# Need opinion on ATV Purchase



## naterade (Nov 30, 2008)

Hoping someone can tell me if a 2009 POLARIS SPORTSMAN XP850 has a good reputation for reliability and performance. I'd be using it for ice fishing and trail riding. Thanks.


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## ENCORE (Sep 19, 2005)

I don't have any expierence with the XP models. However, I do with Polaris. I currently own two. One is a 2002 Sportsman 400 and the other a 2011 Sportsman 800.

My little 400 has had just about everything thrown at it, and other than just some routine maintainance, it still runs and operates great. I have a very large driveway area, along with a long entrance and have pushed a lot of snow with it. Since purchasing the 800, the 400 has now been taken over by the wife.

The 800 of course is the new machine. I can assure you, its got much more power than I actually need. The EFI is outstanding, compared to the carburated models. I purchased the Glacier III plow 60" system, which it won't be long and I'll find out how that works.

In the deep snow when ice fishing, I had problems with the 400 and power. Many times trying to get through deep and very wet snow, it was certainly under powered. At least using HI range. With 8,500 acres of lake to run, using LO range would be tough on it and, it wouldn't give me the speed I need to run over deep wet snow. Thus, the reason for the 800. I've had good luck with the Polaris machines to date.


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## Vortex (Nov 28, 2011)

My friend has a 2006 polaris that has been reliable. The only thing he doesn't like is the plastic rack on the back. It cracked when one of his kids (under 160lbs) sat on it. 

I have a 2010 700 yamaha Grizzly with EPS. So far its been great,


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## pilsbury38 (Jan 2, 2010)

ENCORE said:


> I don't have any expierence with the XP models. However, I do with Polaris. I currently own two. One is a 2002 Sportsman 400 and the other a 2011 Sportsman 800.
> 
> My little 400 has had just about everything thrown at it, and other than just some routine maintainance, it still runs and operates great. I have a very large driveway area, along with a long entrance and have pushed a lot of snow with it. Since purchasing the 800, the 400 has now been taken over by the wife.
> 
> ...


do you ever have trouble with the heat from the 800 burning your legs while riding in the summer?



Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


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## lurebreaker (Oct 11, 2008)

pilsbury38 said:


> do you ever have trouble with the heat from the 800 burning your legs while riding in the summer?
> 
> 
> 
> Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


I wonder if thats a polaris situation? My H.O gets so warm in the summer you have to angle your leg away from the side cover, not good if your ripping thru a trail:rant:


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## ENCORE (Sep 19, 2005)

pilsbury38 said:


> do you ever have trouble with the heat from the 800 burning your legs while riding in the summer?
> Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


Yes, my right. The exhaust is hot. Seems that they'd put some kind of air deflector or something in there??


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## Frantz (Dec 9, 2003)

I know this is not much help as far as the OP's initial question, but.........

I have been a Suzuki fan since my first Quad purchase. I had a few of the 300's and now a 750. I love the heck out of the 750, do not get me wrong, but even with all the plowing and everything I do, if I had it to do over again, I would still have my smaller quad. The upkeep was simpler and the initial cost was as well. The fuel mileage thing is a no brainer, I use probably 50% more fuel with this bigger quad. Just tossing this out there as something to think about as fuel costs are not going down.


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## Alan (Sep 11, 2004)

naterade said:


> Hoping someone can tell me if a 2009 POLARIS SPORTSMAN XP850 has a good reputation for reliability and performance. I'd be using it for ice fishing and trail riding. Thanks.


 Polaris Is one of the BEST. Just do regular maintance and it will last for years


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## trophy18 (Aug 14, 2011)

lurebreaker said:


> I wonder if thats a polaris situation? My H.O gets so warm in the summer you have to angle your leg away from the side cover, not good if your ripping thru a trail:rant:


 
My honda gets hot as well.....The only thing i know of that doesent is the 85 honda 3 wheeler, but its been unreliable at best. Sucks when i wanna ride the kid around and we gotta sit with are legs on the front plastic:sad: you been there rob had to put hannah on yours more than once.....fun ridding the back trails though ......were gonna have to take a ride trough steves muck field again , nice riding


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## lurebreaker (Oct 11, 2008)

Count me in Jay, Crystal loved it too. Wait until you ride the Yamaha your going to love ripping through the trails on that little thing, fun shifting gears. That field was a blast , but so is your grandpas 140....Yeah your machine does get warm though, let me fix that trike of yours im feeling confident!!


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## trophy18 (Aug 14, 2011)

lurebreaker said:


> Count me in Jay, Crystal loved it too. Wait until you ride the Yamaha your going to love ripping through the trails on that little thing, fun shifting gears. That field was a blast , but so is your grandpas 140....Yeah your machine does get warm though, let me fix that trike of yours im feeling confident!!


 
Loving it the more i write about it the more im pumped for spring summer, get the boat out and get ur A**es up her for some rididng around and fishng ......Plus junior (hannah) loves the wheeler rides. Also i know its the wrong place but if anyone has a kids helmet they would like to sell please pm me.....i pay cash money....my kid loves it. (no dought the 3 wheeler will run good this summer) As long as i can get Rob to fix it:lol::lol: ( i love ripping on the cheap wheelers) as long as they dont start on fire:evilsmile


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## lurebreaker (Oct 11, 2008)

trophy18 said:


> Loving it the more i write about it the more im pumped for spring summer, get the boat out and get ur A**es up her for some rididng around and fishng ......Plus junior (hannah) loves the wheeler rides. Also i know its the wrong place but if anyone has a kids helmet they would like to sell please pm me.....i pay cash money....my kid loves it. (no dought the 3 wheeler will run good this summer) As long as i can get Rob to fix it:lol::lol: ( i love ripping on the cheap wheelers) as long as they dont start on fire:evilsmile


:lol: yeah that was some fun stuff last summer. Hannah was great she is not messing around when it comes to the rides, we looked like a dysfunctional motor gang up there tearing it up on our roads.. Knowing you and your wife , you will have Hannah set up nicely on her own machine sooner than later:lol:, Dont worry we will be up ALOT again this summer so much that you guys will turn off your lights when you see us pulling in like last year:evilsmile


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## speedway2899 (Feb 20, 2012)

I own a 2006 SPortsman 500 EFI-HO and Ive beat the crap out of it. I Had it floating last year back in my swamp and it went through with no problems. The only thing Ive had done was a new battery after 6 yrs and oil changes. Overall I am very happy with it!


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## Paperboy 1 (Aug 7, 2008)

I have a 2001 Sportsman 400. She has been awesome! Just recently some things on her went bad (speedo), but that is expected if you use it!!:lol: I have over 2700 miles on her with just basic maintenance and a new speedo. 

Does Consumer Reports list ATV's?? Ya might look there too. ENCORE is right about deeper snow (like we have now) can be a pia. Trail riding is great. We even have new trailhead in Barton City.

The heat thing is a problem for me when pulling a disc behind her for food plots and general gardening. She gets really warm.


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## Milbo (Jan 5, 2011)

naterade said:


> Hoping someone can tell me if a 2009 POLARIS SPORTSMAN XP850 has a good reputation for reliability and performance. I'd be using it for ice fishing and trail riding. Thanks.


I've had a 1989 and 2007 Suzuki and all my friends have Sportsman 500 HO's. I'd rather have my Suzuki over those but I would buy a Yamaha next time. The guides where I hunt in the swamps of Southern Alabama have tried them all and the Yamaha's hold up the best.

My ranking by brand. I know some models are better than others but this is my opinion for what it is worth. Honda made great 3 wheeler's but never got the quad thing right like Yamaha. I think Suzuki started the 4 wheeler thing. CanAm's are too expensive. Polaris Made in AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!

1 Yamaha
2 Suzuki
3 Polaris
4 CanAm
5 Kawasaki
6 Honda
7 Arctic Cat


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## ENCORE (Sep 19, 2005)

Milbo said:


> I've had a 1989 and 2007 Suzuki and all my friends have Sportsman 500 HO's. I'd rather have my Suzuki over those but I would buy a Yamaha next time. The guides where I hunt in the swamps of Southern Alabama have tried them all and the Yamaha's hold up the best.
> 
> My ranking by brand. I know some models are better than others but this is my opinion for what it is worth. Honda made great 3 wheeler's but never got the quad thing right like Yamaha. I think Suzuki started the 4 wheeler thing. CanAm's are too expensive. Polaris Made in AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> ...


Funny how in different parts of North America, the choice of what will or will not hold up is so different. I see the boys down in Alabama say the Yamaha holds up best. However...... I've seen and been with guides in Saskatchewan, that used HONDA'S like bulldozers, going through and over small trees and brush, to the point that the quad would stand upright, then bend over the tree. The guides there swear by them. Which shows up as number 6 on your list.

Myself, I ride Polaris, own two and tried to work to death a 2002 Sportsman 400. It runs just as good today as it did new, with 3,400 miles on it. My 800efi isn't quite a year old yet but, it has more power than I need. We'll see how it holds up in the future. There may be a specific model that needs some "catch'n up" but, I think most are pretty reliable machines. Bigger is better IMO and 4 wheel independent suspension a must.


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## pilsbury38 (Jan 2, 2010)

Milbo said:


> I've had a 1989 and 2007 Suzuki and all my friends have Sportsman 500 HO's. I'd rather have my Suzuki over those but I would buy a Yamaha next time. The guides where I hunt in the swamps of Southern Alabama have tried them all and the Yamaha's hold up the best.
> 
> My ranking by brand. I know some models are better than others but this is my opinion for what it is worth. Honda made great 3 wheeler's but never got the quad thing right like Yamaha. I think Suzuki started the 4 wheeler thing. CanAm's are too expensive. Polaris Made in AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> ...


This is kind of funny to me, I have both honda and yamaha, both are the same size and in my opinion the yamaha does not even begin to compare to the honda..........guess that's why they make em all so you can pick the one you like......


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## bucko12pt (Dec 9, 2004)

ENCORE said:


> Funny how in different parts of North America, the choice of what will or will not hold up is so different. I see the boys down in Alabama say the Yamaha holds up best. However...... I've seen and been with guides in Saskatchewan, that used HONDA'S like bulldozers, going through and over small trees and brush, to the point that the quad would stand upright, then bend over the tree. The guides there swear by them. Which shows up as number 6 on your list.
> 
> Myself, I ride Polaris, own two and tried to work to death a 2002 Sportsman 400. It runs just as good today as it did new, with 3,400 miles on it. My 800efi isn't quite a year old yet but, it has more power than I need. We'll see how it holds up in the future. There may be a specific model that needs some "catch'n up" but, I think most are pretty reliable machines. Bigger is better IMO and 4 wheel independent suspension a must.


I noticed the same thing in Sask., most of the guides running Honda's.

We probably have 30 different quads running around our camp and the Honda's hold up the best by far. I have 84 and 96 Honda ATV's and neither has been in the shop for other than routine maintenance. I also
have a Polaris Ranger UTV and it has been good so far, but I would dare say the Polaris' ATV's that I have seen at our place have been terrible, with some major failures on 2000 and newer bikes. I'd never buy a Polaris ATV. 

I had a Suzuki 4x4 for 11 years and it was a great bike, except for the brakes.:irked:

My experience and $ .02.


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## Milbo (Jan 5, 2011)

bucko12pt said:


> I noticed the same thing in Sask., most of the guides running Honda's.
> 
> We probably have 30 different quads running around our camp and the Honda's hold up the best by far. I have 84 and 96 Honda ATV's and neither has been in the shop for other than routine maintenance. I also
> have a Polaris Ranger UTV and it has been good so far, but I would dare say the Polaris' ATV's that I have seen at our place have been terrible, with some major failures on 2000 and newer bikes. I'd never buy a Polaris ATV.
> ...


I have no complaints about Honda engines they are awesome. I guess it is the old Chevy/Ford/Dodge argument when it come to atv's. I agree, with the brake issue on the older Suzuki's. Our 89 had drums in the rear and they were a pain. The 07 is much better. One of my buddies has had quite a few electrical issues with his sportsman. We had to drag it off the lake last weekend while ice fishing. Not sure the problem yet.


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