New England B.S. Thread

I've actually heard osme nightmare stories about Polaris' warranty. Seems to depends largely on the dealership you buy from, not the company. My neighbors and I had a few Polaris and Arctic Cat ATVs growing up and they were all great. We beat the ever living shit out of them and never had any problem with them at all. The Polaris models were simple, 2wd 2 stroke ATVs, the Arctic Cats were larger, 4wd utility ATVs.

 

When we had our Polaris ATVs, they ran fine, and the only good thing about them was they started very easily in cold temps (they had carburetors). But the rest of the machine fell apart (we were riding one time, and a headlight on one machine just fell out! As far as I know, no one hit anything, just the mounts broke from riding.)

 

It's tough, I read the forums and I see issues on all the brands. I just got a good offer on a polaris and see plenty of issues, then I look at Can-Am and see plenty of things that would need to be added (racks, hd springs,hitch, bumpers etc...) and it has high maintenance needs. My cousin has that brute force and beats the shit out of it and has rolled it a few times with no problems. Gonna have to get a quote on one.

 

Sorry to hear that Nick

 

Sorry to hear, remember the good times.

 

Okay, found a place in NY with actual good prices, at least IMO. Can meet over boarder to miss out on some of that sales tax too.

Brute Force 750 with EPS for $8700 out the door everything included
Honda Rubicon w. EPS for about $8200 out the door.

Or,
Polaris 850 SP for 9k, delivered to my door.

I am leaning towards the brute force due to everyone's reliability claims and from my cousins experience. Not totally convinced the Honda won't be good though.

 

Thats awesome they will help avoid the NY taxes.

 

Yeah, saves me like 4-600 depending on VT,MA or NY taxes. You can't ride on trails in MA so I won't ever register it.

 

If you can convince them to swing in to NH, no sales tax.

 

That Rubicon is only a 500 though, right? For what it sounds like you intend to tow with it, I'd go with a bigger engine.

 

What do you mean by that? I used to with neighbors' registered ones all the time. As far as I know as long as it's registered and you aren't in a place that restricts them, you're fine.

 

Those are good prices, I would go with the Brute Force, as the 750 V-Twin has plenty of power! I didn't realise the Honda only has a 475cc engine, that's kinda disappointing.

 

It's MA, everything is restricted... Not a whole lot of places you can ride an ATV in MA. You can find more places that will let you ride dirt bikes but they specifically restrict ATVs.

 

My parents have had a Polaris 6x6 since the mid-90's, and the only issue they've had with it that entire time (besides the turning radius being roughly one half of Gilette Stadium) is keeping mice out of the belt housing. Other than that it's just been maintenance items like wheel/axle bearings, oil changes, etc.

Edit- And also a radiator fan, but that was because yours truly may have found a stick with it when he was young and dumb(er)

I honestly don't understand the giant engines they're putting in ATV's now. The above-mentioned 6x6 only has a 425cc motor and it'll do 40 something MPH on a flat straightaway, and haul anything you hook to it in low range (they use it to haul sap during maple season, so it's regularly got 100 gallons in the bed and another 350 in the tank behind it, on a trailer)

 

That's the issue we had when I lived in MA with the Polaris ATVs, we registered them, but there was nowhere legal to ride them.

 

I knew that much. We at least have October Mountain here that I know about for sure. Others where nothing says either way, but if you go through you'll find signs saying no motorized vehicles beyond this point, which implies they're fine before that.

 

Yup, can't ride quads in any of the thousands of acres of forest surround me. You can hike, apparently log it, hunt it etc... but if they see an atv they will come grab and tow it. My BIL went about a half mile off our property and got his taken. Not paying taxes for that.

I guess there is October Mnt, but that is pretty much it from what I know. Maybe there is more? Where were you going when you were young? Problem is a lot of those places are shut down now for motorized vehicles. It gets worse all the time.

Yeah, the Honda I think is going to be left behind, but it's a close 2nd. The brute force is sorta sporty more than a utility thing. I want to tow heavy stuff and chug along, don't ever want to go over 40-50 on a quad around here either. This leaves me leaning towards the polaris. Mine hasn't had any issues besides battery not holding a charge, and their aftermarket is huge which is a big plus for me.

 

I get some of the purpose built ones. The ones that are going to be used for deep water and mud with really tall paddle tires will need some serious grunt to get along. For purely utility purposes, a 1,000 cc ATV does seem a little unnecessary but who's going to say no to more power and torque?

 

that's the price we pay for letting the little bastards into our hearts...some day they will be gone...every time I get a new pet i think "Well this one surely won't be as great as old xxxxx..." and then some day, once again...you've got that knot in your throat as you admit it's time to go.. A veterinary clinic I worked for in high school had a picture of Norman Rockwell's "At the Vets" and a little poem about knowing when it's time to put your dog down...

 

Looks like October Mountain, Pittsfield, and Beartown are still okay.

I went through Peru state forest a lot as a kid. Hard to find anything official on it now, other than that snowmobiling is allowed. Some of the minor trails always had signage prohibiting motorized vehicles, but the main ones did not.