Motorcycle mechanic and new atv owner. My second is a vintage bombardier which is a canam essentially. From what I see they are built like any other european bike, think ktm,bmw,ducati etc vs honda ,suzuki kawasaki etc. These cultures do build vehicles differently it is baked into who they are. I hear the same comments here about more maintenance but also more fun that i do on Ducati forums. Some of it is true but also there are many myths that brands get tagged with.
My bombardier is a old design but you can see quality and upgraded components over my Kawaski atv, does that make it better? No it means the parts are maybe higher spec or quality but it was still a human assembling it that did not tighten the flywheel bolts and caused a failure. could happen to any brand but you do see trends on forums sometimes to problem areas. I have not torn into a modern canam and time can have good AND bad effects on a brand so others here will know how current models are.
I see many parts for my 2001 were discontinued by 2013 so expect a 10 year parts availability or at least research parts past the 10 year point to see how you will be if you keep the atv long term vs trading up every few years. Honda in Motorcycles is quite good with supporting old models I can go back to the 80's before I find parts dropping off the availability lists. One metric you may look at is how many old Honda's are still running vs how many can-ams, I see Honda's all the time but few can-am's might be due to fewer sold though.
As a new atv rider and race track motorcyclist I could not care less about power at this point, I simply do not miss what I do not know. If you start with either and do basic maintenance you will likely be fine. You may find that after you start playing with it you enjoy riding more than you thought and at that point what you do may change, If you buy a tractor yes it may do what you need but the atv may do that and more. Even a utility atv can be fun much like a sv650 can be just as fun as a gsxr1000 just different.
Most of what I see is misuse and abuse, but I am coming from a motorcycle background. Atvs are mostly rode hard and put away wet so if you do a minimum of care and maintenance you should be fine with either, ignore it with either at your peril.
My bombardier is a old design but you can see quality and upgraded components over my Kawaski atv, does that make it better? No it means the parts are maybe higher spec or quality but it was still a human assembling it that did not tighten the flywheel bolts and caused a failure. could happen to any brand but you do see trends on forums sometimes to problem areas. I have not torn into a modern canam and time can have good AND bad effects on a brand so others here will know how current models are.
I see many parts for my 2001 were discontinued by 2013 so expect a 10 year parts availability or at least research parts past the 10 year point to see how you will be if you keep the atv long term vs trading up every few years. Honda in Motorcycles is quite good with supporting old models I can go back to the 80's before I find parts dropping off the availability lists. One metric you may look at is how many old Honda's are still running vs how many can-ams, I see Honda's all the time but few can-am's might be due to fewer sold though.
As a new atv rider and race track motorcyclist I could not care less about power at this point, I simply do not miss what I do not know. If you start with either and do basic maintenance you will likely be fine. You may find that after you start playing with it you enjoy riding more than you thought and at that point what you do may change, If you buy a tractor yes it may do what you need but the atv may do that and more. Even a utility atv can be fun much like a sv650 can be just as fun as a gsxr1000 just different.
Most of what I see is misuse and abuse, but I am coming from a motorcycle background. Atvs are mostly rode hard and put away wet so if you do a minimum of care and maintenance you should be fine with either, ignore it with either at your peril.