I presently own a 2005 Rincon 650 and in the market for a second ATV. I'm looking at the Polaris Sportsman 700 and comparing to the Rincon. I love the Rincon but just checking out the Polaris. Any advise from anyone? Does the P-700 have more features than the Rincon? Is the Polaris a realiable ATV?

 

You should probably ask this in the Polaris Forum also.
Let’s see Polaris is heavier but that is because they use still rims, real tires not 2 ply crap and real skid plates not crap that you have to replace with aftermarket to get protection.

Power on a Sportsman 700 you have a low range which is so low you would break axles before you would run out of power and not those cheap thin axles Honda uses.
I ride with a friend who is a manager at a Honda shop and I have tried to get him to bet titles that my Sportsman will out pull his Rincon in 2 wheel drive compared to his 3 wheel drive but he has refused to this date. One other example of power difference we went camping and he with his Rincon went to pull a log over to our camp he tied up but could not budge the log, the Rincon would not even spin the tires. So I got my Sportsman 700 and in high range pulled that log.
You will find the true 4 wheel drive compared to Honda 3 wheel drive a lot better in most places. We often go to Moab and if you ever do rock climbing this is where Honda’s do not shine. I have left my friends many times on trails with there 3 wheels spinning in spots, where if Honda made a locking front end they would have gotten through just fine. Let’s just say when we go to Moab the ropes to pull the Honda’s stay on the Polaris so you can pull the Honda’s along with you. Which also bring me to one other point about Moab the Rincon really struggles when we are doing the hard trails most of the time we push or pull the Rincon for lack of power.
Ride difference is not much, we have switched off many times there is a different fill between the two not really better one or the other just different.
Just for the record I was a Honda man for years that is all I would buy tell my friend talked me into a Sportsman back in 2000 and I have never looked back at Honda since.
Now all Honda people will bring up reliability well let me say this my Sportsman now has 2500 miles with never a problem. My father has a 500 Sportsman with 3700 miles and has never had a problem.
I ride with 2 guys that have Rubicon’s and the guy with a Rincon and all 3 have been in the shop more than once. So just my point of view I have not seen yet where Honda reliability has really show it’s self has better. Just to prove this is not brand loyal I have a Yamaha YZ 250,
Yamaha V-Star 1100 Road bike
2-Yamaha Wave Runners,
And Polaris Sportsman 700.
I have had in the past
2-Honda 4wheelers.
3-Honda motorcycles and
1-Honda 3 wheeler.

 

With quads it all boils down to rider and maint.
I know guys who can take a 2 wheeldrive quad where most guys with a 4x4 couldnt or wouldnt go.
The ones who say their quad is the best are right......its the best for them and them only.
Ride what you have.....and test ride what you want to have.
They all break.

 

yes, the Rincon is lighter, if you rode 2 people on the Rincon you might weigh as much as the Sportsman (I'm still trying to figure out the sport in Sportsman though - must be getting to hunting and fishing or something). there are more reasons the Rincon is lighter than just having radials, aluminum rims, aluminum a-arms, one front drive shaft, and a reasonable size....

Oh yeah, the Sportsman is bigger too, like a small Jeep, and badder too! The Sportsman may not fit in some tight trails without severely denting those steel rims and popping a few of those tough OEM sidewalls (if it fits), but then you can buy some aluminum rims and aftermarket tires like a lot buy anyway. Or may not fit under something, you know it the tallest tall too (you can bring a chain saw). Maybe you'll like the belt drive. You may not have that misunderstood 3wd thing as with the Rincon, but you won't have its one front tire (and likely both) helping you when using the engine to brake going down hills. Hey, sliding the rear down hill can be fun! And don't forget the brakes, how could Polaris make it any more simple than unified braking? Any dummy can pull the brakes and get the same results! I mean, you should be able to get by in every braking situation with a fixed brake bias, right?

Just think, if you buy the Polaris you can have a pull off with yourself for titles and not lose anything. You can win and keep the Rincon! What could be better! Of course don't try out pulling a Foreman 500 with the Rincon because you'll probably lose to that too (and it has nothing to do with h.p. like some would have you believe). Polaris has features galore. And it is a beauty. Brilliant.

If you are looking for a different type of ATV than the Rincon (not have a pissing match with one) have you looked at the MRP Cat? You may want to look at the Outlander too. They're the big boy in town now with all the bragging rights (if that matters to you)...and they are all just as reliable, well thought out, tested, and ready for market as each other, so that part shouldn't matter anymore.

Have you tried the spring mod for the Rincon carb? You want to talk about a wake up!

 

I was set on the 700 to buy until I drove it this afternoon at the dealer. Ride was good, comfort was good, everything was good except every thing on that thing rattled like hell. It felt like the cheapest thing I've been on. I never had that happen to me with a Honda, and quality is very important to me. I'm buying a Rincon.


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