The new ATV magazine (Mar2001) picked the Rubicon as the ATV of the Year. In the same magazine, they did a shoot-out of the big utes, and the winner is:??? A tie! Between the SP500HO and the Ruby. Good article, and fair. Kinda says what I have believed all along. Both are great, and the best one will depend on the preferences of the tester.

 

The Rubi already had my vote, but then I'm a little biased.

 

As much as hate to do this ,I think you all have the right to see this.http://atvnews.rivals.com/default.as...2&stid=8105414

Enjoy, I did not.

 

Tim1, today a bunch of friends and i went rideing on a 50 mile loop sled trail. 2 ranchers and a Polaris Express 400 2wd and my wonderful TRX200SX. Exactly half way threw the loop the mogols from the sled's took their tool on my poorly sprung 200SX and my Axle bolts littery got ratteled loose and the threds munched causeing my chain to come loose and jam up in the countershaft sprocket houseing I got towed back to the truck by the 4x4 rancher and my friend with the Express 400 let me go for a ride along with the ranchers while he defrosted in my truck.... I will never bash a Polaris again as that thing rode like a magic carpet and went threw deep power like a 4x4! I even cought 4 feet of air off a fallen log without bottoming! and the mogils, felt nothing at 60MPH! I am still leaning toward the Rubicon with its 4x4 and ult features, just hope it rides as nice as this 1996 Polaris 400 did.
Joe

 

was there ever any doubt???? these _____ of the year awards are so ho hum anymore. like the Truck of the Year. whenever ford, chevy, or dodge does a complete of partial redesign they are instatnly named the "truck of the year". same thing with quads. next year it'll be the kawasaki 650 unless the suzuki 400 sport realy shines.

sorry bout the pesimism. guess i'm just in a crappy mood.

 

Hey dude you left out the part about the H.O being the best pick for trail riding,but they did say the Rubi was the best work machine.I dont know about you guys but I bought mine to trail ride.

 

Actually, I left it out on purpose. I wanted to see how many folks would bring up those specific items, (all in the context of fair reporting) but then leave out the follow-up comment that in each case the other bike was a close second. Sportsman = best trails, but Rubicon a close second. Rubicon = best utility, but Sportman a close second. That's why it was declared a tie. And just like I had a discussion with another post in a different thread, they mentioned that the Rubicon's shocks don't have the most travel, but they got a lot out of them (they work real well). Room for improvement, yes, but better thans some others with bigger travel numbers. Kinda a "size doesn't matter, just the amount of cushion" type of thing.

 

Well guy's I like my Ruby but I will admit my buddies 500ho is a better handling bike and is a lot more comfortable to ride on all day ride's.

 

That cushion ride and drive is just two of the many reasons why I chose H.O. over Rubi.