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Polaris Outlaw 450
MXR
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The Fox Podium
suspension is quite remarkable as well. We
expected its compliance on the small stuff to
indicate harshness when coming in for a landing
on the big double but were pleasantly surprised
to note that this simply wasn’t the case. The
dual-rate spring in the rear does an excellent
job of ramping up the compression damping as a
heavier hit calls for it. The front shocks were
even more flawless in performance than the rear
and, like all Fox Racing Shox goods, offer up
more custom tuning options than just about
anyone out there.
On The Trail:
The transition from track to trail was a
painless one on the Outlaw 450 MXR. About the
biggest change we found ourselves making was
taking some of the preload out of the shocks in
effort to allot the rear tires better bite when
powering out of flat corners. Most MX-specific
quads are stiff and offer jarring rides, which
makes them poor choices for epic trail duty but
not the Outlaw. In fact, once we dialed in the
suspension, the 450 MXR could easily have become
as trail-worthy as such icons as the Honda 400EX
or Yamaha Raptor.
While we didn’t
encounter any problems during our foray across
the dry, well-packed trails of New York in the
late summertime, some may find the 18-inch rear
wheels a bit too easily broken loose and/or
restrictive in terms of ground clearance
(explaining why the 525 is outfitted with taller
20-inch wheels in stock trim).
Conclusion
It didn’t take us long to
come to appreciate the subtle charm of the
Polaris Outlaw 450 MXR. Riders who balance their
saddle-time between racing the local MX circuit
and zipping through the woods have much to
celebrate here. We were able (on two occasions)
to make the switch from trail duty to MX
practice with nothing more than a few clicks of
the compression dial and three turns of the
preload rings. The quad’s handling is absolutely
superb thanks to precise steering that makes the
vehicle’s bulk instantly disappear.
About the only complaint to surface during our
testing came in the form of the seat’s tendency
to pull riders toward its junction with the
tank. At the time of this review’s writing,
Polaris has just released totally redesigned
versions of the Outlaw 450 and 525 for 2009 that
allegedly take care of such concerns (with
completely new bodywork/ modernized styling).
In truth, Polaris has crafted up a worthy
contender to a very competitive field. Even more
encouraging is the simple fact that in only its
second year of existence the Outlaw 450 and 525S
have been heavily redesigned, proving Polaris’
commitment to keeping their new flagships
competitive in an ever-advancing environment.
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