I'm looking at a Yamaha Big Bear 400 2x4, it is 4,400.00 you can get a 2000 lb Warren winch for 69.95 this month with the Big Bear.  What do you have, what do you reccommend? Thanks guys!

i have a 2001 Honda Fourtrax 350 4x4 manual

i like it a lot. if i neede i second bike i would buy that one again.

i have a 2 ton come-a-long with lots of rope and that works pretty good in place of a winch.

also, try to join a local atv club. they're fun and will help you with any atv related thing.

my site is a pretty good source of info about my bike. [url]www.geocities.com/ianatv[/url]

send any email to [email protected]

i'm not goign to tell you to dump your Yamaha and go for Honda, but i like Honda's.

OffRoad

Honda's have a tranmission to drive all wheels. As far as I know the rest use a torque converter. If torques' get wet the belt has a tendency to slip.

As I seen before .02 worth.

that's the auto belt.

it helped me remember my other bit of advice:

get a manual transmission

Just yesterday traded in my Prairie 400 for the 650. I LOVE IT!!! I can't believe the difference in power! I plan in upgrading the tires and rims this winter and adding a Warn 2500 winch as soon as it comes in from Parts Unlimited!

-Chopperdave

I have a Polaris and it has been really good to me, the bunk about the belts slipping is just that. I Like mine beacuse it has a little higher saddle, your not so Knee to elbows. Of course each machine has its own purpose and limitations, you just need to find out what you want to do and then fit the bill

Its funny you can go to just about any brand dealer and they will tell you that X Brand sucks or this is wrong with it, find one who won't be so willing to trash the competition and is willing to stand on their own machines qualities. If you look at the ATV boards or service records, the rate of repair/failure is just about even across all makes and models of machine.

BTW the new Sportsman 700 is kinda kewl if you want power, but I re-read your post and noticed you are only looking at a 400. Check out the Polaris line just for bargain sake, they are alot of machine for the money

Later

IAJack

I agree with everything IA Jack said, find a dealer that will give you a fair assesment and go with them. The Warn promotion I believe is also going on to some extent right now with the Polaris'. Wanted to go with the 700 or the 650 and it just boiled down to the Kawasaki dealer having a 650 in stock and being just a little more hungry than the Polaris guys. As for the belt drive, I drove my old 400 2mi. up a river and then popped out of the water and popped a wheelie over a log to get back into the trees. Any of you that have met me know what I look like-6'1" and 260lbs. the belt NEVER slipped.
Go with what you like- you'll be happier ;)
-Chopperdave

Had a Polaris 400 4X4.  Absolutely loved it.  Selectable 4wd, auto trans., and floorboards.  More ground clearance than a honda.  I did manage to slip my belt once, but I had it completely under (damn hole didnt look that deep).  I am looking at them again, only sold first one cause I got in a pinch for cash.  One thig I would recomend is to take a hard look at what kind of riding you will be doing.  I dont need to pull grain wagons and stuff, so I opt for less weight.  You give up some power with the 400 as opposed to the 500 or the new 700, and the ride quality isn't quite as good, but the power to weight ratio is outstanding on the 400.  The 500's I had rode with tended to be too heavy to go through some slop, where my 400 would glide over the top.  I could also pick the back end of mine up to get it out of a rut if need be. Cant do that with a 500.  Polaris also has alot more grease zerks than any other bike I know of, keeps em hangin on.  Biggest drawback is low resale value, but also means you can find a good used bike cheap.  In short (too late) I would HIGHLY recomend the Polaris.  

Honda has been good to me. I read a lot of magazines about them that seem to bear out the obvious...Yamaha, 1 or 2 with Honda. Polaris is good. Kawasaki and Suzuki go like hell and then scatter.Artic Cat is a 4 wheeler that has not been sold in my area, so I never cared.


THERE IS NO WAY TO TRANSPORT A FIREARM ON A 4WHEELER WITHOUT ABUSE.

I have a 2001 Big Bear 400.  It is a great 4-wheeler, no problems at all.  Lots of power, good ride, and short turning radius.  The 02 has selectable 4x4, which will make it even better.  Get the Bear and winch, you won't be sorry.  [:)]

Whoa, I just noticed your post said 2x4.  That is way too much money for a 2x4 Big Bear.  I got my 4x4 for $4500.  I don't know where in Alabama you live, but you might want to drive to Mississippi!  Try Hattiesburg Cycles in Hattiesburg, MS, they are the largest Yamaha dealer in the nation.  http://www.hattiesburgcycles.com
Or try Lake Hill Motors in Corinth.  http://www.lakehillmotors.com/
Both will give you a quote over the phone.  You can use that to get your local deler to come down.  Good luck.

Look at the Polaris 425
IRS rear,floorboards,Selectable 4WD

My family owns 3 Polaris ATV's. My brother in-law and I own 400 sports and my father-in-law owns a 500 4x4 scrambler.

None of us have had any problems and we ride hard. One thing you will like about the Polaris is the fact that you will be sitting down going up hills driving around the guys on the jap bikes while they are trying to stand on the handlebars to keep the front-end down while looking for the right gear.

Polaris has been making snowmobiles for years and their designs are rock solid. Dealer support is very nice as well (something that is hard to find with some other dealerships.

Honda is probably still tops on reliability of any bike though...

Have you checked out 2 wheelers.  

I love hot dogging and roosting all the quads in the trails on my XR400.

I went camping in Utah/Colorado for two weeks with lots of time spent on quads. A group of about 20 people (from ages of 13-49, and all levels of experience) beat the crap out of a variety of hondas, polarises and kawasakis.  After about a week the 6x6 polaris started have some problems (this was a while ago so i forget what exaclty went bad witht them).

I personally liked the kawasaki wolverines the best. They were a nice size, powerful, fast, not too heavy and of course 4WD.

Wolverines!

I have a 00 Big Bear 4X4.   I like it for what it does.  My only complaint is it needs one more gear.  It has all kinds of low end torque, and could probably climb a brick wall, but it needs more speed top end.  I sold my Warrior to become more family oriented in my riding.....I miss my speed.  I need 6 gears!  I wish I could have afforded a Grizzly, but they are a little heavy for my tastes.  If I get stuck, I like to be able to pick up the front and back end and move it, you can't, or at least I can't do that very well with a Grizz.  My old warrior, I could pick up the front end and put it on the tailgate of my pick up, then pick up the rear and push it in to the truck bed!  Did I mention I miss my Warrior?

My wife has a used Polaris 2X4 250.  It runs pretty well.  Nice comfortable ride.  Lots of speed, but stinks!  I hate two strokes!  She likes to ride it though, so I won't complain too much about how she smells when she gets off of it.  LOL

Just bought a 2002 Grizzly 660 .Massive Power and got the winch too.One problem though ,went in a deep ass hole sinking the whole back end   ,and then the damn belt slipped,I barely made it out.I had a 98 Polaris 400 Explorer 4x4 that never gave me this problem,but just got tired of replacing parts on the damn thing.Everything is a wearable item on Polaris ,but they'll rip up the trail.If I had to do it again ,I would get another Polaris.  

Lemme get this right.  You want advice on which
(1) television to buy????

I just turned in my application to buy one yesterday. I'm waiting in the results.
Here is what my research came up with. I'm a scientist and look at everything way to hard!
1. Yamaha- This is a nice bike. Yamaha is awful proud of these thing though and want way too much for them.
2. Kawasaki- These are also nice bikes. They are a little more than some of the others. They tend to sit a little lower.
3. Hondas- how can you argue with the honda name for engines. They are however a little behind the times in suspnesion and they are still using drum brakes in the rear.
4. Suzuki- good engines but little ground clearance and little suspension travel.
5. Artic Cat- These are some tuff machines. They are build very solid and are work horses. They have a modified suzuki engine and are inovative. They have independent and semi independent rear ends. They are newer to the market and there aren't as many after market parts available.The 375auto is nice but is air cooled.
6. Polaris-Nice bikes and finished very well.
They are water cooled in the 400 and above. These (400 and above) have independent rear and front ends.They are almost all autos and there seems to be alot a dealers around. Polaris also has a lot of after market parts available.

My choice came down to the Artic Cat and the Polaris. I was comparing the magnum325 and Cat 375 auto. Of these I like the CAt, but both seemed a little to be desired with power and the auto transmission. Then I drove the CAT 400. I was leaning toward the Artic Cat 400( really is a 371 water cooled with semiauto trans).
I did think that the auto was nice feature if it had more power. I then drove the Polaris Sportsman 400 and the choice was done(cat 400i is not out yet).
Polaris however is the only company that doesn't have the $69 winch deal right now (that sucks!).
Right now is great time to buy. The interest rates are down until the end of the month. Most dealers have one or two of last years models left over and are ready to deal. I'm getting the 500 at $400 over the price of the 400.
A couple of things to consider.
Watercooled is better! They don't have the temp swing that the air cooled do and can be built tighter which means more power. Temp is the death of these things and the air cooled will loose some power as they heat up.
Get disc brakes!
Also not an option for me was idependent or semi independent suspension, there is no competition after riding one.
Good luck with your choice and email with any questions.
Scratch

Most will do just fine. The big thing is finding something that will fit your needs. Sometimes big is just too big. We go on very narrow and hard to manuever trails. I liked the power of the big bear, but for me I needed something very light and nimble. I ended up getting a Yamaha timberwolf 4x4. Very reliable, very very maueverable, low center of gravity, and fast enough (clocked at about 40mph in flats). I have gone on trails where the big ones get stuck or roll simply because of their weight and high center of gravity. It works for me, but most opt for larger machines.

Have fun!

Have you ever driven a CR250R on trails? Damn things will go anywhere and they are tough as nails. I'm just a dirtbike fan...although in 87 I did  own a brand new Honda Foreman FOURTRAX 350. It was a beast but I didn't like the full time 4WD. I used to haul logs for firewood with it. Again, just my .02

I've done alot of riding in my day.  I've seen them all: Polaris, Honda, Arctic Cat, Yamaha, Suzuki, except a Bombardier.

Go Honda and you won't be disappointed.  My family has always owned Hondas.  In my opinion Honda is the best ATV there is.  Sure, you pay more, but it's worth it.  I have a '96 Honda Fourtrax 300 2x4.  I have done nothing to this bike but change the oil, oil filter, air filter, and changed spark plug twice.  It has never had a single problem.  And I'm no "grandaddy" rider.  I push this bike to the limit and drive it back every time.  It has seen hell and high water and has lived to tell the tale.  Every bike except Honda has major problems in the water.  I know, I know, they aren't made for the water; but there's always that "what if?".  I have had mine up to the gas tank in a river and still kept driving across!
The only problem I have seen with Hondas is on the 97-00 (as far as I know) model Foreman 400's.  The brakes don't last long.  I have ridden 3 of them with zero brakes.  Of course this could have something to do with the sand and mud these bikes have been put through, but mine has seen some pretty hairy stuff and still stops on a dime.

Honda is the way to go.  Period.

If you want to do some offroading and jumping go with the Yamaha Raptor.. 660cc's of asskickin power.. I love mine!! My friends call it the wheelie king, lots of torque at the wheels.. Nothing like passing cars on the highway while I'm in the ditch..

 later,
  hawkin

btt

anyone else