let me solve this Predator vs 450R *** I am a service tech at a atv shop, I have an 07 450R that I race with and I also have 05 Predator 500 Troy Lee with I traded my 03 Raptor in for. Raptor vs Predator - the raptor will win  barley in a drag. now Raptor vs Predator Troy lee - Predator will smoke the raptor in a drag. they both top out about the same stock 74.5 for the Raptor vs 76 for the Predator. Now having had both quads and have had plenty of time on the 660 and 700efi. the pedator is the much better of the 2 hands down if its a TLD. now for the Predator vs my 450r, when the 450 was all stock and the Predator was all stock the 450 comes now were close to out running the predator the predator just pull so hard off the line the 450 with the pipe still was getting beat. now I really can't compare the 2 the 450 has about 4000 grand in racing parts. but I have rode the new Outlaw 450 and its as a much stronger engine the anything in the 450 class. so the 450r my be traded in after next year that is if the is aftermarket parts  for the Outlaw. Now for if Polaris (4x4) is junk yes and no before 99 yes after no. we sell Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, and Polaris. Honda has the most reliable engine., but there plastic and clips they use to hold everyting together are junk, the sportsman are a great 4x4. it is second on are service repairs after honda but honda quality as not really risen in the past 4-5 years were as polaris service numbers keep srinking. I think in the nest 3-4 years Polaris will over take Honda if Honda does not do anyting.  

BUYER BEWARE!!!  do a search on polaris recalls.
i think you'll be very surprized at what you find.
polaris paid out over 3 million in settlements over injuries caused by defective or poorly manufactured atv's in 2006 and 2007.
and to date there are even 2008 year model recalls on polaris machines.  geeze it's not even 2008 yet.

but you would be very surprized at how many (just about every polaris model they make) recalls and how many model recalls they have had to do and are still doing.

Buy a Honda,  I see Polaris machines everyday in my shop for repairs. (have 5 here today.)

for every 10 polaris' machines i may get 1 Honda in needing repairs.

Polaris is junk, and the cofounder of the company went on the record as saying "if we made 400 machines we'd get 500 back"

that should really tell you something. I mean here's the cofounder of POlaris admitting that they are junk!

and when you take into account that Polaris was for years a company that only built farm tractors it makes sense that they would be behind the curve when it comes to atv's.
just like when they tried to build wave runners and that division of the company went under.

Polaris recalled 12,000 of it's machines for transmission failure,  they also recalled 45,000 for fire hazards. not to mention the numerous other recalls they have had to do. check out the "cpsc"
but for every recall you see public there are 5 more that they wont admit to.

( i have personally called polaris for my customers to try to help them get warranty reimbursement because of these defects)

I have seen many cylinder heads that came from the factory eggshaped,(you know what that means, the rings wear out prematurely, or the piston wobbles and busts the skirt and causes more damage to the engine.) and there was never a recall for it.
I had one customer who bought their polaris and brought it directly from the dealer to me to upgrade, and while riding it off their trailer it lost all compression.  well the Polaris dealer accused him of running it without oil and voided the warranty for him.
it was only started at the dealership, and then when he went to take it off the trailer to leave it with me.
so how did he run it without oil especially when it was full of oil?
long story short he threatened to sue and The dealer finally gave his money back. he now rides kawasaki.

Polaris has had "lemon atv" recalls which means a significant number of their machines failed to the point that they fell under the classification of "lemons"
but don't take my word for it,  read the cpsc.  you'll see all of the "lemon" recalls there.

as well Honda beat Polaris hands down this year in sales and performance.

besides who wants to buy an atv that claims it's all american and over 50% of it's parts are foreign??  
buy a honda at least they aren't shamed to admit where they are really made.
and they have been making atv's for many years.  

Polaris 800 sportsman is a very powerful machine and does ride nice due to the fact that it weighs a ton but if you own one you should also consider buying a spare primary clutch. It will go bad. Not if.....when. I would stay away from thier product.  

ya know other than test riding the customers' bombardier after repairing i haven't really ridden one.
and i admit i don't get as many bombardiers' as i get polaris.
certainly I get more of them than *** machines, but not nearly as many of them as i do the polaris.  so whats the deal are they pretty quick?  what do they top out at?

I have a yamaha blaster that i bored out and worked over a bit, and no complaints with it, it's a super nice sport atv to hang on to.
and i also have a yamaha blaster frame with a retrofitted HOnda interceptor 700 V 4 cylinder engine on it.
the only complaint i have with the v4 is that even after weighing the front end down it's still darn near impossible to keep the front tires on the ground.
but man talk about torque and top end!!!  

Yes, the 2008 Polaris Ranger is a fire hazard too. They just haven't recalled them yet but after this I'm sure they will. BUYER BEWARE!!! The Ranger caught fire late at night in the garage and destroyed half the house along with the 5 week old 2008 Denali.



http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=136191002&albumID=1338648&imageID=15326299  

Polaris doesn't like to admit that they need a recall unless gov't steps in.

like they did with the other fire hazard models and the hawkeye they made that caused so much physical injury that they had to pay out millions in settlements.

on the upside they may since the gov't is already all over them.  
some of the models even have what are called "Lemon Recalls" on them.

I don't suggest anyone buy a polaris until they decide they need to step up to the plate and make quality their highest priority instead of a quick buck.

the ones I work on have constant issues due to poor quality parts or workmanship from Polaris.
I have assisted many of my customers in trying to get their repairs done under warranty and had the dealers refuse warranty time and time again, when the repairs were absolutely due to factory defects.

the few polaris machines i have owned in the past were all absolutely junk!  it got to where i had to repair them before they could be ridden, and make sure i took a tool box and a tow rope when with me when i rode them.  it's no fun having to repair them constantly or having to be towed out of the woods constantly either.

So until Polaris gets their hands off their wallets and steps up to the plate i suggest you buy honda or yamaha, suzuki or kawasaki.  
geeze buy a chinese atv, honestly i see less of those for repairs than i do the Polaris.  

HONDA IS DEFENATLEY THE WAY TO GO…THOW I PREFER YAMAHA STICK WITH HONDA  

yeah ya know i like honda alot, but Yamaha really got my attention with the blaster, to me it's just amazing how much torque and horsepower you can get out of that little 200cc engine.
and the yz450 is an awesome machine too, basically you throw the air box lid away jet the carb and put good exhaust on it and that thing is ready to race.
 
Yamaha really hit the nail on the head, most riders want torque, and a good handling machine without breaking the wallet to make it super fast.

Yamaha won me over with the blaster, if they are that dedicated to giving the customer what they want (RAW HORSEPOWER coupled with an almost endless choice of modifications)
then they definately have my vote!!
but honda is good too!!
sturdy and strong.


and to be perfectly honest with ya,  i'd rather push my yamaha than ride a polaris, ...that's if you could get the polaris to run long enough to ride.  

update, the consumer product safety commission
shows honda had 7 recalls since 2000

while polaris has had 13 since 1999

there ya go!  buy Honda at least they have a better idea how to sucessfully build and atv so that it wont fall apart on you.

Yamaha only had 4 recalls since 1997

and Polaris does have a recall now on the 2008 ranger model for a fire hazard.  they should have sent you a letter telling you this.  

adrian 1 ur wrong the outlaw would win not the predator against the honda  

funny thing happened!! I ran into a guy that had a POlaris sportsman 500 on the trails the other day, and my sons' little stock 200cc blaster blew it's doors off.  the guy really felt bad getting beaten by a  

funny thing happened saturday!! I ran into a guy that had a POlaris sportsman 500 on the trails the other day, and my sons' little stock 200cc blaster blew it's doors off.  the guy really felt bad getting beaten by a
12 year old on a 200cc blaster.

they ran three times because the guy couldn't believe it, and my son beat him all three times.

the guy quietly left right after the third pass.

and I was proud..  

I will only speak for up here in the woods of New England (NH). I ride a polaris sportsman, my buddy the 500 honda. Our trails are almost always wet rocky and rooty. I can ride over rocks and fallen trees that he can not. We crossed a stream (river at the time), he was swept down stream and caused damage, I crossed it (more weight).

You can have your preferences, truth is, 2500 miles of hard New England riding, my machine has never broke down, our failed me. His next machine will be a polaris. My brother rides the power sterred Yami. He calls my ride a cadilac (both smothness and weight).

You make the call. Come up here and you cannot ride a Honda, it is just to small for the rocks and trees. I bet it would be great on nice smooth trails, but not in the woods.  

....since this post is 3 years old idk what the point is but i'll post anyways.

In regards to the origional topic, comparing a polaris 700 and your Honda 500, the question of which will handle better in the mud would be the Polaris due to its "true" AWD vs the Honda's "3wd." Not only will it handle better but it will go thru and over more than your Honda. Also the Polaris will have a higher top end than any Honda Utility ATV stock vs stock.  

Would you be crazy for getting rid of your honda for a polaris?  Maybe, Maybe not.  If you want a more powerful and capable machine, get the polaris, however do be cautious because they have had some build quality issues like mentioned before.  If you don't wanna risk it then just do regular maintance on your Honda and it should be good to you for many years to come.  

"get the polaris, however do be cautious because they have had some build quality issues like mentioned before"

You got that right!!
what good is an atv that leaves you stranded on the trail??

Polaris sportsman faster than a honda utility??

Geeze the Polaris sportsman 500cc wont even outrun a bone stock 200cc yamaha blaster with a 12 year old kid on it.
(the Polaris was driven by an adult in the heads up race)

besides....
the sportsman has that super crappy pvt transmission,
it limits your top speed severely!!!!
i have an old 86 honda fourtrax 250cc that outruns any polaris with a pvt tranny.

the pvt tranny on polaris is so limiting that you can't do anything to the engine that will make it faster at all.
You can change the front and rear sprockets to get a little more top end speed, but you completely sacrifice your power off the line being that the pvt is a belt driven centrifugal clutch.



and besides even if it would do 100 miles an hour, who would want an atv that falls apart or catches fire?

the post is 5 years old,  imagine that, 5 years and polaris is still making junk atv's.
but what do you expect from a company who's main expertise is making farm tractors??

can you say "Bubba give me my snuff and quit riding that chicken"!!!??