I have a 08 sportsman 800 with a lot of mods on it and it have been a good bike for me i beat the crap out of it and it just keeps asking for more.Alot of guys here are correct the Honda's are a great machine but come with the price tag to match. I have 8 freinds with the suzuki's all 700 or 750's they are a great bang for your buck almost all of the problems that i have seen with them have been operator related. The yamaha's are a nice bike but for there dollare they cannot compete with the others. Can am i have a few freinds with those and they are nice but expensive.If i were looking to do what you want i would either look at the Polaris 500 you can get it in either 500EFI or Carbed models with a lower price tag. also the suzuki like i said they are a good bike aswell and come in the 450 and 750.