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What should I look for when shopping for ATV's ...which models are best, preferrably a 4 wheel drive model.

As many are aware, I'm a desert hunter. Some time back one of the most successfull desert hunters I know gave me some advice on buying an ATV. Look for a used one, he said. One that the owner didn't use much, and is selling because he finally realized that he really didn't have a use for it.
The other piece of advice was buy a two wheel drive, not a 4 WD. You want one like the farmers use, with gears, etc. Not something designed to cover ground at speed. This is what he uses. And he goes places the Jeep users can't.
We are not talking mud here. Or soft sand as in sand dunes. But for loose rock ridges, flats ,and desert washes, it does work. A lot less inclined to break as well. E

Some may disagree but that is what makes ballgames. I am planning on getting a Kawasaki prairie 650 early next fall.

Hard to beat Honda for overall reliability. They are not the fastest, smoothest riding ATV's out there but IMHO they seem to have the quality to survive many years of use & abuse. Any of their 4X4's from 300 cc & up will be good machines. I hunt in the South & frequently use mine in swampy areas where the water is up to headlight depth & mud deep enough to sink your boots. My 400 Foreman has never missed a lick yet. There are many good brands out there, my own experience has been limited to Honda (had 2 of 'em), Yamaha & Kawasaki. All good machines, but I think Honda has the edge in build quality & reliability. The friends/huntinjg partners that have Polaris have had very mixed experiences with theirs, most of them not good FWIW. badger.

I pretty much agree with badger. Honda is the choice of most hunters around here because of their legendary reliability. We've got 10 guys in my deer camp and all except two drive honda's, the two that don't are going to get honda's when they can sell their yamaha's. My honda rancher has given me no trouble whatsoever. In the desert a 2wd is likely ok but anywhere else having 4wd is critical, don't even think of buying a quad without it. The one make to definately stay away from is polaris, poor engineering and poor quality control.

crow bs there is nothing wrong with polaris I have used my 325 magnum for 2 seasons here in Colorado with no problems. there are others on this board that use polaris also with no problems. tom

Mine's a Kawasaki Prairie 400, ('98 I think).
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<br>IF I was looking today I'd price the Honda against the Kawasaki. Since I haven't seen a Honda work harder or be more reliable, so far, than my Kawasaki I would let the dollars decide.
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<br>I have worked the Kaw like a borrrowed mule, so it's had many opportunities to let me down. It never has.
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<br>I'd most likely stall out at anything over $200 or $300 more for the Honda and buy another Kawasaki.
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<br>Whatever you do, get a pretty one. For the money you're going to spend it should at least be purty.
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<br>2D

I'll add this to what eremicus said...don't get one that was driven by a kid. You'll know it when you see it, if it was abused. A used, cared for bike, is just as good as new, especially if it has less than 1,000 miles on it.
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<br>I rode the desert for years and never needed 4wd. 2wd bikes are the fastest in the dunes, (btw, so are 2wd jeeps) but they won't always turn and go the way you want it to (liek when you are going around a bowl, in the dunes, and turn to go straight up the side, btw a tough trick to do) and you don't need it for sand or desert washes.
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<br>Where you need 4wd drive is in mud and snow. If you are going to ride in those, 4wd is a real plus. Otherwise, you don't need it. But, once it starts plowing snow or mud, underneath the bike, it AIN"T GOING.
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<br>But, what you must have, is LOW-gears and most 4wd's have low gears. If it has a chain, then the low gears are easy to come buy $50-75, including a new chain ($25 for a chain, $25 for a rear sproket and 15 for a front sproket) You can probably get by w/just a front sproket though (it wears out twice as fast as the back one). You need it to crawl over rocks and etc. A 2wd quad will do more than a STOCK 4wd PU on dry ground and it can often cross SOME snow and mud that would bog the truck down and do often as well.
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<br>Honda is the brand that others are judged by, But I own two Suzukis and never had any problems w/em. In fact, I've never PERSOANLLY met anyone that had another brand and thought it was junk (and could substantiate it) and I've seen a lot of other bikes that have had the @@@ ran out of em. A lot of brands MAY NOT be as good as Honda, but they will last you for years w/no problems. Now, those Yamahas were mentioned, but, did they actually have problems w/em or were they just not as "Neat" as the Hondas(and I've other brands bad-mouthed before on web-sites, in fact I've seen people say that a Honda is a POS on Forums).
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<br>You can't go wrong w/a Honda.
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<br>I like auto-clutches, w/a manual trans. I also like bikes in the 250-350cc range, because I can pu one end of em and move em. I've never had an-independent rear suspension bike, and I don't think that it is neccessary.

Most ATV's are good nowadays. The new Honda ATV's may have the best automatic transmission, but they are more expensive than other ATV's.
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<br>Lightweight 2-wheel drive ATV's with big tires can easily be "floated" across shallow water. Sometimes you may have to dismount and walk the ATV, while sometimes you may be able to ride them without going across the current. This is not easily achieved by a novice, but after some practice it can be accomplished.
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<br>First, I will explain the kind of terrain and use of ATV's in the areas I hunt, and second the brands of ATV's I see:
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<br>1. I ride my ATV through a combination of mud/water and dry dirt areas. The mud pools are deep enough to sink the machine in, so I usually avoid very deep holes. I tow a small trailer behind my ATV, in which I carry about 400 pounds of hunting gear, food, tents, etc., and use the same trailer to haul from 600 to 900 pounds of moose meat. I also load a leg or two on the ATV racks to keep the load balanced. The average temperatures are from 28 degrees F during the night to about 65 or 70 degrees during the day. My ATV is a 1994 Yamaha Big Bear (350 motor). So far all I haven't had any mechanical problems with this ATV.
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<br>Sometimes I ride down the mountains to the valleys below. The terrain is quite steep, so when going down I move any gear or bags from the front rack to the back, and the other way around when going back up. Going up requires having to lean over and between the handle bar grips.
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<br>I plan to replace the stock tires with a set of Maxis or similar ATV tires to increase the amount of traction, because sometimes (when towing a loaded trailer through the mud) the tires spin. Getting stuck in the mud is not a problem, since I have a Warn A-2000 winch by the front bumper. The winch cost me $69.00, the result of a deal offered by Yamaha when I purchased the ATV. I replace the spark plug once per year, the engine/transfer case oil before and after moose season, and the gear oil (front and back) every other year. I also check or adjust the valves once per year, or every other year. I use Yamahalube oil, since it is one of the best for this machine (the clutches in the transfer case use the same engine oil). During the winter months I use the ATV to plow the driveway, then park it in the garage.
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<br>2. ATV's I see when hunting in this area: Yamaha (Big Bear, Grizzly, Kodiak), Honda (all kinds), Suzuki King Quad (and all others), Kawasaki, and every now and then a Polaris. Most are 4-wheel drive, and the 2-wheel drive I see may have tire chains. A friend of mine has an older 2-wheel drive Suzuki, but since it has some type of Posi-lock (locks both rear wheels for extra traction), he does not use chains. Most ATV's I see have some kind of winch up in front.
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