How is Polaris's rep these days?

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I used to ride quads every weekend about 10 yrs ago. Seems like everytime someone would show up on a Polaris our day would be cut short. The things just were not reliable back then.

From broken ball joints that caused a crash to a sudden lack of spark. We were always towing one back with a rope or trying to get a 4x4 pickup out to a broken down Polaris.

The reason I ask is that my girlfriend is very tall and the Polaris 330 Trail Blazer fits her well. It seeme set up for a tall person and none of the other quads fit her like the TrailBlazer does.

I don't want to buy something thats guaranteed to break down like the Polaris's did 10 yrs ago.
 
I've got a 2008 Scrambler and it's been a great machine. It's the same basic machine as the Trailblazer, but it's a 500 and has 4 wheel drive. I've thoroughly abused it on the trails, jumped it, rolled it over, taken it through stuff far deeper than it was ever deisgned for (winch has come in handy a few times), and I plow snow with it. All that and I have yet to have any problems with it at all. II'd direct you one of a couple ATV forums that I'm a member of, but they would probably just try to convince you that you need an 850XP.

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If you know of some forums post em up! Thumpertalk and atv connection are dead!

One of my threads on thumper talk I posted 6 months ago is still on the 1st page lol.

Girl is 1 step above a beginner and don't need no 850 cc quad lol.
 
I'm in my first Polaris, a 2013 RZR 800. Only 800 miles, but so far really enjoying it. For the past 5-6 years I've ridden with several friends on Polaris quads, hundreds of miles with zero breakdowns. I ride a 2010 650 CanAm currently and had a 350 Honda before that. Hard to beat Honda for reliability. Have fun.
 
I had a recent model Polaris 550X2. I was not pleased with the quad. Although Polaris has certainly improved quality and reliability over ten years ago, my model lacked refinement. The engine was as noisy as an old Subaru (lots of clicking, clacking, and knocking....all normal). The electrical system was touchy. Battery discharge frequent (my 13 year old riding mower battery starts up after sitting every winter....the Polaris dies after not starting for three weeks....two batteries in two years). The oil changes were a mess with a horrible frame/drain plug placement. Also need a special tool (only from Polaris) to remove tightly fitted oil filter. Other fluids required frequent changes and used uncommon and expensive fluids. The downhill traction control (can't remember what it's called) was highly annoying and made loud gear clatter when in effect. I kept it off after hearing it a few times. Bumped into a small tree on a narrow trail once...the front end/wheel that was struck was never the same and the ATV
had no adjustment for correction (camber etc.). I did not even hit the tree very hard at all and was very surprised anything got bent considering this was a Polaris (supposed to be heavy duty).
All in all I am very happy to have sold it. It was a clunky, heavy, and unrefined machine in my opinion. I've owned Honda and Suzuki ATV's before and would consider those brands before I would ever buy a Polaris again.
 
I have been buying Polaris since 1993 and I have no idea why you had reliability problems. I have a lot of them. They are well built and nothing surpasses the ride of a Polaris. I have gotten them in that were severely abused and they just keep running. I cant count how many Honda's, Yamaha's and Suzuki four strokes I see puking smoke out the exhaust, I never see a Polaris four stroke smoking. They are a tough quad and good engines. I would look for a older one. Pre-2006. The newer ones are much lighter and I don't think they will hold up as well. See my post on Polaris, I am about to post to testify the engines.
 
We bought a 2013 330 TrailBlazer last Saturday.

So far it's fair to it sucks. The build quality does not even compare to the Japanese quads. The welds are messy and the whole bike shakes and vibrates, the shifter vibrates as does the handlebars...Plus the engine sounds like a lawn mower!

It has absolutly no power.

I took it out Sunday morning to get my newspaper 2 miles away. By the time I got back home it was idling @ about 5000 rpm. I turned the idle down and its been fine so far. Girlfriend rode it about 40 miles Sunday and the vibration was really getting to her.

Kinda thinking this was a bad choice. But I'll give it a few more hours to get broken in before condeming the thing.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
We bought a 2013 330 TrailBlazer last Saturday.

So far it's fair to it sucks. The build quality does not even compare to the Japanese quads. The welds are messy and the whole bike shakes and vibrates, the shifter vibrates as does the handlebars...Plus the engine sounds like a lawn mower!

It has absolutly no power.

I took it out Sunday morning to get my newspaper 2 miles away. By the time I got back home it was idling @ about 5000 rpm. I turned the idle down and its been fine so far. Girlfriend rode it about 40 miles Sunday and the vibration was really getting to her.

Kinda thinking this was a bad choice. But I'll give it a few more hours to get broken in before condeming the thing.


That looks like quite an old design that has been updated with newly styled plastic. It looks to be derived from the old trailblazer 250. It weighs nearly 500 pounds so it's not going to be a bolt of lightning. Our neigbor kid had a trailblazer 250 about 11 years ago which was a 2-stroke. I couldn't get over how big and heavy it was for a 250. My son had a Yamaha Blaster 200 at the time that would eat it alive, but, the Blaster was much smaller with a manual trans.
 
I would have loved to have found her a blaster. but they are a little too small for her. and any two stroke made after about 2002 is a registration fee ASCO here in California
 
I understand, the Blasters are small. I don't remember the neighbor kid having any issues with the trailblazer, and he abused it. I don't know anything about that engine. After your warranty is up look into a jet kit. That might wake it up a bit. If it is a CVT, there are some clutch tweaks that can be done as well. Find a forum that has a section for trailblazers, they'll help.
 
If your GF can shift and your trail riding not extreme, I would have suggested the Honda 250ex. It is super light weight, the gears make most use of the engine and it is uber agile and Honda reliable. If my wife could shift I would have one for her.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
We bought a 2013 330 TrailBlazer last Saturday.

So far it's fair to it sucks. The build quality does not even compare to the Japanese quads. The welds are messy and the whole bike shakes and vibrates, the shifter vibrates as does the handlebars...Plus the engine sounds like a lawn mower!

It has absolutly no power.

I took it out Sunday morning to get my newspaper 2 miles away. By the time I got back home it was idling @ about 5000 rpm. I turned the idle down and its been fine so far. Girlfriend rode it about 40 miles Sunday and the vibration was really getting to her.

Kinda thinking this was a bad choice. But I'll give it a few more hours to get broken in before condeming the thing.
I don't know if you got a bad one or what. Is it brand new? I am a two stroke guy. I have a lot of Polaris quads, about 18. I just bought 4 four stoke ones. two 330s and two 325s. I had a bad opinion of them before we ever even took them out, because I like two strokes. I didn't even like them in my herd. I had the 330 and I will have to say, I was impressed. I think it ran as good as a stock 500 Sportsman, its a lot lighter. My wife , who does ride a 500 Sportsman, liked the 325. She said it was zippy, quick and light to easy to get around, although she missed the 4x4, because we were deep in the swamps. The kids had Polaris 250 Trail boss's. They ran pretty competively close. Unless they have them things choked to death in California. That 330 should run good. I think I may even take the 330 again, believe me I hate to say, I was impressed by it. I ve had my fair share of Japanese devices. Polaris are closer to farm machinery than they are and they aren't as sexy, but they are tough and they only change plastic. They are still similar underneath to what they were 30 years ago.
 
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I have a 2001 Trail boss 330. It has the Fuji engine, with the Polaris belt drive. The engine is a single cylinder, non counterbalanced, rubber mounted unit. I find mine to be amazingly smooth. It's not fast, nor was it designed to be. However, it gets amazing fuel economy, and has capable suspension with a good ride.

The older Yamaha Blaster certainly is quicker, but it's not better in the suspension department. My Polaris is much more comfortable.

I wonder if yours has an exhaust rub, or some other issue. Mine is very smooth and a pleasure to ride recreationally. Long days on it are nice.

They are gutless, and have near zero throttle response. That's partially due to jetting, the strong slide spring on the carb, and the restrictive, torturous intake path. Plus a slightly restrictive exhaust. Doing modest intake and exhaust mods wakes them up.

But, don't be fooled, it won't be much faster with the mods, it will just feel so, due to the improved throttle response.

Mine has been stone reliable.
 
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Panzerman. Its brand new! Its got more pep now. It will spin the wheels now. Its still. Real slow from 10-45 or so. Really slow on the power line rd behind my house. That road rises about 2000 ft in a couple of miles. There's no hanging the rear end out on the corners like my old 250cc mojave or my curant 400cc ltz. The Polaris just crawls up any grade at a walking speed.

I'm confident that the mojave would eat up and spit out the 330 polaris. My 400 is in a completely different game as far as ...well everything lol.
 
That stinks. Sorry to hear its such a dog. I must have gotten a good one. It runs pretty well, I think. I have a couple of 300 two stroke Polaris's. Its amazing how much better the 300's run than the 250's. Still that would make me mad, if I bought a new Polaris and it was that bad.
 
I have a new-to me 2004 Sportsman 500 HO. I bought it from the original owner, a friend of mine, who used it on his acreage and for exploring public lands.

He told me he had no issues with it at all. When I got it, it had about 1700 miles on it, and I've put on another 300. I had carb issues with the mikuni carb (on the Subaru/Fuji) engine. One of the little delrin parts that permits spring/diaphragm pressure on the needle valve for the main jet wore out allowing the main-jet to pop in/out intermittently.

This caused intermitted carb problems and run-failure. It was an easy fix and not really polaris' fault.

Other than that, I had to replace a tie rod end that had worn, and fluids. That's it. It's even on its original belt.

These quads are stone-age simple underneath the plastics, and they ride really nice compared to other quads. If you're even reasonably mechanical, I don't think it would cost much to keep them running.

My buddy has a honda rubicon which you hear about being absolutely maintenance/breakdown free - the gold standard as they would say. It's got similar miles to mine and he's had to do bearings and rod ends as well. Doesn't seem like much difference to me, though his machine is less capable in the suspension/ground clearance department with a solid rear axle.

I paid about 1/2 of what I'd have to pay for a similar year Rubicon as well. That's a significant factor if you know what you're getting.

I'm pretty hands-on and enjoy tinkering with and understanding machines, so I think if a person is inclined that way, Polaris can be a good choice.
 
Polaris still makes a good machine. They sell mostly for commercial use instead of toys as once was the case. Use, abuse, service or the lack there of are all factors that impacts their life regardless of brand.
 
I think their machines are becomeing better and more capable.. however the customer service on this stinks.. and the warranty is very, very, lacking.
 
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