Fishing Forum

What do you guys think of Bombardier ATVs?

I just saw this show on cable last weekend. It was an ATV Jamboree where they independently tested all of the major brands head to head in several different tests for traction, torque, speed, hill climbing, etc. The Bombardier ATVs (same people who make Ski-Doo & Sea-Doo) won almost every single challenge. They raced all of the 700 and 800 big bores and the Bombardier 800 crossed the finish line with the next closest competitor only 2/3 down the track. Then they did this long mud bog and Bombardier 800 was the only machine that made it all the way thru. Next they did this tractor-pull type event to test torque and the Bombardier won that too. In that same torque test, the Bombardier 400 beat all the 400cc machines plus all of the 500cc machines except one (Polaris). On an obstacle course test there was one element that every single machine got stopped on, but the Bombardier went right over it. I have to admit it seemed quite convincing to me, I'm leaning heavily toward Bombardier when I buy my ATV next year.

Anyone out there have good/bad experiences with Bombardier?
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Besides all of the performance issues you mentioned, you also need to consider the reliability of the machine. My first quad was a polaris 300 4x4. Like bombardier, I thought since Polaris made such good snow machines, the quad would also be reliable. WRONG! That thing always has something going wrong with it. I finally broke down and got a service manual and end up doing most of the work myself to save the $80/hour shop fee. In other words, just because the sleds are good doesn't mean the quads will be. In my personal experience, Hondas have been the most reliable followed by Arctic Cats. I would highly recommend talking to the shop guys at a dealership that services many brands and finding out what they ride.
Another thing to think about is what will you be using the quad for most of the time? Short of pulling stumps or crawling over deadfalls, most smaller cc quads will get you into the same places as the big (expensive) quads for a lot less coin.
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Check out [url "http://www.atvtv.com/"]www.atvtv.com[/url] for reviews of different 4 wheelers. Honda started the craze and is the most reliable.
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1. Honda
2. Honda
3. Honda
4. Yamaha
5. See above

My favorite quote of all time about ATV's was a guy on a hunting forum once who said (actual quote):

"I'm glad I had my old Honda with me, I wouldn't have been able to pull out my two Polaris' when they BOTH broke down 5 miles from the trucks"
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I just bought a honda rincon and couldn't be happier. I was like you, when I got the go ahead to buy one I researched everything I could and I came down to the honda, a yamaha, and a polaris. I was leaning toward the polaris because it seemed a little beefier and a little faster than the honda, but went with the honda simply because of the name honda on the engine. It's amazing how smooth it rides and how well it handles a load. I'm a big guy (in the 260 lbs. range) and the deer I put on it this year dressed, capped, and headless still weighed in at 215 lbs at the butcher and I had to go over two nasty passes with the deer and I to get him out and I simply couldn't believe how stable the machine was. As for power, it will go faster than I'm brave enough to go, even on a smooth dirt road. I really don't think you could go wrong with a honda.
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