I'm not gonna praise nor slam our 2016 CF500 quad. You'll know why at the end of my rant. Purchased new from Rugged Edge a little over a year ago, we now have 3200+km on it. Right from the get go we had the drivability issue that can be found in this forum. At low speed(under 30kph) the bike drove like a bucking horse. After a few trips to the dealer with no fix, we were ready to unload it, but I found the exact problem and solution here and corrected myself. Idle speed was set too high. A few turns of the idle speed screw and voila, a new machine. I'm sure they would have found it eventually, but it's a pain bringing it back and forth from the cabin when my truck is always loaded with supplies.
Next: There is no way my wife can take this bike for a ride by herself. I manage now, but shifting is a nightmare, especially in and out of reverse. You have to either rock the bike back and forth violently or be a one man band with one hand giving little shots of throttle while the other is on the gear shifter and then hit the foot brake at the precise moment. Also been back to dealer several times but no fix.
Next: I tow a small utility trailer at the cabin. Within the first few weeks there was a clunking sound near the hitch. A quick inspection found the receiver was completely broken away from frame. It was only attached with a couple wads of bubble gum welding. My dealer rewelded quickly and no problem since.
Next: The differential lock gave out within 4 months and again dealer repaired promptly.
Next: I find the seat very uncomfortable. There is a ridge about center of seat. Forward of the ridge is hard and the sweet spot is behind ridge. I guess it depends on your riding position, but mine seems to be on the ridge. I tilted handlebars back. It helped but I still find I'm on the ridge a lot.
Next: If you buy a CForce unit and don't have a metric wrench and socket set, proceed directly from your dealer, to your local tool supplier and pick one up. Go home and before your first ride, spend a couple hrs and check every nut, bolt and screw that you can get your hands on. Since we've had ours, I've found numerous nuts, bolts and side cover mounting grommets have either fallen out or were never there from the factory. The latest was this weekend when there was a clunking noise in the handlebars. Again, a quick inspection found the bolts had completely fallen out of the power steering motor.
Next: I've owned several ATV's and this is by far the dirtiest one I've ever riden. Ok, they're all dusty, but riding on wet terrain, you, and especially your passenger get buried in mud. Mirrors, windshield, everything. It's to the point where my wife will not ride on a wet day. I've looked for fender extensions but no luck so I'm gonna have to scarf something up myself.
Now, I may sound like I'm ready to unload this bike, but when everything is in place, we both love it. Great ride and handling. Plenty of power for us, and I have to say that Craig, Melvin and the gang at Rugged Edge have been nop notch dealing with service.
When people ask how we feel about the bike, I usually say, "you get what you pay for". It's not a Honda, Yamaha or Can Am, but we didn't have $12-$15,000 to spend on a new bike, and after some positive comments from owners we thought it was our best option. We're not sorry for our purchase, but we've had a lot of BS issues that should not have happened, even on a lower end brand. It seems as though quality control where this bike is put together, doesn't exist.