I am the proud owner of new Rubicon with 26" mudrunners. I have 200 flawless miles of riding on the flats trail riding. However; I was out riding on the weekend in the steep mountains and in some mudbogs and found out that it can't pull its own weight even in low range automatic mode. In the deep mud I was forced to put it in ESP mode in either first or second gear to get the tires spinning. In auto low mode, it would just power out. I was riding with a Sportsman 500HO with the same tires and he would kill me in the mud with his much faster tire speed. He would do the same in extreme hill climbing passing me going up the hill. Top end, on the road, the best I could get was about 51mph as well. I do love this machine with its great tranmsission among other things, but I thought it would have at least as good as climbing and mud abilities of a Sportsman 500HO. I just might have to switch to the new Kawasaki 650? I don't really want to sell my honda though. Any input would be appreciated.

 

Have you taken the slack out of the throttle cable. This allows the carb to open all the way. I was amazed at how much slack was in mine. It made a world of difference.

 

I have noticed the same with mine, not down shifting in time and then run out of power. Mine is stock I plow snow and pull a big sprayer on the farm with it. When plowing wet snow you get moving pretty fast and when you get alot of wet snow pushing in front of the blade it seems to just keep pulling the motor down instead of down shifting. I use ESP mode when I know I need to keep the the RPMs up and the wheels spinning.

 

diddo here, doesnt downshift fast enough when i hit a steep hill climb, wonder if its slack in the thorttle as tex said. Makes sence because if there is slack the sensor will think its NOT floored and not shift down as it thinks you dont want full power. But mine does rev high when i floor it going down the road at 35MPH then it will lug as i let off to 3/4 throttle, kinda feels like a slipping clutch, anyone else have the same feeling?

 

Your only solution: SELL it to me cheap!!! LOL
(4-MAN-S in ATV Time)

 

One suggestion I have is to check engine idle speed make sure it is correct and reset the the computer.This will help in alot of cases.If you are not sure how to set the computer send me your email me and I well discribe how to do the procedure.

 

I would listen to Texmudder and try what he suggested. One of the first things I did was to take up the slack in the throttle cable. It made quite a difference. I have not had the trouble with mine like you are having with yours. I hope you a find a solution.

 

Sounds like the all new, groundbreaking Ruby has the same curse as the 400EX, it's grossly underpowered.

 

Hmm....not mine. How about the curse of the SP500?

 

Come on now TEXMud, are you telling us that 28 inch tires didn't hurt your Rubys power?