Funny Crap

About the ATV’s,,,, It’s not about the ATV,,,, It’s about low stress,,,,, It’s about the trailers, the size trucks to pull it. Can you park the trailer in your yard. How hard is it for you to prepare to go on a ride ?

My ATV is a Honda RECON, 250cc. Set your rules and specs for what you need. Bigger is not Better, if Bigger was better we would all have monster trucks. Think this through for lower stress.

My specs: (MY,,,, as in "for ME")
1) 2wd
2) under 500 pounds
3) under $4000 out the door
4) Fits easily into the back of my pickup
5) Street legal
6) Over 200cc
7) Over 100 miles per tank of gas
8) easily runs 25 MPH

Explanation:
1) 2wd-
2) under 500 pounds
*2wd is fine, when you are climbing a hill all the weight goes to the rear wheels. If you get stuck or "high center" each end weighs about 250 pounds (the Recon is about 420 with fuel about 210 each end) I can pick it up or help it over a rock. If you are on an off-camber trail your weight is significant in leaning to keep all the wheels down. The larger machines have more ground clearance AND HIGHER CENTER OF GRAVITY. If a 400 pound machine does a slow roll over you,,, OUCH !,,,,, If a 750 pound machine rolls over you,,, things like bones will bust, OUCH ! OUCH ! OUCH ! (4 wd may be needed in an area with snow and mud but not in Arizona)

3) under $4000 out the door

I’m cheap. If it’s the difference of getting one now or not getting one, or going into hock don’t do it ! Move up later if that’s what you want.

4) Fits easily into the back of my pickup

LOW stress. I don’t need this to be a major undertaking . 2 ramps , 2 minutes I’m ready to go. If I get someplace and it’s sucks I can reload and move on to the next spot easily.

5) Street legal

Honda’s are brake light ready. +License plate holder /light/brake light + electric horn + mirror = about $80. The street license plate= about $80. One years full coverage (YES FULL COVERAGE) = about $80,,,, under $250 total

6) Over 200cc
7) Over 100 miles per tank of gas
8) easily runs 25 MPH

A 200cc machine can easily run 25 MPH. Over 20 MPH and you are missing the scenery, the trails, the hidden cabins, the mines. With the correct transmission a 200cc machine will climb a wall. My 250 Recon has never hit reserve “NEVER”. I don’t think I have ever put 2 gallons in it in a day! It’s really not MPG it’s hours per tank/gallons. I can’t imagine riding sun up to sun down and running out of gas.

In summery; I can tell you I am happy with the choices I have made. I hear people say “some day you can get a bigger one”???? Bigger is not better in fact it may be a bigger pain in the ass in all aspects. If you think you need 4 wd drive I can tell you “you are wrong“. LOL- If your friend has 4 wd, take a rope! LOL (Better yet have him buy a 40 pound $300 winch and increase his weight even more !) I have been on 37 rides since January (1 year). If I had a “better, bigger, more expensive” ATV that was a BIGGER PAIN IN THE ASS,,,, maybe it would be 20 rides instead of 37 ????? Find someone else that has been on even 20 rides this year ?????

Honda Recon, A+. The other one I would look at is the Arctic Cat 250, 2wd. It has a CVT transmission that usually sucks for slow hill climbing or when you need torque. Arctic Cat put a low range selectable transmission on it. That SOB will pull stumps in low range, it’s like a tractor ! One of the best (Guest / Wife / Young Adult) easy to ride ATV's is the Bombardier Rally 200. It has a CVT transmission with no low range but is under 400 pound, all in an adult size package!

A few weeks ago I needed to rent an ATV for my son to have a day out with Dad. This was the time to verify if I made the correct choice so we rented a Rally. It is truly a fun and easy machine to ride ! It road every bit as good as the Recon even if it is single "A" arms up front, it just worked fine. Both machines have more than sufficient power for what most people do. The Rally is truly a NO BRAINER, anyone can ride it and master it within a few hours. The transmission (or lack of) is wonderful, no shifting for the beginners or non-ATV wife.

Drawback to the Rally, NO Low speed Low gear grunt! That wonderful belt drive system struggled in a few low speed climbs. If the speed is up just a few miles per hour it seemed to hook up just fine. For this reason I know I made the correct choice in purchasing the Honda Recon for my application. For 90% of the new riders this would not be a problem. I think the Rally would make an excellent Guest-ATV. Did I mention they are both under $4000 out the door ! You don't need to spend a lot of money to have a lot of fun !

9 months after trying the Rally I am faced with purchasing an ATV for the wife and family members. I reexamined the market place and found Polaris had a new model called the Sawtooth, 200 cc, CVT. This unit looks like just what I had in mind. If I recall correctly Polaris know their belts drives

We just went on our 1st real ride with our new Sawtooth. First comment I want to make perfectly clear is lets not compare this to an ATV for experienced riders. I purchased this machine for the wife primarily, and young adults that have no experience. If you want easy to ride this is the machine. The CVT spools up slowly or should I say smoothly. Most competing units of this type lack low end grunt. Without a low range this baby can spin the back tires if you hold the front brake and hit the gas. Polaris uses a different belt system. It responds to engine RPM and also torque load. I would call this more than sufficient torque considering I weigh over 200 pounds. The gas usage seemed unexpectedly low? We rode for over 4 hours (easy riding) and used 1.27 gallons, just doesn't sound possible??? Depending on how you drive, it could be hard to run out of gas in an entire day.

On our 2nd ride we climbed from the desert floor up to over 6000 feet into the pine trees. We were out for over 5 hour and road over 4 hours of what I would call “not ideal gas saving conditions”. At around 40 miles and 4 hours it sputtered going up a hill. Yes it was out of gas (going up a steep hill). We hit reserve and continued just fine. When we gassed up the Sawtooth took only 1.5 gallons? It looks like at a half a tank it tells you to head back. The number one attribute is NO SHIFTING and the wife loves it ! I took it for a short ride to check it out before loading it for the return trip. On a straightaway, with a nice uphill slop, it cruised along at 30 MPH without a strain. Once the RPM is up a bit and the speed is up a bit you can feel the CVT drive system really hook up. What can I say? I am very happy with the Sawtooth so far.

3rd ride -The wife couldn’t go so I thought I would get a mans perspective on the Sawtooth. The engine sounds like it is revving up to the point that you would normally shift a manual transmission. This is the normal operating RPM, after about 10 minutes this sensation passes. I was so relaxed on the ATV that I forgot that I took it to test it. I went down several steep grades and had no problem coming up, actually it was nice to always be in the correct gear (Forward). I think Polaris got the geometry correct on the steering. When you hit a bump or rock the handlebars jump about 1/2 as hard as other units, it feels like power steering almost (big plus for the wife). The rear brake is nothing to brag about but worked fine. The front brakes are great, actually some of the best front brake I have ever used.
If it is about the machine, don’t buy this ATV.
If it is about the places you can go, ease of operation, ability to put a family member on it safely (safer?), buy it! This would be just a touch wimpy for the normal adult male with some experience on ATVs, but a great family fun machine in all cases. I’m happy with my purchase and the WIFE LOVES IT. (A Happy Wife Is A Happy Life)

Go to this website. The price given MSRP+ about 200 to $400 should be the price you can get out the door for.