Hello All,
Been doing my research on ATVs before I purchase and wanted to get some advise from people more experienced in the ATV market than me. Went out yesterday and test rode just about every ATV out there. I have been set on getting a Polaris Sportsman 500 Deluxe. It is a great bike but I was a little taken by how much body roll it has to the left/right and forward and back. Even when you accelerate the front end rises up a great deal and it just seemed to roll a lot when turning with any amount of speed. other than than it seemed like a great bike. The other ATV I was impressed with that a dealer gave me a great price on was the Suzuki KQ 700. I could buy it for the same price as the Polaris. Any input would be great. Any issues with either. I like to do technical riding and blazing new trails with some mud and water over the foot pegs. I live in VA and we have lots of forests, and steep inclines.

Thanks for the help,
TootsVA

quote:

TootsVA

Have spent last couple of trips with a ZUKI 700, if you buy one plan on changing the stock tires first thing they are JUNK. You will want to clip the limiter wire for the 4x4.

The 500 is a tried and proven performer I don't think you will find a better machine, the 4x4 system is the best to be had. If you buy the deluxe it should have ADC on it I think well worth the bucks. The POLARIS will have best ride and storage, look at the build of both machines real good look underneath at the under protection. Not sure about ZUKI but POLARIS is well protected.

Thanks for the input COB. Yeah, I noticed the tires and thought those will have to go. Other than that is the zuki a good machine and is the body roll that I experienced on the polaris normal or can be fixed?

TootsVA~

First of all I am BIASED and you are in the SUZUKI forum,...With that said,.. the KQ700 SUZUKI will eat the Polaris ALIVE and for the same money it is a no brainier. OHHH the belt on the SUZUKI will last 3,000 + miles.

i agree with stutz, i have both and enjoy both, but i only ride the polaris sportsman when my son kick's me off the kingquad.i gave him a brand new 06 450 sp and after getting the 700 kingquad, he wont hardly drive it. i should of bought another polaris! any way, the tire's might not look like the best, but i've not had any real issue's. as far as the limiter no issue's probily because i dont drive like some of these other guy's.the king quad is so so balanced and the power is awsome.steers like it has powersteering compared to my 450 and 500 efi i had. as far as comfort, i disagree, with cob, i cant hardly ride a full day on either polaris i've owned or still own. the kingquad seat is so comfortable and my leg's ain't out to my side 10 feet, like the sportsman's do.
man after a few hr's on the sportsman, my hip's hurt and so do my shoulder's.but i do like both atv's out of all the rest. good luck on making your decision. lucky#7

I have several friends that love theirs. If they had a 2 up I would have shopped them.

Thanks all for the replies. I really wasn't expecting to like another ATV but after a test ride I was really impressed. In fact I wasn't in the market for anything under 500cc but I figured if I could get a 700 for the pice of some of the 500s then I would have a little extra if I wanted to mount some larger tires. By the way what kind of prices did you all get on your KQ 700's. I had one dealer tell me 6700 and another 7100. The real difference I think was the 7100 was probably out the door but not sure. My brother in law was doing the haggle work while I was crawing under all of them and inspecting. Better him than me cause I tend to start to yell when I feel like i'm being taken advantage of.

Thanks all,
TootsVA

i paid $7300.00 out the door. everyone else wanted $7800.00 ou the door.i save $500.00 going to medford oregon, aproximatly 1 1/2 hrs. away.well worth the drive.

I have the 05 KQ 700 cob has been riding with. The tires are not that good. Also you need to replace the stock filter. I have heard alot of machines getting dirt through the filter and needing an engine rebuild. Also had to replace the stock battery. It is Junk. Those are the 3 main issues. Someone told me this weekend about people buying to small of machines then selling them a year later to get a bigger one. Like my wife told me when I bought mine, go ahead and buy it right the first time. You can chek out nyrocatv.com they have some posts on all different machines.
The rev limiter only allows you to turn so many rpm's with the diff lock engaged. I cut mine because when you are tryin to get through deep snow you need the extra rpm's.
Overall I am satisfied with the KQ 700 and would buy one again, but the Polaris and Artic Cats were doing good also.
Shawn

quote:

the KQ700 SUZUKI will eat the Polaris ALIVE

STUTZ how right you are, in fact I was going to post the VIDEO I have of that happening. But funny thing happened when I viewed them again, you know how camcorders are the darn things just some how make things look different. Here I was all convinced that the KQ was truly the KING. Then I made the mistake of watching it again.

I seen the stock tires first hand they are JUNK! With the BH it was a different machine through the same places. The LIMITER SUKS! Any time you are limited to 17 miles an hour in locked 4x4 that SUKS. I have the video of him trying to winch out and the machine puking and gaging because of the limiter. I thought it had blew a plug or some thing till I was told it was the limiter. It couldn't have pulled itself up in the back of his truck let alone out of a snow bank that everyone else had been through already. Without that limiter all new machine.

TWO WEEKS AGO if I had my choice between a KQ and a HEMROID the ROID would have won hands down. They were both a pain in the backside ROID just less of one. After the limter alteration and the new tires think that HEMROID wouldn't win so easy.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Cob,

quote:

I seen the stock tires first hand they are JUNK!

I told ya Cob, the KQ takes a lot of flack due to POS tires.
Cob let's be fair, the first thing you did to your Polaris was change the tires and springs, the same tire mod on the KQ yields similar improvements. You buy a BRP, you figure in the cost of skids and springs, you buy a KQ, you figure in the cost of new tires (and skids are a good idea), you buy a Polaris and you figure in the cost of a lot belts, rear calibers, springs, tires, and other misc parts. You'll also need a toothpick to get the bugs out of your teeth from smiling while riding ANY of these quads.
I agree with Toots a lot concerning the rolly polly ride of the Polaris, they have made them softer every year. And I think they have went too far. At least for my taste. As good as the SP500EFI is, it is way too soft to handle well.
All quads I know of have minor issues that can be improved depending on the desires of the owner, these are both great quads, get the one that trips your trigger and don't look back. My only suggestion would be to get the most cc's you can, you're already thinking about it!

Yeah, most of the people I know that have bought ATV recently already have an upgrade list in their pocket while signing the paper work to buy their new ATV. Don't get me wrong I really did like the polaris but out of many of the other atv I have ridden in the past they had considerably less roll. This was just something that i'm not used to and I guess thats why it made me a little nervous. I'm sure either way I would like either machine and become comfortable with each machines personality. I'm really excited though about getting one fairly soon so that is why i'm doing all my research and trials now. I have a few projects to get done around the house since its still fairly new but then the wife gave me her graces to pursue and ATV. I guess you can say i'm making progress since her first response was not so positive but I guess she is slowly seeing the light that this one idea was not going to be so easy to put to rest.

keep all the advise and input coming!
-TootsVA

Kawi 750 Brute Force......don't listen to all the others. Work with it, and trust me. It will do you justice.
I've got one. Did everything to it except bore. No one goes to look at the new 800's or Suzuki's. That's right they come to mine. May be the rider though.

Good luck and happy shopping. Bang for buck = Kawi 750 Brute (snorkel it though).

Cheers,
Trust me

quote:

Cob let's be fair, the first thing you did to your Polaris was change the tires and springs

There is a difference, I didn't change tires because they were inadaquate. I changed them because I personaly wanted bigger tires with more GC, it is some thing I have wanted for a long time. There was nothing wrong with the stock springs they were fine, unlike some other brands that have spring that sag with just a couple hundred miles on them and lose several inches of GC and HAVE TO BE CHANGED. I won't mention BOMBS name that way this won't look like finger pointing, everyone can try to figure out what machine I am talking about. I had heard several reports about EPI being an upgrade so thought would try them. Thanks to CAJUN and ELKBOW. The springs that are on the 2000 500 and the springs that are on the 2002 700 are still both stock neither has been changed. Both have BH on them.

I have close to 1500 miles on my 2006 800, still have the original belt on, and the belt cover isn't warped. Still have the same skidplate that came from the factory.

What it will all boil down to is personal preference, you are the one that will be paying for it. You are the one that will be riding it, as long as you are happy thats what is important. You are lucky as you have a place to do the home work many ppl have to buy blindfolded, they have no clue other than what the dealer tells them.

All quads have their faults and plus's... Cob is right ...it is personal preference... I have a sporsman 700, Honda 300, and had a Stealth 800...I have no complaints with any of them..
I am now buying a Outty 800 and spending money to bullet proof it...with skid plates and Crutchfield Suspension...

I compare it to this....One guy likes Chevy... the next guy likes Ford...Who cares you are the one paying for it.. Don't get into a Pissing match about which is the best...

There will never be a BEST...as long as the Human Factor is involved...That is the Truth..

you guy's knock the stock tire's because each and probily everyone of you that say there garbage have always used an agressive tire. i've never used an agressive tire so to me stock tires are ok. i know 2 other people beside's me that have had there king quads for
atleast a year and have never had to replace a battery and drive harder then most people i know and that limiter has never caused them to not make it were they wanted to go in diff lock.
and as far as the filter goe's i was told by a friend who has a king quad 700 05 model, and he has had a k&n filter in it since the day he owned it, and when he had the tranny gone through they noticed scaring in the cylinder wall. they claimed it was the k&n filter. they said there finding out k&n filters are letting too much dirt through causing this issue . also the mechanic recomended ,it's better to have a stock air filter in then a k&n filter.who know's
what's right ?

Everybody tends to say, "Get what I have!", but not quite in those words.
So here I go. My turn. (With the site administrators indulgance)

I might be a bit out of date with some of this stuff, but:
-Kawasaki. Nice, powerful, but has a lever operated front locker you have to hold. Good but not as good as a flip lever you 'set it and forget it'. (thanks Ron Popiel)
Worse though, the Kawi has a 4WD system that needs the machine to be rolling for it to engage. Get stuck in 2WD and you will have only 2WD until the cows come home. Or you get pulled out. Make sure you stick your Kawi in 4WD early, before you get stopped.
-Polaris, in spite of Cob's assertion that it has the 'best' 4WD system, perhaps doesn't.
Polaris uses a Hilliard front drive, a differential originally designed for lawn maintenance equipment and bought in bulk by Polaris. It has a delayed 'demand' engagement system and as a huge drawback has NO FRONT ENGAGEMENT unless it is driven. No front engagement, IE engine braking when descending hills, making steep technical descents a potentially hair raising proposition. Apparently you CAN get the front to engage for a descent if you stop at the top of the hill, back up a certain distance while holding something on, go ahead so many feet while doing something else, chant certain prayers to Mayan gods while smearing chicken blood on the gas tank or some such set of steps I can't remember... Oh, and it might just kick back off to 2WD halfway down unless you keep below a certain speed or some such thing.
That's a bit much to call the 'best' system, sorry Cob. Just another opinion.
Polaris calls it 'true' four wheel drive. You decide.
Other makes when you want engine braking on the front axle going downhill, you 'set it and forget it'.
ps. I think the new ones have an optional 'ADC' to address the free-running front end situation.

Stock KQ tires and those on many other makes are not very good for rough going, it's true. The traction is not up to that of the good aftermarket tires. (The Carlisle tires on stock Polaris and Bombardiers are much better)
For dirt roading, the stock tires will do just fine, only thing is that they are just 2 ply, and as such are more prone to punctures than a 6 ply.
That said, 15 kilometers into my first ride on my nice new 6 ply ITP XTR's I got a puncture about a centimeter wide on the running surface between the lugs. Go figure.

The 4 wheel drive utilities are pretty much all around the same weight, 600 pounds (the P brand runs a bit fatter), so yes you are going to want more bang for your buck eventually, and since there is no real weight penalty for the bigger quads, why not knock yourself out on your first purchase?

A King Quad 700's air filter should be changed as soon as possible, for a Twin Air (or Uni). K&N is controversial. Some swear by them, some swear at them.
Some Kings have a bad battery. Mine is still fine after 2 years. Never seen a charger or battery tender and fires it right up even after sitting all winter. I got lucky I guess.

King Quad's a dog in the real rough stuff unless you defeat the limiters. Easy a pie the low lock and pretty basic to do the reverse. Directions are available on Nyrocs site. Then it's a nearly unstoppable tank.

Bottom line is I have ridden with a lot of different makes in plenty of situations and there isn't one that I would call a POS or that I would throw rocks at. (Including one fellow with a 700 Polaris!)
But there isn't one that went somewhere my King Quad wouldn't go, and there were plenty of times I went somewhere that other ATV's needed help through, so while I can't say that mine is any better than another make, there is no other one that ever puts it to shame.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Glenlivet,

verry well put "glenlivet"
i was saying i don;t see anything wrong with my tire's because the carlile's on both my other polaris atv's are stock as well and they get more stuck then i do witch was only one time in about a foot of mud, i high centered in a rut.

Well said Glenlivet~

I was also preparing a response but saw your post that summed up my opinions and refraned,...besides who needs the PoPo Gods crashing down on my head,...they know who the KING is.

stutz " i just love kingquad.if i had to do over i'd bought all king quads.however i do like the ground clearance on the 450.and the size of it.but king quad seemd to navigate
a lot better.besides why are we defending kingquad on the suzuki forum?
last time i started to talk about king quad on the polaris forum i was told i should take it to the zuki forum.someone is not happy with there popo that's ok we can refer them to a zuki dealer ha guy's