OK, so I am going to start test riding some bikes. Has anyone ridden one with the hondamatic (HMT) transmission?

I am wondering if the 09 Rancher AT is worth waiting for, or if I should go with the manual. The HMT does sound pretty sweet.

 

Noone knows what technology the new hondamatic in the Rancher 420 is using. They stated a dual clutch auto tranny, which to many of us sounds like something new from honda, we dont know what adaptation of dual clutch trannies they may have used.

 

It looks to me like it is some sort of friction drive or something.

 

I don't know if you know this but the Rubicon has the Hondamatic transmission as well.

 

I have not seen anywhere where Honda calls this a "Hondamatic". What they call it is a "Twin Clutch". Google that term "twin clutch", and see what you come up with.

Here is what they do say: "Our five-speed Twin Clutch transmission is what sets this Rancher apart. It's fully automatic, and offers all the efficiency of a conventional gearbox. It's the fastest shifting transmission you'll ever experience, which means less shift shock and uninterrupted power transfer. In short, it's an ATV only Honda could build."

Note that it says "sets it apart", and to me that implies that it is nothing like any existing transmission......

 

Honda dumped the "Hondamatic" from the old Rancher 400AT. It had a reputation for lacking low end, and there are a few posts in here where folks have had problems with them....so why would they go and bring it back now in the 420AT?????

The 420AT looks way heavy for a 400 class machine, at least on paper. Another thing that will work against it, is that it is ~$1,000 more expensive than the other 420. This brings the price up there with the Yamaha 450.

 

I have two 02 model Rubicon's with the Hondamatic transmissions. They have been pretty much bullet proof and are truely a workhorse of a bike. It also gives you the option to shift manually and it also gives you the option of the oh so important super low granny gear with stump pulling power. Ask any Honda mechanic and he'll tell you that the Rubicon is probably the best bike Honda has ever built. Most of the mechanics that I have talked with all say if your gonna buy a Honda make sure its got Forman written on the side of it. I don't know what the 420 cost but I would go with the 500 Rubicon. I have a guy in my hunting club that just bought 1 for him and 1 for his son and they love them and don't know how they ever done without them, and they have what seems like a whole lot more power than my older one. Go with the proven one, the Rubicon. You won't be sorry...

 

The AT is ~$1,000 more than the manual tranny Rancher, and the Rubicon is ~$1,000 more than the AT! With the AT, Honda may already have priced itself out of the basic 400 class market, which is where the greatest sales volume is located.

For me, the rubber band drives are mickey mouse, and the Honda automatics are just the opposite....a needlessly complex solution to the problem ....the problem being that most of the general public is to inept to learn to shift a manual! The ES should be the easy solution, but that system is not without its own problems.

 

Don't knock an auto until you've had one and put it to the test on a daily basis. How can you say the public needs to learn how to shift a manual when thats all they had for the last 20 years. Some peple are just tired shifting and would rather let the bike do it for them. I know I will never go back to a manual shift, its just to convenient and my personal prefrence. It doesn't make anybody a bad person or a lazy person, its a prefrence and its their right to have one.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Swamps of Louisiana to the hills of Mississippi

 

If you have ever pulled logs, fence, trailers or plowed snow for hours. People would fully understand the love I have for the hondamatic.