A Honest Consumer Review

One of the things I have been very frustrated about during this whole experience is the lack of consumer reviews about these machines on the internet. Sure there are no end of reviews done by ATV magazines, or comparison reviews put out by rival companies, but where is the regular consumers opinion? I am one of those people that won't buy anything unless I have thoroughly  researched it first. Austin is the same way. An important part of that research is reading customer reviews. The only problem is I can't seem to find any.

I joined several ATV groups on Facebook, thinking I would find it there. Nothing. I regularly search hashtags and mentions on Twitter. Same result.  Reviews done by ATV magazine and manufacturers are great, but they don't tell me what the average, everyday consumer thinks. Do you know what I mean? I plan on providing that service for future shoppers. :)

Now, without further ado or explanation, my review of our Can-Am Outlander Max 1000 Limited.

Overall: I love this machine. I am so glad we bought it, and I have absolutely no regrets about the purchase. This machine is everything I hoped it would be. My boyfriend really loves it too. He never thought that he would be happy on a utility quad, but he had to admit that this is a really fun ride. If it can satisfy his inner Motocross-Adreanaline-Junkie, then it can satisfy anyone.

Austin on his practice track in our back field. On the "collar bone" jump. Guess why its called that.

Pros:

I love the quad because it is so darn comfortable. Austin can do all the crazy riding he wants, and I don't feel a thing. The first day we had it he jumped it off of a bump in the trail. He actually didn't mean to jump it. (The way the bump is, you can't see it coming at it.) Needless to say, the landing was a little rough. On any other quad, it would have absolutely killed my back, and I would have been in pain for the rest of the day.  I would have been grumpy and irritable and we probably would have ended up fighting. On this quad? Totally fine.  I am really glad that Austin talked me into the ACS shocks. with a  push of the button on the handle bars, you can adjust the air pressure in the shocks to ensure ultimate comfort.

I also really love having my own foot pegs and hand grips. Surprisingly enough, those weird square hand grips are perfect. Depending on what kind of riding is going on, you can adjust where you are holding to feel even more secure on the back.

Speaking of the back seat, Austin says that when we are both riding, he can't even tell I'm back there. He rides just like he would if he were riding it by himself, and I get to be with him. Win-Win situation in my book.

This quad also has a TON of power. We've pushed it well into the upper 70 mph, and it cruises like a champ at 40-50 mph. It's amazing. We can really get moving along on the trail and cover some serious ground when we want to. (We always maintain safety, and never travel faster than we should. I promise.) Even though the Quad has a ton of power, it is still really easy to maintain control. I can drive this machine with absolutely no problems. It is also really nice to have the Tri-Mode power steering. You can adjust the power steering to be exactly what you need, just like the shocks.

When we were looking at buying this quad, the thing we were focused on were the super easy to adjust shocks. We weren't really concerned with the other selling points of the machine. When we went to the dealer to test drive the quad and fill out the financial paperwork, our sales person, Ryan, made a big deal about the GPS on the quad. We kinda shrugged it off because that wasn't important to us.

Boy have we changed our mind.

Thank you Can-Am.

That GPS is AWESOME. The Montana 650t is really just incredible. The more we are using it and learning to use it the more we like it. I downloaded some ATV trail maps, and downloaded the Garmin Basecamp software to my computer. We are having a lot of fun with the GPS and are finding it to be really useful. I'm sure there will be more posts about the GPS later.

Cons:

Okay, here's the rough part.  I do have a few complaints about this quad.
First, the thing that really bothered me.

 I am really irritated about the grips on the handle bars. We had the quad ONE DAY. Just one, and the left hand grip started falling apart. I'm really disappointed in the quality. (Austin doesn't really understand why I'm so upset about it. I don't understand why he isn't more upset that our top of the line quad is having such a problem.) Since then it has steadily gotten worse. Poor showing on that one, Can-Am.

Austin and I were both bothers by the seat. It is almost too cushy. Ha, I know. What a complaint. Really though, the seat is too cushy. I wish the seat was just a little stiffer for longer rides. It isn't so bad now that I'm used to it. Maybe it will stiffen up with time.  Austin and I laughed about it, because in all the reviews we watched and read they complained about the seat being too wide. Austin and I are fans of nice wide seats. We like them to actually hold our butts. *Amendment: Austin claims he never said that the seat was too cushy. He totally did though.*

Another disappointment? We got back to the Monroe parking lot after our very first ride, and Austin noticed that the left rear shock was VERY hot. It is located right next to the exhaust pipe, and after riding the shock was obviously hot.  The first thing Austin did when we got the Outlander home was to heat wrap the pipe. Although it wasn't a huge deal for us, I feel like Can-Am could do that factory. (It could be a problem for someone who didn't have heat wrap on hand. We have some from heat wrapping on our sport quads.)

A selfie from the day we bought the Outlander.

Austin is really bothered by the front shocks. The rear shocks on this quad are amazing, but the front shocks leave a little something to be desired for him. He feels like they could be a bit stiffer. It could just be that he is riding it harder than Can-Am was anticipating.  Maybe one day we will look at an after market solution for that problem. It isn't a huge priority for us though.

The last thing on my cons list actually doesn't really bother me or Austin. It bothers his dad. See, the gear box makes a really weird high pitched noise, Austin thinks is caused by the gear train mesh. I didn't even notice the noise until it was pointed out to me. I have since noticed it when Austin and I ride for long periods of time. It really isn't that bad, and it seems that all of the Can-Ams do it. (We have ridden with a friend of ours with an Outlander Max 1000 XT, and his makes the same noise.)  It just drives Austin's dad nuts.

There! I think I have finally covered everything. I hope that helps other people out who are considering purchasing and Outlander. Some of the above mentioned things only apply to the Outlander Max Limited, but I'm sure a fees things apply to all of the Outlanders. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!