Thinking about an ATV...
 

2012 Polaris Sportsman 550 ATV : Overview

Sportsman 550. 1ft of ground clearance, with what looks like a pretty powerful motor.

Pro's and con's??

Get the one with the roll cage. Lots of people get hurt (BADLY) when those things tip over.

The Polaris seems to be a pretty tough machine. I rented one a few months back and beat the living hell out of that thing. Anything about 14 inches or under I didn't even slow down for and it seemed to soak up that kind of abuse pretty good.

Polaris handle like poop compared to Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki. If you want toughness speed and agility look at the Yamaha Grizzly new or used.

What will you be using it for? This will have a lot to do with which one you should choose.

Yeah, you really need to start out with what you'll do with it. I owned a Grizzly 660 for seven years, then sold it and bought a Kawi Mule because my boys got too old/big. There's no way I'd go back to an ATV now - they're fun, but I'm 42 now and flying over things at high rates of speed is now out of my system. Perhaps you need to get that into your system - who knows.

Over the past nine years of owning these things, I've learned to buy on probabilities of reliability; I always want a machine that'll run when I want it to with the least amount of hassles. Honda reliability is first, followed by Kawi, then Yamaha. Polaris always ranks somewhere around 5-6th place based on everything I've learned. I passed on the Polaris Crew and bought the Kawi Mule solely because of the reliability factor.

Why all the Rice Atv's?
Dun the U.S. have a model in the line-up?

yamaha parts are ungodly expensive.

Had a Polaris and it was a POS. Currently have 5 Hondas and never had any problems with any of them. I don't know anyone who has a polaris product that is happy with it.

I think that the Polaris is US made, or at least North American made, but I'm not sure. Unless they've changed in recent years, they have a chain drive. This is a maintenance issue.

Going to a mule type vehicle does introduce some US made products into the equation.

I have owned 1 and own 2. Reason I sold that one was to get EFI. Same unit but with EFI was the difference.

With scheduled maintenance, I haven't noticed too much of an issue. I would recommend them. I owned 2 Hondas before. Nothing spectacular. Their Rubicon and Rincon. I like the Polaris better.

I believe my motor was made by Fuji.

Wouldn't be enough to make me change my mind as to what to buy. IF all things are about equal, I would buy a US made product but I am not going to buy a US made product and figure out what I want.

I want something to blast down trails with, and that goes like stink when I get it in a field or on a dirt road.

In other words I plan on beating on it.

I like Polaris I'm sticking with them, they don't seem to break to often compared to what I have seen people do to them.

I just bought a Banshee. Talk about blasting down trails! Wooooooooo! It's like cartoon fast.

Would 4WD be necessary for the type of riding you do? If you go thru muddy trails, something that is a "MUST HAVE" is a winch.