Decent small 4X4 quad?

[west coast angus]

We have the new 2014 model 420, it is a completley new bike loads of changes, came with power steering would never go back, Very good on fuel and its so much more comfortable than the last model, the 500 has a difflock but i fined them to thirsty and when you get stuck to big to push out! Its the best bike i have ever been on and love it, the one gripe i have is that it feels a bit guttless, was told they all do when new and take a while to lossen up, time will tell!

 

[Blue.]

Where do I start!

Yamaha is sort of out because the local dealer is a fecking Mary,had two big bears in the past and found them very thirsty and heavy to steer.

Best we've had is a 300 4x4 I bought it in 96 my dad still has it.

Had a 90 on floats,it made a mess I think a mule or gator would be forever stuck.

So its either a new 420 can you get them with manual? (Not a great fan of my es Honda) good local dealer.

Or a can am 400,are they any good in the wet been told they get stuck easy?

Nearest dealer 100 miles away,not a problem if they are reliable.

 

[west coast angus]

Yea it comes in manual got told to stay away from es!

 

[atvrob]

she wants a trailer for calves,no point when it can't pull itself.

Put a set of oversize tyres on your 250. if you get decent ones it will go almost as many places as a 4wd. You can get 25x13-9 rear tyres on a Honda TRX250. They almost float on them

 

[Headless chicken]

Honda recovers from a roll very well! Sadly speaking from recent experience. New Honda that work has is very tail happy spend 90% of my day going sideways if your in 2 wheel drive

 

[Blue.]

Put a set of oversize tyres on your 250. if you get decent ones it will go almost as many places as a 4wd. You can get 25x13-9 rear tyres on a Honda TRX250. They almost float on them

I can get it to go everywhere our 4wd quads went,just I have to drive it like Dougie Lampkin.

 

[Sheep]

Where do I start!

Yamaha is sort of out because the local dealer is a fecking Mary,had two big bears in the past and found them very thirsty and heavy to steer.

Best we've had is a 300 4x4 I bought it in 96 my dad still has it.

Had a 90 on floats,it made a mess I think a mule or gator would be forever stuck.

So its either a new 420 can you get them with manual? (Not a great fan of my es Honda) good local dealer.

Or a can am 400,are they any good in the wet been told they get stuck easy?

Nearest dealer 100 miles away,not a problem if they are reliable.

Big bear a completely different animal though, but if your not a fan of the dealer then that's a different story, can you get a 420 fully auto with a low gear?

Tbh I wouldn't be a fan of going back to a manual quad however I do occasionally miss the engine breaking although 4wd and diff lock helps with hills. Any 400cc+ auto with a low gear should be fine.

 

[atvrob]

Big bear a completely different animal though, but if your not a fan of the dealer then that's a different story, can you get a 420 fully auto with a low gear?

No it has a 5 speed dual clutch gearbox. 1st gear is supposed to be super low ratio . You can hold it in that gear to control it from gearing up

 

[west coast angus]

Hi Atv rob, Can you recommend the best make and size tyre for a 420? the standard ones are crap and dont last anytime at all!!

 

[atvrob]

Hi Atv rob, Can you recommend the best make and size tyre for a 420? the standard ones are crap and dont last anytime at all!!

What do you use your bike for?
What type of ground are you working on? Do you want wider than normal or standard width

 

[west coast angus]

wet hill farm peat bogs lots of very steep climbs etc, light road work wider the better!!

 

[neilo]

Or a can am 400,are they any good in the wet been told they get stuck easy?

Nearest dealer 100 miles away,not a problem if they are reliable.

Only time mine's ever been stuck is when Mrs NeilO went collecting logs with a trailer on, found a big wet patch over a broken drain but couldn't find the switch to put it in 4WD. She'd hand balled all the logs out and dug it in deeper before she plucked up the courage to ring me.

That was on the standard (road) tyres too. Much better on chobblies, as they all are.

 

[Flossie]

Only time mine's ever been stuck is when Mrs NeilO went collecting logs with a trailer on, found a big wet patch over a broken drain but couldn't find the switch to put it in 4WD. She'd hand balled all the logs out and dug it in deeper before she plucked up the courage to ring me.

I've driven a lot more aggressively this last week to avoid another phone call

 

[atvrob]

wet hill farm peat bogs lots of very steep climbs etc, light road work wider the better!!

If I were you I would put Kenda Bearclaws on
25x12.5-11 on rear
25x10-12 on front
If you wanted to go even better you could put 500 wheels on an go to 26" tyres.
26" tyres tend to have a deeper tread bar so last long. Sell loads of them

 

[neilo]

I've driven a lot more aggressively this last week to avoid another phone call

You might as well give it some welly. It sounds like you've already managed to convince @eulb that it's OK to extend the mortgage for a replacement.

 

[west coast angus]

Thats great thanks, never thought about changing to 500 wheels prob to expensive! will google bearclaws!

 

[Flossie]

You might as well give it some welly. It sounds like you've already managed to convince @eulb that it's OK to extend the mortgage for a replacement.

Or just bring everything inside Or move somewhere dry Or sack the driver

 

[Funnywaytmekalivin]

wet hill farm peat bogs lots of very steep climbs etc, light road work wider the better!!

Maxxis do an oversize tyre that is very good on the wet and pulling in the wet, they do tend to drag the steering a bit in the dry though. Half worn they still grip better than some other tyres do new.
Had the bear claws once, they were a bit cheaper which was good but they were a bit more aggressive which resulted in less traction because they rove through the top. They were very grippy in the dry though.

 

[west coast angus]

Maxxis do an oversize tyre that is very good on the wet and pulling in the wet, they do tend to drag the steering a bit in the dry though. Half worn they still grip better than some other tyres do new.
Had the bear claws once, they were a bit cheaper which was good but they were a bit more aggressive which resulted in less traction because they rove through the top. They were very grippy in the dry though.

Interesting thanks for that!

 

[sherg]

When did the new ones come out? I downgraded mine to a 500 in the Spring, and like it a lot. Got power steering on now, as I'm getting old and infirm, and I've got used to bright yellow quads.

I think yours would be an upgraded version of mine yours will have a bit more power, better storage space, better rear guards around the lights (I've broken ours a couple of times), think you might have better heated grips and you'll have power steering oh and a better ball hitch than is on ours