This is a bit of a ramble, so buckle in — or don’t since ATV’s famously lack seatbelts — and get ready to listen to me dribble on about All Terrain Vehicles and peddle my unfounded opinions.
Now, on our podcast (Muttering Pines) we’ve chatted a bit about ATVs and what to look for when purchasing them, how to maintain them and so on and so on, but repeating content because I have a lack of ideas is kind of par for the course.
At this point I have been kind of blessed with the amount of ATVs — or quad bikes — we have up at our homestead. This has allowed me get a bit of a viewpoint on how these remarkable machines have changed over the years. My first ATV was purchased many years ago (second hand) and was fraught with issues, possibly because I almost immediately flipped it, or perhaps because of poor prior ownership… who could tell (it was the flipping for sure). That said, that little machine has been through hell and back and always keep going with nothing more than basic spare parts (like a whole new rear differential, both rear axles, front CV boot… the list goes on). This little rascal is a 2004 Polaris Sportsman 700 twin. This particular model doesn’t have fuel injection, or hand warmers, or power steering, or any fancy electronics. This was something that I found alluring. The fact that you are sitting on a machine that is run only on combustion and made of iron and steel. No bells and whistles. Perfect for off roading.
And it was. It was heavier, had big fuck off tires, and raw power. Like something out of Mad Max, just a big ‘ol beast running off gasoline and fire as it crawled, slid, jumped, and bulldozed through the untamed wilderness. Hard not to like that.
The next machine I was able to ride was also a Polaris 700 twin, but this was a newer model (2006) with fuel injection and hand and thumb warmers. Now this machine had taller, but thinner tires. It started without a choke. It drove a little smoother. It was nice. It had a bit of comfort to it in that there was less apprehensiveness towards its reliability. It felt like a more refined machine. But it had more fuses, computer chips, and electronic parts that could wear out, corrode or the wires could split and you’d spend your evening six beers in trying to trace electrical issues with a headlamp. It was like going from a 1970s muscle car to a car from the 1990s.
Skip ahead to my latest machine. Due to the increasing reliability concerns of the ol’ 2004 700 (nicknamed Max), I was forced to purchase a more modern machine out of fear of being left at the top of a mountain with a pile of scrap. So I found a 2013 Polaris Sportsman 850. Now this was more like going from a 70’s muscle car to a 2010’s Toyota. It lacked hand and thumb warmers but it had low kms and power steering. I had always scoffed at power steering, thinking it a bit of a luxury you didn’t need in an ATV. Fuck me was I wrong. Being able to turn on a forest trail with nothing but three fingers on the handle bar says a lot. Like: your shoulders are not going to be sore at the end of the day; you can make tighter corners faster and easier. It changes the game. Not to mention the smooth running of the newer engines and the lightness of the vehicle as it easily whips down the trails, yet still traverses logs, creeks and the wild outdoors with ease.
That said, it’s time to drop a contradictory opinion. Just in case you figured you’d come out of this complete waste of words with some sort of clear direction. Skip ahead to winter of this year. We had a very early snowfall that yielded about 15-20cm of snow. Not enough to put the quads away. So the three of us headed out on various excursions that included flat fields, steep draws, and banked trails. What I noticed most with my new 850 was how much I was fishtailing about on flat ground. When the 850 was riding our cutline with a moderate bank to it, I found myself driving at a 45 degree angle almost the entire time, fully clenched at the though of slipping down, down, down and into the trees. Not ideal. The 2006 Fuel Injected 700 also was fishtailing, although not as much. We also had the 2003 Bombardier out with us which seemed to handle the snow alright with very little fishtailing. It also has wider tires similar to the 2004 700 (Max). That said, the Bombardier tires (two of which the treads were on backwards) were smoother than hockey pucks and limited that bike to nearly flat ground lest you find yourself spending hours winching it up the smallest of knolls.
That brings me to Max. That machine did not fishtail. Did not drive sideways on the embankment. Did not have issues on hills or snow drifts. It had a constant power ratio that let you maintain speed without feathering your thumb the whole time. It went fucking everywhere. With no issues. Why? My guess is a combination of the low torque ratio, the weight, and the fat tires.
So, to bring it all back to the point of this… what makes a good ATV? In short… tires I guess. Max had wide, aggressive tires and a constant power ratio. The two fuel injected machines had thinner tires and more power at an easily more variable rate. The mix of thinner tires and more power is undoubtably the reason I was doughnutting my way through the fields.
Things like independent rear suspension is a huge positive. More power is always good for speed. Electrics are nice for keeping you warm and starting your machine smoothly… but what makes it an All Terrain Vehicle? The drivetrain and the tires. The ability to deliver constant raw power and grip the earth. All that other stuff is just luxury. Except the power steering, if you could couple that with a 2004 or earlier carburated machine with nice big fatties on the back tires… you’d have the machine of dreams.
At least my dreams anyways… and really, who wants me infiltrating their dreams?