So there I was, floating down a stream. Only, instead of a kayak, it was Polaris’ Sportsman 500 HO doing the sailing. The ATV’s tyres and all-independent suspension had a lot to deal with. They dipped in and out of rocky crags, shuffled over slippery rain- soaked boulders and clambered through hidden trenches that lay covered by the stream. Over 200mm of suspension travel at the front and rear allowed the Polaris to make it through without breaking a sweat.
Rewind to an hour or so ago, and it was me who was doing the sweating. The alien controls of the ATVs had thrown me off gear. The familiarity of the motorcycle-like handlebar is corrupted by a thumb-operated throttle. The four disc brakes are mainly operated by the handlebar-mounted lever, but there is also a pedal on the right footboard that works the rear brakes only. And then there is the ATV’s behaviour – because of the handlebar, you expect it to behave somewhat like a bike. But when you hit a corner, it behaves like a car and leans outwards. There’s a lot to get used to. On the upside, the Sportsman’s 498cc single-cylinder liquid-cooled motor comes mated to a CVT gearbox, so there are no gearshifts to worry about.
