I am looking at a Polaris and a Honda utility ATV. Nothing too big, but around a 350 engine. Anyone have any thoughts as to which brand is more dependable?
I have owned them all and I would say I had the best luck with Polaris, Honda and Suzuki. My dad has had Polaris all his life and he loves them, I just bought one and I love it. It's going to be personal preference mostly. They are all pretty good. If you ask someone that owns a Honda, they will say Honda is the best, if you ask someone that owns Polaris they will say Polaris is the best. Really, they are all made well. They are all top brands, as far as Polaris, Honda, Suzuki, etc... Pick one you like and go with it. If you are not using it for serious hard labor, it's going to last you a very long time. They way these machines are built today, they are all excellent!
I worked for a polaris dealer in Australia for 4 years and I would take a Honda any day. A lot of people have a mindless devotion to polaris because it's made in the USA, but that doesn't automatically make it the best. Honda motorcycles have one of the best reputations for quality in the world. My family runs a 4000 acre property and we have 3 Honda ATV's that never stop and are rarely maintained. Yet we've never had a problem with any of them. When I worked for polaris some farmers bikes that got regular rough use had to have things like ball joints and suspension bushings replaced on nearly a yearly basis. Also the needle and seat in the carby's used to flog out if the bike was allowed to idle a lot. This was mostly eliminated when they went to fuel injection, but that also brought it's own problems, like cooling fans not working which often required the replacement of the engine control computer because the fan is switched by the computer and not just a sensor like on most bikes. once the Polaris battery voltage gets low it doesn't matter how hard you pull the pull start cord because the computer needs at least 9 volts to fire the injector. So flat battery = no start. On some of the older solid axle Polaris the rear axle had to regularly be removed and the splines greased or else dirt and water would get in and wear the splines and destroy the axle. These are expensive to replace. In the worst cases the diff had to be rebuilt as well. Also on polaris bikes that didn't get regular oil changes the lobes on the camshafts would wear away to the point the bike wouldn't start. Polaris parts are also hideously expensive, but that may just be because they had to be sent out to Australia. The honda's don't suffer from any of these problems. They are well made and of exceptional quality, can be relied on when you need them and will tolerate years of abuse with only the occasional oil change.
Comments
I have owned them all and I would say I had the best luck with Polaris, Honda and Suzuki. My dad has had Polaris all his life and he loves them, I just bought one and I love it. It's going to be personal preference mostly. They are all pretty good. If you ask someone that owns a Honda, they will say Honda is the best, if you ask someone that owns Polaris they will say Polaris is the best. Really, they are all made well. They are all top brands, as far as Polaris, Honda, Suzuki, etc... Pick one you like and go with it. If you are not using it for serious hard labor, it's going to last you a very long time. They way these machines are built today, they are all excellent!
I worked for a polaris dealer in Australia for 4 years and I would take a Honda any day. A lot of people have a mindless devotion to polaris because it's made in the USA, but that doesn't automatically make it the best. Honda motorcycles have one of the best reputations for quality in the world. My family runs a 4000 acre property and we have 3 Honda ATV's that never stop and are rarely maintained. Yet we've never had a problem with any of them. When I worked for polaris some farmers bikes that got regular rough use had to have things like ball joints and suspension bushings replaced on nearly a yearly basis. Also the needle and seat in the carby's used to flog out if the bike was allowed to idle a lot. This was mostly eliminated when they went to fuel injection, but that also brought it's own problems, like cooling fans not working which often required the replacement of the engine control computer because the fan is switched by the computer and not just a sensor like on most bikes. once the Polaris battery voltage gets low it doesn't matter how hard you pull the pull start cord because the computer needs at least 9 volts to fire the injector. So flat battery = no start. On some of the older solid axle Polaris the rear axle had to regularly be removed and the splines greased or else dirt and water would get in and wear the splines and destroy the axle. These are expensive to replace. In the worst cases the diff had to be rebuilt as well. Also on polaris bikes that didn't get regular oil changes the lobes on the camshafts would wear away to the point the bike wouldn't start. Polaris parts are also hideously expensive, but that may just be because they had to be sent out to Australia. The honda's don't suffer from any of these problems. They are well made and of exceptional quality, can be relied on when you need them and will tolerate years of abuse with only the occasional oil change.
Polaris
HONDA!! wayy more reliable..polaris will blow up on ya. get a honda