Cool! I too have decided to get back into 4wheeling. But this time I'm going about it differently. Before we had the kids I bought some new Polaris machines, and traded up, spending huge money. But it was our hobby and we rode a lot, took a lot of trips. I had probably close to ten grand into my machine, a modded 700 twin, and I had just bought the wife a brand new 500ho for $6400 when we started having kids. So I sold the machines and spent the money on diapers.
This time around I had some money hidden away from selling my Jeep. Decided to start with something small for the kids, wanted a 50 but found a cheap, great running 90 for $300. Brought it home and we're learning on it. Think it's a little big, at least for the 5 y/o cause he's a little bit nuts. So then I did find a 50 for him, well actually it's a 60cc, old Yamaha 4 zinger. Needs some work and tires but I think it will be a good machine for him. Paid $50.
Once I got sliding down the slippery slope, I couldn't stop so I bought a machine for my wife. I love hunting online, chasing Craigslist deals! Got her a 2000 Trailblazer 250, runs and drives like new, plastics a little beat up on the back and it needs a new seat cover, but it was only $850. She was accustomed to 500cc high output fancy machines, but you know what? A 250 2 stroke is plenty fast and powerful enough for any riding we are going to do as a family, we just putt around on trails, and we'll have to travel at speeds the kids can handle.
Yesterday I picked up a 99 Sportsman 500 4wd for me. Runs and drives great, but has some electrical issues and a lot of cosmetic issues. Front and rear racks are broken, must have been flipped. And it needs tires. But I've found a lot of people selling stock takeoffs cheap, because everyone does what I used to do, but the biggest baddest most expensive mud tires available. My new theory is that stock tires are going to be more than sufficient for what I'm doing. I'll buy good aftermarket tires if I find some cheap, but stock takeoffs are good enough. Someday I'll buy a winch so we have at least one, but with 4 machines and 1 4wd, a towrope and a comealong will suffice for now.
I'm pretty excited, I am into this for about $2400 so far, and with a few more bucks we'll be out having some family fun. A lot cheaper than going to the dealer and putting together a set of machines. I bet I could spend at least $15 grand to buy four new machines that will only do the same thing.
