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Posted by: JohnO
Couple of things:
My 02 500i also has a rusty brake line out of the master cylinder. It was stainless, but rusted anyway. Hasn't broken or leaked yet, so I haven't messed with it.
Cold weather idle - drove me nuts when I first got the Cat. I finally pulled out the owner's manual (it's under the seat) and it showed me what to do about cold weather warmup idle. There is an idle adjuster on the carb - it's a handle on the end of a tube that sticks out the back of the carb. Pull it out and give it a twist to speed up the idle when it's cold. Works great.
My muffler hasn't rusted to any signifigant degree, in almost two years of use, and I cross a creek at least four times every time it gets taken out on my farm. There are at least two companies that make ultra quiet quad mufflers for hunting use.
The gas gauges don't work all that well, mine quit when the float for it finally broke off. So what? I know of several quads that have better gas gauges, but none of them can get across my farm nearly as well as the Cat can.
Posted by: JohnO
Hey, peteyz24 - you ain't BS'ing on the manure business. It'll rust the daylights out of anything.
Don't run much beef on my farm anymore, too much trouble keeping fences with all the timber I have, but when I was a kid we kept around 50 head - sure wish I'd had one of these Cats back then. Can't beat them for fast fence repair - gets you there quick, and your tools, and drags a log off of a fencerow nicely. I found that the winch makes a pretty decent wire stretcher for small repair jobs.
Posted by: peteyz24
ok got a few problems with your post, first the brakes lines are stainless steel, which means no rust, and the 2004's with the digital instrumentation have a digital gas gauge, a lastly ive had mine since july we have a beef farm and it gets ridden thru the cow crap quite a bit, for those of you that are unfamilar with this stuff it rusts metal faster than road salt, ans as for the idle yeah the tend to be a bit b@tchy on the idle you have to adjust it when you first start it and then slow it down after the motor warms up, ans as for the exhaust i dont think it can get much quieter, sorry if i sounded like an ass didnt mean too, just a loyal cat man
Posted by: MasterCat
OK HERES the deal...YOU said RUSTing and cleaned fairly often. I am sorry just sounds like BULL to me. I Have a 1985 Honda fourtrax that I keep in the barn. IT has 1000,s of miles on it. IT has been used for work and play. Guess what No RUST. I still have the old honda gave it to the kids to ride. STill has all OEM parts. I have two cats now 2002 400i and 500i have over 1000 miles on each. No rust on either. Some of the paint has worn away on the muffler . The 500 idles perfect never have to touch it. The 400i idle needs alittle work when large temp change. NOt hard to fix takes a few seconds. I can live with that. These machines are workhorses and are perefect for the trail... old gas guage is not that great but gives you a rough idea how much gas is in the tank. sure beats walking. I am only half an @SS today!! lol
Posted by: ktkiebel
My buddy purchased a 400i a couple years ago and I recently purchased a 500i. I have the following comments you should consider if you are in the market.
- The mild and cold weather idle quality on both atv's sucks. Does anybody know how to get these things to idle without stalling?
- I'm a little dissapointed how fast the muffler rusts and starts to look like crap. Anybody know of a good aftermarket exhaust that is quiter? I would like to use the atv for partrige hunting but it's too noisy.
- The brake line to the resevoir is rusting and also looks like crap. The atv's are stored inside and cleaned fairly often. I see this as a sign of poor quality.
- Arctic cat does not have on-line support ...... you have to call to provide feedback or ask questions.
- The 500i is a 2004 with an electronic display but the gas guage is still mechanical ( on the tank ). I don't think it was working correctly since I picked it up at the dealership.
- On the plus side - They sent me a free extended warranty after I had a bad experience at the dealership..... the dealership problems were not thier fault.
Overall, I am happy with the purchase and would buy the atv again. I would like to see arctic cat move away from the single cylinder and switch to a twin config on the 400's and 500's. I think this would provide a smoother engine that runs better.
Posted by: ktkiebel
Why you guys getting so defensive. I'm simply pointing out a couple minor flaws. My overall rating was buy again.
- I also hate to make you look foolish but I can post a picture of the rusty brake line if you like. I agree that most stainless doesnt rust, that's part of the reason why I was a little dissapointed when it did rust.
- Open mouth and insert foot before before you go shooting off facts. I have a titled 2004 with a digital tach that does not have a digital gas guage. It's a float and needle stuck in the top of the gas tank...... and I'm sticking with the opinioin that it sucks.
