dune buggies are really all about! When my borther lived in Yuma he had one and it was a freaking BLAST! It will give you a whole new understanding of "air time"! Just make sure you have smooth (bald) front tires or you'll be eating a lot of sand.

If you want extreme speed, ability to travel any terain, leep tall buildings in a sigle bound, go dirt bike (two wheels)((2 stroke racer the best, but noisy)).

You can carry a rifle, spare top end, a heck of a lot of ammo, and food in a back-pack.

If you need to carry more gear than that get a HUMMER.

fireguy is on the money.  Go Polaris.  I dearly loved mine, but had to sell it.  Forget now what the milage was (well in the thousands) I was having my front sprocket changed by my neighbor (honda mech.) when he mentioned that a honda wouldnt have gotten anywhere near that milage without falling apart.  He claimed it was due to all the lube points on it (24?).  Anyway, I didnt baby mine at all and she just wouldnt die.  Thinking about another one, but I want to get an older 2 stroke 400 like I had.  The 4 stroke independent suspension is a nice ride and good for farmers and oil jockeys and all, but has way to much weight to be running anong the river in the sand and in some of those super soggy places I like to go.  The chain drive I had I could one end at a time out of ruts and then walk it out.  For one or two years they made a shaft front, rear chain.  This would be a perfect compromise in my opinion.

Post from 5subslr5 -

I paid $1,500.00 for mine and then did a full rebuild of the frame and suspension for about $500.00 more!

It's a gas and, did I mention, street legal!

It'll go anywhere that the others will go and then flat out leave them on the road![:D]

Eric The(AndARackForRifles,Etc.,OnTop!)Hun[>]:)]

I forgot about Polaris. Sorry about that and what the guys say here is true; it's a well built, good machine but still has its repair quirks just like every ATV. Nothing to be alarmed about, just goofy design problems that make you wonder how the put it together in the factory. Trust me, Honda is no better. I curse the engineer that designed the FL-350 starter that requires you to remove half the machine to get to the puppy.

Take a look at that Mule274! It's so simple that the dog drove it up so Garand Shooter could shoot a photograph! Talented dog.

Again, it comes down to what you want to do with it. My Odyssey's are racing/trail machines and you would be hard pressed to carry a rifle or even your lunch on one. The cockpit is pretty tight. On the bright side, you could remove the hood/skid plate at the top of the roll bar and mount a set of twin fifties or a LAW on it. A Quad is more useful to haul things. A dirt bike is more nimble on the trails.

Now back to the VW. Eric, is that thing street legal? LoL!

I'm looking for something to haul my stuff around for deer season. I also want to get it in time for ETH's farm hoe down. [:D] I'm really looking at the 400cc size. I don't want to spend $7k+ for a 600cc+.

bunghole,

I would recommend a Polaris. We use ATV's for work and use only Polaris, primarily because of how they ride. Other manufactures may be better now (I don't know, I don't ride anything else), but 6 or 7 years ago Polaris suspensions were head and sholders above the rest. That was before they started the independent rear suspension. We have a 1998 425 Magnum 4x4 (selectable 4 x4, solid rear axle, which you will want if you tow anything) with about 5000+ miles on it and probably twice that in hours. Very Reliable. We bought a used 97 Sportsman 500 (4x4, independent rear suspension) and have had it in and out of the shop sense we got it. Not so reliable.We are going to buy our 6th Polaris this summer, so overall we are pleased with them.

If you want bragging rights, they make a 700 Sportsman that will go really fast and empty your wallet faster, but it sounds like a 400 Magnum 4x4 would be what fits your desires and dollars. 400s have enough oomph to get you out of bad situations and are still relatively cheap. The solid rear axle isn't as nice as the independent, but cheaper and better if you are wanting to tow something (Independent sus. takes the weight of the trailer tongue, axle takes the weight on the solid axle setup, leaving the suspension free to cushion you).

ETH,

That sandrail looks like a blast. I have ridden in them twice and would love to have one.

Any chance you are bringing it to the BRC? (Mrs. Hun wouldn't mind riding from Texas to Illinios in it, would she?) [:D]

I like the idea of the Sand Rail but I don't have the space to sotre it. An ATV will much easier to store.

bunghole, I ride a Kawasaki Prairie 650 and love it. If you don't want the power or price that go with the 650 then look into the 360 it has most of the same features but just hasn't gott the ass or the price of big brother. suggested retail is $5499
[img]http://www.becksmarine.com/images/ATV/Prairie360/kvf360.gif[/img]

Post from nichcon -

Actually, that is a photo of REALERIC's sand rail (or dune buggy, whichever) that he brought to the Farm for us.

Mine's in safety yellow and is much wider. He spent about $1,300.00 just for parts on his motor, though, so he can clean my clock!  

I am racking my brain to see how I could bring it - it would be great for scooting between events, but trailering it that far would be a tad too much....for me.

Miz Hun has [u]never[/u] even ridden in the dune buggy, nor will she let me keep it at our house!

When I plead with her to let me bring it over to keep in our garage, she mumbles something to the effect of...'poor white trash!'

And, besides, she's not coming to the BRC.

Eric The(Yippee!)Hun[>]:)]

IMHO..

HONDA!!!

Have '93 TRX and '98 TRW FW.. never a prob with either.  Several members of our hunting party have Honda also.. all with excellent perfomance and reliability.

Honda wrote the book on ATV's.. others just follow.

Bravo5-2