I've been looking to buy a new atv for a little while now and ive looked at yamahas, hondas, kawasakis, etc. I really like the ranchers and the new raptor 350 but im also interested in the new Bruin 350 4x4. I havent heard much about it but it seems like it might be a good buy since its about the same price as the Rancher 350 4x4. I wanted to know if any of you have one or have ridden one and can tell me how it stacks up against the other atvs in its class. How does it handle? Does it have good power? Does it have good suspension? Are the Yamaha belt drive autos reliable? how fast is it? Any help you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

 

I bought one for my wife (because she wanted an auto transmission) and we both love it! It rides good, handles well, plenty of power, great gas mileage and can be shifted in and out of 4wd (my Wolverine cannot). I think its very sporty riding and looks like a small Grizz. So far I can't say anything bad about it. I haven't checked the top end speed with my GPS yet but I would guess it to be around 45-50 MPH. Plenty fast for a utility ATV IMO.

Hope this helps you..... I think you will like it

 

I had my choices narrowed down to the Rancher 4X4 ES and Bruin 350 4X4. I bought the Bruin simply because the Yama dealer was willing to come down 10% ($4550 OTD) while the Honda dealer wouldn't budge off of full retail price. I think you'd be happy with either one, I would have been. I've had my Bruin about 10 mos now and have had zero problems. The dealer said it'd do 45 mph but I couldn't say for sure, I didn't buy it to go fast. I really like the selectable 4WD and auto tranny. All in all, I feel it's a pretty good quad for the money.

 

I would imagine that the Rancher would be faster. I think the Bruin uses the old Big Bear engine, and that ran about the same as the old Honda 300 (which was slower than a Rancher). The 4wd/2wd select would be nice on the Bruin though, and I would imagine that the brakes are better, and it may have a better suspension than the rancher. But I doubt the suspension thing is any great deal between the two.

Actually, the Rancher and the Big Bear are more comparable. The Bruin is kind of in a different class it almost seems like.

 

Here is a quick review that I had written on another site a while back.

I purchased a 2004 Bruin 350 for my girlfriend about a month ago. We have put over 300 problem free miles on the bike, and we are quite happy with it. It does very well up very steep hills, and in the mud. I was actually surprised at how well the bike handled pretty much everything that we threw at it. Now don't get me wrong, it's not a full out mud bogger due to the lack of low gear, but to do some trail ridding, and go through the odd mud hole, it's plenty capable.

We have never owned anything but Kawasaki ATV's, so this is our first Yamaha ATV that we have purchased. For the time being, we are very satisfied with it. I would highly recommend that you get the 4x4 version.

Another nice thing about this bike is that it's quite peppy for a 350. My buddy has a 2001 Honda Rancher 350ES, and we tried them out in a drag, and the Bruin was over 10 quads lenghts ahead of the Honda. I would say that it gets between 42-45mph top end, which is plenty fast for her.

The only complaint that I have about the bike right now, is the design and comfort of the seat. A few weekends ago, I decided to take the Bruin out to the camp instead of my Prairie 650. I put over 100 miles that weekend on the bike, and I was very very uncomfortable after a long long period of ridding. I couldn't wait to stop and strech my legs. I can ride my Prairie all day without even having any discomfort. It's not that bad, I'm just used to my Prairie which is plenty roomy, but the Bruin is still nice.

But overall a very good little quad for the money. I did plenty of shopping before I bought this quad, and for the features you get, you can't go wrong. I looked at the Prairie 360, but it was too wide to fit in the back of my flareside Ford Ranger, I looked at the Honda Rancher but it was $1100 more then the Bruin, it was a standard shift, had drum brakes all around, and was full time 4x4. The Bruin was an auto tranny, with in an out 4wd, had disk brakes in the front, and was the cheapest of the bunch. Plenty of bang for your buck.

I also looked at the Rancher 400AT with the ESP transmission, but they wanted over $1600 more for that model.

So for the price difference, I couldn't justify spending that much more money, for less way features. I know the Honda is a very reliable bike, but $1100 will buy you plenty of parts.

Another nice thing that I liked about the Bruin is that even though it's a new quad, it basically uses some proven components. It uses the Big Bear motor which has been around for years, and it also uses the well proven Ultramatic Tranny. So overall I don't think you can go wrong.

Let me know if you have any questions. You can also check out my picture page for plenty of pictures of the Bruin.

Dan

 

Also we are leaving for a 600 miles trip accross Newfoundland on August 6th. So this will definitly be a great test for the Bruin. When I get back from the trip, we should have close to 1000 miles on the bike when I get back. I will report back when I get back after August 21st.

 

Andy Bassham

As I mentioned in my previous post, my buddy has a Rancher 350ES and he installed the Warn 424 Select kit that allows him to ride his bike in 2wd or 4wd. We raced both bikes side by side, and the Bruin kept pulling away about 10 bike lenghts everytime. We tried a race with both bikes in 2wd, a race with both bikes in 4wd, a race with the Bruin in 4wd, and the Rancher in 2wd, and a race with the Rancher in 4wd, and the Bruin in 2wd, and the results were the same everytime. We even switched bikes for one race, and the Bruin still won.

The big advantage that the Bruin has over the Rancher is the Auto tranny, by the time the Rancher is shifted into third gear, the Bruin is gone. I'm pretty sure that if I would try a new Rancher 400AT with the auto tranny, it would probably beat the Bruin, but with an electrical shift, I don't think it would.

 

Go Bruin then. I like yamaha better than honda anyway.

But its either changed or the transmission is doing it, cause the 350 big bear would not outrun a rancher.

 

I'm pretty sure it's the transmission.