im looking to buy a honda rancher es and wondered if they were any good and how thery are off road in the mudd and snow and how fast do they go in mph

 

The Rancher is the in-between machine. It is big enough to do the job well, but yet it isn't a huge, heavy, hulking, big bore beast. One of my friends who rides a huge machine always says that I "make it look easy", in the tough, technical sections. That is because it IS easy on a light machine with a low center of mass.

Do a search. There is a unusual number of posts on problems with the ES system (and Honda charges you $200 extra for it!). On the other hand, there are lots of people who never had a problem with theirs. All I can say is, I never had a problem shifting with my foot! The magazines have had 5 (that I know of) ES systems fail on test bikes. Not great odds. Save yourself the posibility of a problem later on.

 

We only have 1200 miles on our 02 Rancher 4x4 ES and we have had zero problems. Nice ATV.

 

no problems with my es, and has seen everything that can be thrown at it

 

i also have an 02 rancher with 1300 miles and had zero problems. it will get you through the mud with no problem and the top speed is exactly 50mph

 

Both of our Rancher's are ES. We've had no problems at all and been thru mud, water, etc. Gonna work 'em this weekend in Utah.....no worries at all [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

no problems, starts every time, takes a decent beating well. Shocks could be better, though. Shifts kinda hard too.

 

My brother bought a Rancher 4x4 a couple of months ago. Because we prefer "old-school" type shifting, he bought the 350FW instead of the electronic shift. The bike's done great in everything we've ridden through. A few weeks ago in Upstate NY my buddy's Rubicon got buried in some really nasty muck and the Rancher pulled it out effortlessly. Not a bad bike for its size.

 

Actually, if you do a search you will find many more people who have never had a problem with es, than those complaining that they are having an issue. And of those that have problems, a great number of times the system simply is caught between gears and just needs to be rolled forward or back to engage into gear and all will be well again.

Just because you dont like it, you dont have to trash it like you do in every other post about the es system.

 

A prospective buyer needs to know EVERYTHING about a bike they are considering, the GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY! That's what this forum is for! BUYERS BEWARE!

We live in a world where people don't even know how to shift a car. How are they ever going to figure out a dirt bike? Honda knows this, and that is why we are seeing the flood of autos and ES's on the market. Even the sport bike market isn't immune (eg. the V-Force).