After looking for almost a year for a side by side, I finally purchased one last month. 2021 Yamaha Viking Ranch Edition. After owning it for a month and now the second trip to the dealer for repairs, I'm starting to think I should have bought a new 4 wheeler. After riding 3 and 4 wheelers for the past 30+ years, I'm just kinda meh on side by sides. Call it buyers remorse or whatever, but I'm just not really digging this thing. Anyone else bought a side by side and regret it? I thought it would be great for hauling the kids around, cruising the country roads and hauling deer out of the woods. I've put a whopping 55 miles on it since mid July lol.
We have a ‘19 can am commander. It’s handy. We’ve taken two trips with it, one locally and one to TN. I enjoy cruising around on it with a chainsaw, some loppers, a hand saw, and a cooler in the bed, doing some work and drinking some cold beers on the property we hunt. That being said, we’ve put about 30 hours on it in two years
I love mine. Of course my bad hips caused me to buy it. 2015 CFMOTO 800 Had an ATV but it got hard to ride once my hips went bad. It has added a few years to my hunting.
I don't know what to tell you but in this area side by sides outnumber atv's. Maybe you got a lemon. I've had my Yamaha Rhino for 12 years and just normal maintenance no breakdowns. I use it a lot around my property hauling chainsaws, tools, seed and much more. I will buy another one in the future. Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk
My meh-factor has more to do with the fact of riding it is pretty damn boring IMO. The first break down was a frayed wire from fuel pump. This time the check engine light has come back on, not sure whats up with that but supposed to be fixed tomorrow. Side by sides are definitely popular here as well. Most people in the country near me own one and drive them around like cars lol.
Mine is a tank. It will pretty much go any where the ATV went; only it is safer. At my age safety is a concern. Sounds like you have not had it in a pinch yet if it seems boring to you.
I have a Kymco - which to many is probably an off brand. But it is an up and coming brand for side by sides and ATV's. My Dad got one and it was very economical for him. So we went in and talked to the dealer about it - traded in our stupid Polaris ATV (HATED THAT THING!!!) - and walked out with the Kymco 800 - fully loaded - with a plow for less than $8000. Ours serves duel purpose for the farm and then hunting. It was worth it (though I didn't like it at first, either) and have not had any issues in last two years of having it.
Honda Pioneer here. (P1000-3) I've got 2000 miles on mine and those are all miles here on the farm. Plow snow with it and carry stuff all the time. Would buy another in a heartbreat. Still have a Honda Foreman too and it sits most of the time. The SXS is just so easy and smooth.
I love my Gator,though that said we've had design issues . Transmission fix and steering issue. . Expensive fix but still worth it. Safe, and I do a ton of woods work . That dump bed is invaluable for hauling everything.plus plotting.
As shown I have a 800 and a 1000 razor they have been great on ky hills Sent from my iPad using Bowhunting .com Forums
I looked at buying one, for what one cost I could buy a Willeys jeep restore it and have something with character.
Ours, is actually a UTV, that said,as far as regular ATV' s go...we still have and run our Suzuki and that is now 40 yrs old. I'm sure on that because there are pictures of me on it at camp during hunting season and I wasn't pregnant with our first born then. She turned 38 The first week of May.. Now that's a good machine!
Sucks your having trouble with it, Yamaha's are usually very dependable machines. For fun, my take on how smart us humans are. Used to use Jeeps...oh, too much terrain damage, scares the wildlife way too much, too easy of access to hunting, fishing, firewood making. MUST close down trails to "full size" vehicles, no vehicle wider than 50" allowed (how it is here in Idaho anyway) to protect the forest and wildlife; Start using motorcycles, best option to access the areas that were now closed to "full size" vehicles; 3 wheelers come out, can haul more stuff, some switch to them instead of motorcycles; 4 wheelers come out, more stable so they sell like hotcakes and become wildly popular, pull good sized trailers behind them to get more stuff into or out of the woods, several models wider than 50"...but that's okay; UTV's come out, wow these are great, enclose them to stay dry and warm (heaters), bed to haul decent loads, dump bed even more convenient...many wider than 50" but that's okay; UTV's made more sporty and recreational. Popularity explodes wildly. Huge 4 seaters, full roll cage much more safe for the folks that can't ride something without hurting themselves (mostly because they've consumed a case of beer on the ride...er, drive), enclosed to protect from rain, heaters to stay warm, so much fun to blast turbo'd 1000's around while a $2000 dollar stereo cranks out 250 decibals, many with a wheelbase that matches a...Jeep!?..., much wider than 50"...that's okay! So here we are paying $15k to $24k (had to have more cc's, those half doors and a windshield) for a rig that is basically a sporty Jeep. We've come full circle...except were paying way more for a sporty SxS than we would for a good used Jeep. Don't you dare think about taking that noisy, trail damaging, wildlife disturbing Jeep out on the trails though.
. We were on a ride in July. Our Commander isn’t big it all and we got around well at the property we were riding at. An extra inch or two of ground clearance would’ve been nice but we made do. A guy in our group had a 4 seater RZR 1000 turbo S. Not one of his 168hp and 25” of travel made his rig smaller to fit through the trails. Austin Powers turn around at 75% of the corners. 3.5’ longer and 1.5’ wider than mine. Pretty much defeats the point unless he goes out to the dunes or something.
We've got a couple Polaris Sportsman, Polaris Ranger and Polaris General. They all have their place and luckily for me I can choose whichever is need for the job at hand. There isn't one that I wouldn't buy again. The General is the most expensive but is definitely the best of all worlds.
