New 4 wheeler for the cabin

So I convinced my Mom to get a new ATV for her use at the cottage where she lives up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.
New 2019 yamaha Kodiak 450 4x4


I did all the hard work and research, finding the right one, at the right price, along with bouncing a few ideas off of brenndatomu since he knows the yamahas. . Thanks bud!!

I pick it up Saturday morning, and I'll deliver it right away. Well, after I drive another 2 hrs or so north.

Mom gets a brand new ATV, so she shouldn't have any issues. I'll put a winch on it in spring, if not sooner. Mom uses the ATV to get around up north. She also uses it for chores, so having a new one that we don't need to worry about is good for her. The ATV, with the winch, is used to pull the roll in dock out of the lake as well.
That means I get the sportsman 500 to have back home.


No, the Kawasaki bayou isn't going anywhere, it's the workhorse.

We'll also now officially have more ATVs in the family than snowmobiles. Makes sense really with the way winters have been around here.

 

Congrats and nice new ATV! So true about the snowmobiles. I believe the warmer temps will eventually kill em south of the 45th parallel in the coming years.

 

Nice...I got a wiff of that new quad smell clear down here!

 

The cottage is north of the 45th parallel, but that's a little more than 3 hrs north of me and 200+ miles. Even this season the snowmobiling season just opened up, after a cold November with ice formation before Thanksgiving. Then the temps went up.

I'm actually showing my Polaris xc600sp sled to a couple of buyers and am planning on selling it while I'm up there. If anything, I'll get a newer 2up sled, because my wife and I get a lot of use out of a 2up. We've got an older yamaha 2up venture, but that thing's a gas hog and can't hit triple digits....

 

Similar situation here where our cabin is near the 45th. Down year for snowmobiles which really hurts the rural economy up there.

 

Your a good son Horkn.

 

They certainly don't make the seats big enough for passengers any more do they? I guess that helps keep you from doing what they don't recommend, doesn't it ?

 

Looks like a really nice wheeler.

 

My house is real close to 45th parallel too

about a foot out there so you could ride either
Nice ride For taking care of mom!

 

Same here. We just sold one sled and the trailer last week. I'm sad to see them go, but happy to be rid of them at the same time.

Congrats on the new ATV for mom. Did she use the Sportsman 500 a lot?

 

They make 2 person ATVs, as well as side by side that can seat 4 or more. This is called a "midsized ATV". I will compare how big it is to the 05 sportsman 500 which was always called a full sized ATV. The other one we own( Kawasaki bayou) is what was called 3/4 sized only a few years ago, compared to the sportsman we have. The bayou is noticably smaller. That's good for squeezing in tight woods.
This new kodiak looks to be the same size as our sportsman, but I'll take comparison pics when I have them side by side. I'm sure you could ride 2up on the Kodiak with a boat cushion or similar on that rear rack bar.
The sportsman easily fits me and my wife on it, even though it's only a one person ATV.

The new sportsman models, xp and such, are bigger physically than our old sportsman.

 

Mom just sold her 95 Indy 500 EFI with reverse, evolved body style. Last week once she got a good battery in it, it sold in 6 days.

Once I sell my xcsp, we'll only have the 97 yamaha venture 2up 600 twin in the pro action chassis. Kinda don't want to sell that, it's a great sled for friends to borrow, and it's super reliable, even with nearly 10k on it. A newer 4 stroke venture will probably end up in our shed, maybe next year. Who knows?

Yes, she used the sportsman 500 a lot. Then it started having regulator/ stator or some sort of charging issue. I'll sort that out. Probably something stupid, and her " repair guy" up there couldn't fix it. Long story on that. I'm sure that it's an easy fix. I'll surely start a thread on it.

 

The Yamaha is a great machine, but...
Ill bet she wants her Sportsman 500 back.

 

I have a 2018 kodiac 700. Love it. Should be happy with it

 

I don't know about that. She's taken a liking to it.

I'll post up pics once I get logged into her WiFi. She's napping. Don't want to bother her now. We're going out to dinner after she wakes up.

Good thing I've got liquid dinner to tide me over.


Don't old people usually eat earlier? She wanted to go out at 8. I was like.... Umm how about 7:30?

I can't wait that long. That's an hour and a half from now. I'm going to turn up the tv...

 

That's just in Florida, the "early snowbird special"...dinner is at 4:30

 

Hang in there...chew on a tough ole piece of jerky or something...might get you through to

 

I better type more or I'll run out of beer.

The shifter and controls are super easy to use. She's already pretty much got it down. The dash is really nice and informative. Even had a fuel gauge in the dash. Switching between 2 and 4 wd is easy. Brakes are nice, but we did like the linked brakes from the sportsman. That's about the only thing that I didn't like about the kodiak, but if my bayou can stop a trailer with more than a half cord of wood in a 4x8 trailer with just the front discs, this will handle all she needs it for, even if she forgets to use the rear brake in conjunction with the fronts she knows to use.

EFI, nice easy thumb throttle, the right size, easy to use gear selector like a car automatic, and a nice dash, IRS, easy to service, and not complicated. It's supposedly already wired for a winch, so that will be easier to add.