New SXS

[shooterdon]

I came close 6 weeks ago to trading the Mule SX on a bigger and faster Kawasaki. It was going to cost about $12-14k to upgrade. It seems like a pittance compared to what some of you guys have invested. In northern MI we have about 6 months of decent SxS weather without a cab and heat. But a cab adds over $5k on the Kawasaki models I was looking at. Then heat adds more $$. That brings the added cost to $16-20k.

I had a cab on a 2010 Polaris XP and it was a PITA. Cabs are not great on a unit that is also used as a working SxS. Taking the doors off for summer use was not easy and then I had to store them. The newer cabs are likely better than the steel one on I had on the XP.

We are now looking at getting a used Jeep and keeping the Mule as the work unit. We are heading to a dealer today. Looks like a number of good options for under $20k for a used Wrangler with 120-150k miles. Seems a better fit for us. Should get another 50k miles on a used Wrangler and we would never put 50k miles on a SxS. The downside is cost of insurance. But if we want to go trail riding 200 miles away, we will not have to trailer the thing and the Jeep can run into town or go to church year round.

I am over 70 and have no desire to push the boundaries. Just want a "fun" vehicle for riding two tracks and logging roads and spend $35k on a one trick pony.

 

[Bearsixty7]

That looks nice too. I never have looked at a Kawi.
But my wife is the same. I have that nice passenger seat on my Sportsman but she just wasn't comfortable on it any more.
I imagine there will be places I can't go any more with the CF due to it's 64 inch width, but the added comfort is a good trade.

Well, I never really cared for Polaris, we did have a little 50cc for my son early on and it's only issue was it would die when crossing water. A riding buddy had a 90cc for his son and it did the same thing.
Can-Am I was neutral on. (I have been a Yamaha fan for decades, To me they have become the gold standard in ATV's surpassing Honda).

A little over a year ago I was at a dealership that had several brands and models and I got in several just for the heck of it and I don't fit in most. I sat in a Can-AM X3 and it fit well, ingress/egress wasn't great, but the price tag was 30k!! OUCH!

The Kawi KRX is the most spacious and comfortable one and has the best ingress/egress too, very similar to a compact truck.
I had a Kawasaki dirt bike as a kid and that thing was bulletproof despite my thrashing on it and less than optimum maintenance so I held Kawasaki in high regard as well so considering their SxS was easy.

As for CFMoto, We have a 2018 Cforce 500s my son rides and it has done well and been near problem free considering he has rolled it a few times. It is almost a clone to our Yamaha Grizzly's in function and operation. Only failure so far was the power steering Dampener gear wore out, luckily there were a few videos on it so it was a cheap and quick repair.

You'll probably fit more places than you think, I was concerned too as this one is actually spec'd to be 68" wide and it did great on the tight trails on the Choctaw Nation Trail (CNT) in Oklahoma. Some are 75" and those wouldn't have made it between some of the trees we did.
I think more and more "Pay to ride" places are allowing wider as that's becoming the norm.

 

[steve tym]

Believe it or not, not everyone can pay cash for a toy

My thoughts are, if I can't pay for a toy, I need to wait until I can. It's a toy, I'm not paying interest on it. $88K (with interest) for a toy? Pocket that money for three or four years and you'll have enough to pay for it outright. Yeah, I know, not quite that straight forward...

 

[Sprinkler Fitter]

My thoughts are, if I can't pay for a toy, I need to wait until I can. It's a toy, I'm not paying interest on it. $88K (with interest) for a toy? Pocket that money for three or four years and you'll have enough to pay for it outright. Yeah, I know, not quite that straight forward...

I get it, we paid cash for our but not everybody can. And I’m sure some don’t care, life is to short to not have fun.

We started our food truck business in 2010 with cash and I was laid off but we could still pay our bills with unemployment.

 

[Code54]

So when Honda was offering .9% interest and I was making over 14% interest at the time I should have paid cash??? I guess I missed something in my financial classes...

I am only mentioning this to point out that everyone has different circumstances and no one correct answer exists.

 

[Sprinkler Fitter]

So when Honda was offering 9% interest and I was making over 14% interest at the time I should have paid cash??? I guess I missed something in my financial classes...

I am only mentioning this to point out that everyone has different circumstances and no one correct answer exists.

Same with my tractor, 0% interest so I financed the balance after the trade in.

 

[Rdrcr]

So when Honda was offering 9% interest and I was making over 14% interest at the time I should have paid cash??? I guess I missed something in my financial classes...

I am only mentioning this to point out that everyone has different circumstances and no one correct answer exists.

Yep. I finance to keep my credit fresh. Regardless of term, I typically pay off my loans in 12-24 months.

I’ve seen too many well-intentioned cash buyers get put in a position when they need to finance a large purchase and can’t get a loan due to poor credit or lack of credit history.

Mike

 

[deserteagle71]

When going down hills, if the clutch disconnects, blip the throttle, the clutch will re-engage and give you some engine breaking.

Why I love my Can-am...or a Yamaha. Clutch NEVER disconnects while you are driving it so engine braking is always available. Riding the brakes (or having to blip the throttle...how counterintuitive is that, having to give it gas to make it slow down???) while going down a long steep hill is just asking for trouble.

 

[Paystar]

Why I love my Can-am...or a Yamaha. Clutch NEVER disconnects while you are driving it so engine braking is always available. Riding the brakes (or having to blip the throttle...how counterintuitive is that, having to give it gas to make it slow down???) while going down a long steep hill is just asking for trouble.

It was just something to get used to, especially after driving both Polaris's and my RTV-X1100C that would all try and throw you through the windshield.
There are numerous clutch kits and programmers for CF Moto available from companies like Main Street Cycle, but I'm leaving it alone for now.

 

[Paystar]

The new rear storage box got delivered here and I finally got time to put it on. I like it. makes it look more complete now, filling up that empty space.
Now it doesn't look like a cab and chassis truck any more, LOL
Now just waiting for rear window that I got from an aftermarket company, but it's taking forever.
So far the stuff I've gotten from CF Moto comes within two days. But I got rear window from aftermarket because I cheaped out to save $300