OZ ATV :: The Australian ATV Forum

[Wardy]

Does anyone have any experience with the Polaris Hawkeye?

the price is extraordinarily attractive at $6k new, and still get 300cc capacity compared to most others at 250cc at this price.

i will only be using it for light farm work on 60 acres, mostly just getting around on my inlaws farm. i am 90kg. my biggest concern is not so much the capacity but lack of 4wd in wet conditions. Gippsland gets pretty muddy and you do need a regular 4wd to get around the property.

I've only ever ridden motorbikes, which of course have no problem getting around the property. having never ridden an atv i am not sure if 2wd will be sufficient with a good set of tyres.

also what reputation does Polaris have. i cant find any information on engine or transmission reliability?

any info on these would be great
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[Jim]

I've been told the Hawkeye is still aircooled, unlike the rest of the Polaris range which is now liquid cooled, and is the most troublesome of the line-up.

[Jim]

The other thing is that we have had quads (though not Polaris) on our Gippsland farm for many years and found 4WD an absolute necessity in the wet months. Your inlaws tracks might be better than ours though, which are coated in manure daily!

[Wardy]

we i have learnt for myself! after 3 months of owning a hawkeye it has had a few troubles. Ignition switch has failed on me a couple of times (had to hot wire it). Polaris fixed under warranty and they claim a loose wire. I couldn't find it (and then technically the hotwire shouldn't have worked either).

Secondly one of the halogen globes totally blew itself to bits melting every bit of plastic that surrounded it. That was fixed under warranty.

Overall, build quality of chassis and frame and running gear is pretty good in my opinion. Reasonably heavy duty. I do hate that a lot of the screws are self tapping metal screws that go straight into the frame/body etc, rather than being threaded. That's pretty dodgy.

There's a lot of tuppaware on these things too that is not particularly hard wearing.

2 WD is pretty ordinary even in a little bit of mud. With the weight of the quad it just bogs down and makes a hole... which is fun for a while but if you need to get work done it's a PITA. Fortunately my place up North is mostly dry... but gippsland will be a challenge.

The thing seems to run quite lean. With everything stock, spark plug is mostly white. Not pitted or anything on the ceramic, but only just within what i would call acceptable.

Otherwise, a strong little quad. Quite impressed with it's pulling power for a 300cc, and it walks up any hill. Certainly wouldn't outrun much.
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Go hard or go home