I am looking for a long term ATV that will rack up some serious miles, and have very few repair issues. I ride in WV so except for sand, I have every condition that you can think of. I want a large bore 4X4 because I will be carrying camping gear and my girl will be on the back, so I need lots of power.

2005 Rincon- There are some issues about overheating, and some people hate the tranny, some say its way underpowered for a 650, some people hate the 3 wheel drive system. I love Hondas, and I think they build a great machine, but I dont want to sacrifice everything just because its a Honda, so its tough to be brand loyal.

2005 Brute Force- Has plenty of power, but from mag reviews the thing isnt that fun to ride as far as handling goes. No idea on Long Term reliability, and not many people own one yet, so its hard to know how many kinks this thing has in it and what kind of problems will arise.

2005 King Quad 700- Looks excellent on paper, but all do when nobody has ridden them. I owned a King Quad 500 a few years ago and had a few small problems, but overall it was a great machine. I do not like Suzuki parts prices, they are the highest....so if a man needed parts down the road it would kill the wallet.

I guess when I pay over $6000 for an ATV it needs to be perfect, and a few hundred $$ wont sway me over one machine or the other just because its cheaper.

Weigh in and tell me what you think, it all helps.

http://rincon.atvowners.com is where I have been reading for a week on the Rincon. All the flaws come out on forums like that, which I love, but also with a great forum like that, if something goes wrong you have an answer in no time and lots of info to research and help yourself.

 

Rincon- Although is is underpowered compared to all the other big-bore machines, it would have plenty of power to get you where you wanted to go. It's one of the better-handling of the IRS machines when you pick the speeds up and supposedly has an unbelievably comfortable ride. You're getting the Honda reliability that can't be beat, and the "3-wheel drive" is rarely going to be a problem unless you really go looking for trouble. A neat little trick that I can do on my Rubi to counter that is to continually tap the front brakes because it engages both front tires spinning. NO BELT AT ALL!

Brute Force- The big-bore Kawasakis seem to have pretty good reliability. However, the CVT system is probably the most high-maintanence of all of them so if you aren't into turning some wrenches occasionally, this may not be the machine for you. However, the CVT system is the easiest of all to modify and there is an entire range of springs, weights, etc. to perfect the power delivery exactly the way you want it. Power will be the best of any utility out there, I suspect even the new 800 Polaris will not have as much pep because they are infamously heavy. Speedy trail-riding is not going to be a strength of this machine in stock form. Best locker in the business: nothing electronic about it.

KingQuad- You're right, this machine looks great on the paper. EFI will either be a huge strength or a huge weakness depending on the ability for it to adapt to altitudes, modifications and the overall reliability of it. People claim EFI in vehicles to be absolutely great, but you don't run your car through the mud, dust, snow, water, etc. do you? If it is reliable, I would expect this machine to have awesome power and exceptional throttle response. The big 700 single kind of makes me wonder about the potentially annoying vibration. Suzuki has a very solid and reliable lineup of utility quads, I would expect this one to be no different. It has a locker, but it's electronic which I dislike, but that's just my opinion. Probably going to have the best IRS in the business. The Suzuki CVT systems are very reliable and very low-maintanence, but like Yamaha systems, not very easy to modify compared to Kawasaki and Polaris systems.

If you aren't worried about ill-handling problems at higher speeds, I would suggest the Brute Force unless you climb any radically steep hills where the power may be too much and toss you over backwards. If you can wait and see how the KingQuad does, I think this may be the perfect machine for you. However, if you can accept the more sluggish power (compared to these other two) of the Rincon, it would have the best reliability of all of them. Why do you not want a Kawasaki/Suzuki Prairie/Twinpeaks 700? It's got A LOT of power (not to mention an endless sea of mods if you want even more), but not so much that it would be considered potentially dangerous on really technical and steep riding. Same manual locker as the Brute Force and it is equipped with a SRA (solid rear axle) which is much less maintanence than any IRS. The ride is every bit as good on an SRA as an IRS in my opinion because quads just aren't heavy enough to make IRS work the way it's supposed to. IRS also tends to "squat" when you've got a lot of weight on the rack or if you're pulling something of decent size. MUCH sportier ride than all the others mentioned here. That's my long and tedious 2 cents.

 

RedGoblin,

The Rincon has me puzzled. Over at the forum http://rincon.atvowners.com where it is almost strictly Rincon owners or wannabees... I dont get a good vibe.

There is a couple of guys looking at a class action lawsuit...due to faulty waterpumps, and overheating issues that cant be resolved.

There are a few cases of headgaskets blown, lots of complaints about the tranny, and tons of complaints about lack of power for a 650.

I do give thought to the reasonings of posts....if everyone posted "I love my Rincon its the best" it wouldnt be much of a forum.

I also feel that those that need help tend to post, so of course most of the threads tend to be about "trouble"

The consensus is Brute Force= too much power Honda Rincon=not enough power by reading mags and most posts.

Honda reliability is a strong point, but I read all forums and except for belt problems and "limp mode" on a few AC and Kawis they all seem to be very reliable (polaris isnt in my reading so I do not count them).

Perhaps the wise choice is to wait for the KQ700 to be fully reviewed then make my final choice. EFI will either be its savior or downfall, and only time and lots of miles and conditions will tell the tale, so honestly I would have to wait 6 months or more to see what happens.
I dont know how many units will sell, and then how many people actually visit these boards and will post about their KQ... so its almost a moot point for someone like me looking for an ATV in the next couple of months...unless I want to be a guinea pig and try it for myself.

Brute Force has been out for a while now and the reading is very sparse on real world problems/conditions.....

Rincon has obviously sold a ton of units and is unchanged for 3 years now.....so that makes me think that something must be right with it...right?


Geez this is tough.....I will keep reading, you guys keep posting.

LOL

 

The best way to decide is to go test ride each of them. Let your seat decide for you. As far as the quads you listed, here is my take on each.

Rincon: IRS is very nice ride, honda reliability, lack luster power, no low range, no front diff. lock & over priced. This bike will be dependable, but is over priced and doesn't have all the features.

Brute Force: IRS is probably very good, POWER...POWER....and more POWER, front diff. lock, dependable kawasaki quality, low range. This bike is probably the best ever made, but that is my opinion and that is based on the knowledge that I have from owning the kawa 700.

King Quad: IRS is probably very good, probably will have a good amount of power, front diff. locker, dependable Suzuki quality, low range. This will probably the an awsome bike like the BF.

All three are/will be great quads, but the bottom line is, if you can wait until all the big quads are out, you will have a better chance to get what YOU want.

 

A small twist in my puzzle:

I went today to the local Suzuki/Arctic Cat dealer to talk to the owner and get some insight on the KQ700...

I have bought 2 bikes off of him, he is a straight shooter and the owner of the dealership, unlike salesmen that usually will tell u anything to get you to buy their bikes... here goes..

I asked about the KQ700 and he said he would have them in 2-3 weeks, he saw and got a demo of one at the tradeshow in Nevada.. he said it is the best thing he has seen as far as quads go, and listed alot of things that I already knew, etc..

He is also an Arctic Cat dealer, and services all brands.. he told me point blank "Do not buy an Arctic Cat Vtwin, or any other Vtwin 4wheeler" In his own words the Arctic Cat V-twin was a "piece of sh*it motor" He said that I could expect the same thing out of the kawi.

He took me back in the service area and pointed to 2 arctic cats with V-twins that are being serviced, they are having problems with the cams, and some bugs that he didnt want to talk about.

He said that the regular service that is needed for the V-twins will outweigh the benefits, and down the road I would be looking at a nightmare on maintenance and problems.

I have to give the guy some credit for knocking his own products, and being honest with me. He has been dealing motorcycles since the 1960s and is the kind of guy that has made his $$ and just gets his thrills making customers happy.

So putting on my flame suit, I am going to bail out of V-Twin ATVs and leave them on the showroom floor for guys who want them.

Down to Rincon and KQ700 for me.. as of now..

 

Dude...you are full of crap. I have never heard of any of those problems with the v-twin. And, if the v-twin design is so bad, why has it been so good for the last 3 years????? Also, if it was bad, why do most motorcycles use a V design....... He is blowing smoke up your butt.

 

LOL LOL! I think you have a po cat dealer! I would question his judgement. I have over 20,000km on my 650 twin... I would think that your dealer has never seen an ATV over 10k. It's interesting that that Dealer has suzuki and AC which both have the Kawi twin in em. Rest assured that the Kawi twin engine is very durable... and yes I feel the first service on a twin is way too complicated but that's only the first one. I hate dealers that feed people BS, I would be looking for a second dealer too. My two cents say I'm on a twin for life now, it's like the auto tranny once you switch it's hard to leave it. I wonder which machine spilt dealers make the most money on.

 

"Dude...you are full of crap. I have never heard of any of those problems with the v-twin. And, if the v-twin design is so bad, why has it been so good for the last 3 years????? Also, if it was bad, why do most motorcycles use a V design....... He is blowing smoke up your butt. "


Thats cool.. but I am not full of crap.. Dude.

I did not personally reflect any negativity on the Vtwins, I only quoted what the guy said to me. I based my feelings of not wanting one
on trust of a guy that has been selling and working on motorcycles since the 1960s. I too questioned why on earth a dealer of a brand would knock his own product, he did not have to say a thing about it... he did not make or lose a sale because I was not asking or wanting to buy an Arctic Cat, he just told me out of his own knowledge.

Personally I hope that V-twins are stone cold reliable, I hope technology keeps moving futher and that ATVs keep getting better.. I did not want to start a Ford vs. Chevy argument, and I wont argue with you over what is what.......this is my $$ and I will invest in the best that I can and get the most bang for my buck.

I want to be informed of pros and cons and I will pull my wallet out when the pros outweigh the cons..

For what its worth my first dirtbike of adult age was a 1984 XR350, you can do a search on newsgroups if you want.. this was supposed to be the worst dirtbike that Honda made. They only made it for 2 years, it had 2 carbs, and was supposed to run super hot and melt dipsticks and all kinds of problems that I dont want to even list. I sold this bike this year, it was 20 years old, and you could start it first kick every time, it ran like a timex and never even gave me one ounce of trouble. It may have been the most perfectly built dirtbike that I have ever seen, so if I had gone by what many others said, I would have thought that this was indeed the worst bike ever, when in fact it was probably one of the best.

If it helps your pride, V-twins rock and you have the best and biggest and most super ATV in the world!!!

 

"LOL LOL! I think you have a po cat dealer! I would question his judgement. I have over 20,000km on my 650 twin... I would think that your dealer has never seen an ATV over 10k. It's interesting that that Dealer has suzuki and AC which both have the Kawi twin in em. Rest assured that the Kawi twin engine is very durable... and yes I feel the first service on a twin is way too complicated but that's only the first one. I hate dealers that feed people BS, I would be looking for a second dealer too. My two cents say I'm on a twin for life now, it's like the auto tranny once you switch it's hard to leave it. I wonder which machine spilt dealers make the most money on."


You may be right, that is very impressive 20,000 KM is 12,500 miles.. thats awesome!!

I have been to lots of dealers and I always get a kick out of what they say to knock the competitor. I just for the life of me cant figure out why he said that his own product was sh*t. Maybe he is telling a small lie to set me up for the big lie..LOL I guess if he could sucker me into the KQ700 at the risk of losing a sale on the AC it would be worth it.

Someone needs to help me on this, so feel free to chime in V-twin guys:

Honda makes more engines than any other manufacturer-- weedeaters, lawnmowers, cars, SUV, pressure washers, motorcycles, boat motors, jetskis, etc etc etc..

They have more money for R&D than anyone, and they make a fortune on ATVs....so why did they skip Vtwins for 2004 and 2005 when they could have easily put one in?

I dont want to start any wars, just wondering.

 

remember You didn't here this from me: LOL Honda has a twin in a 650 chassie but they have been keeping it very quite for over a year now It just might be a engine to that you are quite fimilar with already!! I think your AC dealer has have more experience with the twin engines and that will come with time, the 650 AC has only been out for a little bit now. A lot manufactures make other engines, IE Kawi heavey Industries, Bombs, Suzuki, etc. I don't know about Polaris and ACs but the ACs use the suzuki engine and Polaris was using Fugi engines. I also believe Honda is haveing issues with their Twins right now and they want to resolve that before it will be announced to make sure it stands to a Honda name.