I am looking to get my first ATV that I can ride around a farm, some trails, and ride with my children (6&8) on the back. I am comparing the Honda Rancher 420 4x4 with manual shift which stickers for $6200 to the Yamaha Kodiak 700 which stickers for around $7K. I am struggling to understand why for $800 I can go from a 420cc manual shift with a solid rear axle to a 700cc automatic with independent rear suspension. I don't understand why the Honda cost almost the same as the Yamaha which on paper seems much more capable. Is it name recognition or is there something key that as a new guy I just don't understand.

If you wanted to keep the price the same you could compare the Honda Foreman 4x4 to the Yamaha Kodiak and now the Honda is $100 more but the Honda still has a smaller engine, manual shift, and a solid axle. Thanks for any help on helping me understand the differences.

 

Quick points, Y and H are pretty much equal in build quality and reliability. Hard to pass up the bigger motor and better suspension of the Kodiak. Dealer support and service may be a deciding factor for you since you are just getting into it. Both units will do as you need for a long time with routine maintenance.

Since you are looking to have little ones along, may I suggest looking at the Pioneer 500? Yes it is more expensive, but you get a lot for the money compared to other side by sides. The little ones will be a bit safer inside a roll cage with their own seat and belt as well vs riding 2 up on a machine not quite designed for it.

 

Agree 100%. Either a UTV or a quad designed for a passenger. And ALWAYS use safety gear.

 

The price of a Honda is partly because of build quality, though Yamaha are getting near. Surely a closer comparison is between the Honda 500 auto IRS and the Kodiak. OK the engine size is 200cc different and I guess the Honda price ticket will be a lot higher but, if you point this out to the Honda dealer, they may try to match the Yam. Also check second hand prices, Hondas keep their value, the old 420 took a knock due to design faults but used Hondas are worth more than Yams of the same age and specifications.

 

Honda is and probably always will be #1 in quality and reliability. The Rancher 420 being the only model that was the exception though. I think they got that sorted out years ago though, well before the current 420 models came out. But its not even close in performance. Honda to this point has nothing in their lineup that can even put up a good fight against the 708cc Kodiak in performance. Even the more expensive Rincon and Rubicon models fall short. New Honda utility atvs are overpriced in my opinion. I believe Yamaha to be 2nd in reliability to Honda. I've owned both. I would have bought another used Honda but I didn't want another slow quad. And that's the problem with Honda. They make bullet-proof reliable machines but they're underpowered and slow. Yamaha doesn't compare to Can-am and Polaris in performance either but I question the reliability of those brands, especially Polaris. Can-am hasn't been making big bore performance 4x4s as long so the jury is still out on how they hold up after say 10 years but I think they're much better than Polaris. Kawasaki and Arctic Cat are somewhere in the middle along with Suzuki. Polaris in my opinion has always put performance ahead of reliabilty. Which is why their used quads cost so much less. They just don't have as much life left in them as Hondas and Yamahas. If I were to rank the reliability of the brands it would go like this.
1. Honda
2. Yamaha
3. Can Am
4. Arctic Cat, Kawasaki, Suzuki(tie)
7. Polaris
8. anything Chinese

 

You are fairly close with that list but Suzuki are well above Can Am. The 700 King Quad had a charge problem for the electrics and some Eiger flywheels were inclined to loose their magnets, but otherwise they have been very reliable. There is the frame cracking problem on 450 and 700, but this is usually found during services.

Regarding Can Am, I remember a Bombardier 400 that shed it's cam chain when fairly new, we found the automatic de-compressor on the cam had disintegrated, on checking with the local dealer, who had sold it new, he expressed surprise that it had a decompressor, "we always remove them when we get the bike from the factory and fit a cam without one, because they all do this. Your bike must have been missed." So Can Am/Bombardier were then sending out bikes with a known fault that could destroy the engine if a valve hit the piston. We had lots of small faults with that bike, and later took a Can Am 400 in part exchange which was almost identical, except for fuel injection, and also had lots of small faults. We won't buy Can Ams in now, as we don't want to sell someone a bike that will give trouble.

Incidentally the Honda 420 rear axle fault was not fixed until the new model came out in 2013. In 2014 the last new old model we sold came in for first service with 29 hours on it, the RH rear hub was loose.

 

I figured someone would comment on how low I put Polaris lol. I've heard bad things about the frames of some of the Can-Am's from a few years ago. Just not strong enough. Someone also mentioned weak frames on the King Quads as well. I think both of those are not issues with the newer models. In reality, any new quad should be reliable. I wouldn't hesitate to buy anything new. I would make sure I got a 5 year extended warranty if it didn't offer one. Especially if it were the first year of a new model. Like the new Yamaha Kodiak and Grizzly models. This is the first year of the 708cc engine, also in the Wolverine side by side. If there will be reliability issues, this would be the year for it to happen. The Polaris 570 engine had issues its first year. These new turbo side by side models for both Polaris and Can-Am I believe are going to have some issues as well. A turbo definitely helps to make more power but its more suited to on-road use. Anyone who buys one of these better make damn sure they get an extended warranty.

 

I'd take the new 48hp 700 Yamaha over Honda's flagship 39hp 680 Rincon let alone the mid chassis 26hp SRA 420 Rancher or even full chassis 28hp 500 (475cc) Rubicon/Foreman.
The Yamaha 700 is just in a different class over a 420. The 420 competes with the mid chassis 450(421cc) Grizzly and even then atleast the 450 Grizzly has diff lock and IRS going for it.

 

I think this might be the first time I've quoted myself lol. As much as I traditionally have somewhat not really respected the toughness and reliability of Polaris, I find myself pondering trading in my Grizzly for a 50" RZR 800. I know owners of these have somewhat mixed feelings about these machines. The major sticking point will be how hard it is for myself to spend the money for the difference even though I have plenty saved up. I'm pretty conservative especially when spending money for such a large purchase. Its the main reason I have been able to save a lot of money over the last few years, the ability to resist the urge to buy too many expensive toys lol. A local dealer has a 2010 RZR for $5999. It even has a couple extras such as good tires, a roof and even a stereo system. Mileage is not known but it looks to be in good shape. If they would make me a fair offer on my Grizzly, I might be tempted to trade up. Its the same dealer that just did the work on my Grizzly so they're very familar with it. 2010 POLARIS RZR 800
The reason I am leaning toward a side by side is that my town allows them to registered and ridden on city streets legally and the next town nearest to me does as well. With a larger fuel tank, I can ride it to a lot of riding spots I might want to go to and not worry about using too much fuel to get there as I would with the smaller tank on my very thirsty Grizzly. It will fit in the bed of my truck but I would probably buy a small trailer to haul it. My building is not big enough for it either but I live across the street from a rental storage place so I think I might rent one of larger units to store it. The larger units are about the size of a one-car garage and I think about $100 a month or so to rent. Having a building of equal size built would probably be around $5000 or more to build.

 

If you can swing it, keep the Grizz and get the Rzr along with the storage rental. There are many that don't want to give up the sit on top, shift your weight around feeling that a SxS will not provide... I am one. If that is not a feeling you know you would miss... then disregard this post.

I would like to have both and then if I find myself not riding the Grizz, off to sell. However, really like riding 50" tight trails at speed and wouldn't see getting rid of my Grizzly.