I am shopping for a new bike since the old one went the way of the
dodo bird. I have been looking at the yammies for awhile although
I am a Honda fan. I was thinking of either a Foreman 500 or the
Kodiak 450. I really like the Honda's for their reliability, although
I figure if Yamaha made a bike with no frills ( no IRS, liquid cooling, belt
drive or 2/4/4 low) their bikes would be bullet-proof too. I will use the
bike for mostly light trail riding with some mud when I go riding my
friends who have 500 sportsmans and 500 Arctic Cats. I am not looking for
top speed but I would not like to be the guy eating dust on the gravel
roads either, anything over 50 mph is good. Also, like to stand on
my bike when I ride and I think the manual shift bikes would
suck for this. The thing I am stuck on is whether to buy a Honda which
will last for 20 yrs, although for those years my butt will be
very sore due to the SRA and my teeth will be full of dust
from riding the gravel roads or to ride the Yammi in comfort
with the very small thought in the bad of my head that the
machine may calf out a few years earlier due to all the
extras these machines have. Anyone who has either
please let me know what you think, my wife has given me
the OK to buy a new one and I don't think this will last
long SO PLEASE RESPOND QUICK!! Thanks for the input.

 

Well I went through the same thing as you recently and being a honda guy I know how the legion is or can be to their products. I looked at a number of bikes not just the 2 you mentioned but in the end it came down to the Foreman S(b/c of fimialrity had 300TRX and 400 Foreman) and Kodiak. I ended up with a Kodiak, here's why:
Features:
IRS
Ground Clearance
LC with fan Cooling
Front Diff Lock (true 4 wheel drive ability)
Disc brakes front & back
Handling (more nibble, effortless to ride trails and tight areas)
Price (I got the kodiak 450 SE with 26" mudlites, 2500 warn(installed), alum skid plate kit and Front Kimpex t3 Bumper for less than Foreman S with 2500 warn installed)

Personal things I liked better:
Size of the kodiak (a bit smaller which is what I wanted for hunting reasons)
Seat is more comfortable
Instrument panel is located lower so in the event of rolling less likely to bust off that very expensive peice of plastic. (Believe me seen it happen more than once and last year 450ES did the gainer off our log bridge supposedly 1100(CAD) touch to replace)
Styling

While mine is still pretty new, I have really enjoyed it. 4wd works very well, I even needed the diff lock which pulled me through an over run creek bed but left 2 of my buddies needing the winch (both were limited slip 4wd 1 honda 450 s and the other suzi vinsion 500 auto). The ride and handling is great. Top end haven't been their yet but 50 should easily be attainable..you'll more than keep up with AC's(in fact probably pass him), the polly will pull away though! All wheel EBS works very well and IMO only takes a back seat to the honda rubicon..in low and steep drops you feel like you have to give it gas and no real need for brakes. The IRS is great, it really floats over uneven terrain, but will say it took me a few corners to get over the feeling of swaying...it is firmly planted on the ground just feels or perception of less stable. Ultramatic Vbelt tranny was my worry but I really like it, very responsive, feels smooth and NO SLIPS of the belt (I have had it close to racks in water on more than one occasion). Handles great, very nimble but yet you feel secure. Being new haven't really dropped the hammer out of the hole so can't really comment on this aspect. I have towed some decent trailer weights, drung a few stumps that I couldn't move myself(300-400 lbs would be my guess), it hooks up fine and hauls them with no problems. The only thing I noticed is with the 26" lites under load it seems to take a bit more revs to turn the wheels (I am talking trailer load that would be 1000lbs range, so that may not really apply to you). I am thinking about putting in a EPI clutch kit to help compensate in this regards..but again seeing i use mine for hunting where heavy loads are part of the day it is more a personal question as many seem to find the yami stock clutches very good for trail/mud use with 26" tires.

My only complaint is the grease zerts, never really looked on the Foreman but on the Kodiak their are 8 in total. 2 on each wheel rear wheel and the other 4 on the drive shaft U joints. The rear wheel ones I just switched to angle fittings, so they are now a snap. The rear u joints are also not bad just have to roll the bike to gain access but the fronts are bear! Only thing I have found that works ok is a needle tip fitting. To be honest this is pretty nit picky but seeing I am pretty **** about maintain my ATV, it is abit of annoying factor to me personally.

Any way I hope it helps you some. I would suggest testing both units so you can determine what you like best. Either are good choices though.

Best of luck.

 

Honda is not the only manufacturer with bullet proof machines anymore. I think you will find that the Yamaha your considering is of top caliber. I have a 04 Kodiak 450 and am very pleased with it! I do not have the IRS and enjoy the ride. The atv does everything asked of it from trails to plowing. I have had to use the front lock to get out of a situation, I probably shouldn't have been in and it was a good thing I had it. Both machines you mention are good, but look at the features side by side and go from there. I can say I am glad to have the front lock and the ground clearence of the Kodiak and bottom out at times still. Good luck in your choice and I think reliablility is very good with all manufacturers now a days. All will have little things from time to time including Honda.

Good Luck and let us know what you go with.

 

derky, I just bought an 05 Kodiak 450 and have about 15 HRS on the machine
what can i say, I love this machine.
It does all that i ask of it and more.
1 It thinks it's a mountain goat. (4X4 w/diff lock)
2 51 MPH indicated stone stock.
3 Yamaha reliability!!!!!! (They have been giving Honda fits for years now)
4 All day comfort. (Killer IRS and a comfy seat)
As ive said before ive worked part time for 12 yrs at a Kawasaki/Yamaha/Polaris Dealer
and Yamaha is by far the best built longest lasting of these 3.
But, that said, if you have no Yamaha dealer near you or the Yamaha dealer near you sucks
then let the better dealer decide and go with the Honda.
What i mean to say is Don't choose a great machine only to have a bad time with the dealer on parts etc.
Remember if the dealer sucks your stuck!!

Good luck with whichever you choose.
Jim

 

Yeah, Honda or Yamaha would still be my only choices in a new ATV purchase, nothing else seems to hold up the same without trouble, finiky starting stuff like that.

The honda's use CV (constant velocity) joints like a car which are grease filled and dont have to be greased like a U-joint. Also the ball joints and tie rod ends are all sealed units, they have no grease zerks, therefore dont need to be greased.

I wondere how they would hold up in the long term, now my forman is 7 years old and there are no squeeks or any play in any of these joints so the maintenance free stuff obvioulsy works. If the seals are designed well so the grease never comes out, then water and dirt should never get in.

 

Today I test rode a 2005 Kodiak 450. The dealer has a dirt field behind the shop which is
a couple of acres in size, enough to get a bit of a feel for the bike. There are a few things I
noticed about the bike which I didn't like. The engine is very loud, especially when you hammer
on it, it sounded like the motor was knocking bad, this bike had about 500 km's on it from
test rides so I know it was broken in, I also drove another 450 there and it sounded the same
so I would imagine this is normal. I also found the vibration through the handlebars was
very bad, after 10 minutes of riding my hands were tingling, the sort of feeling you get after
mowing the lawn with a push mower for a couple of hours. The only storage compartment I could
find was under the seat, this makes you have to get off the bike to get another beer, how
inconvenient. Has anyone noticed these thing like I have or am I picky? Also, do you think I was driving a lemon? On the plus side the bike had good power, was big enough for me (6'2" 240 lbs),
had an awesome ride and has great engine braking. Tomorrow I'm off to the Honda dealer to
see how the Foreman rides.

 

Noticed...but you get use to it. Just a few negatives but so many pluses!!!

Engine is a little loud and buzz..U feel some vibrations and hear some noise but is very normal and nothing at all to worry about but I've heard alot worse stock motors!

Yes would be very nice to have a different/another beer storage compartment [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

Don't really get that excessive vibration through the handlebars like you were saying....not sure what was causing that

I love its engine braking. Nothing like putting it in 4X4 and low gear going down a big hill. Don't need no brakes!!!

I love this Kodiak more each time I ride it.