Boy am I dissappointed, I raced a Sportsman 500 HO and he Blew My Doors Off. We raced across a big field and he even had a Big Foot Kit on his quad and mine has the stock tires and he also let me say go! I even cheated and hit the gas 1st then said GO. Then we raced up a big powerline hill and the results were the same. HOW CAN I GET MORE PERFORMANCE OUT OF MY RUBY? I hate being beat by a Polaris! When we raced across the field he had me by 10 bike lengths by the time he shut it down. Up the powerline hill it was about 200 yards long and he was throwing dirt in my face the whole way up until he got far enough ahead of me that the dirt wasn't bothering me anymore. I NEED MORE POWER!

 

Don't know how to help you, but from my understanding, you're not alone.

I know a guy who went to the Honda shop set on buying a new Ruby. He already had a Sportsman 500 and after riding the Ruby, he was disappointed with the power or lack of it.

He ended up keeping his Sportsman and buying a DS650.

Honda makes bullet-proof quads, but they always seem to miss the boat by not building enough power into them. Maybe that's the trade off for a trouble free life?

 

Is there slack in your throttle cable? If so then the carb can not open up all the way. Both of my quads came with the maximum ammount of slack that was available. Instructions are on my site for removing the slack.

If this is how you are judging your new quad then you bought the wrong quad. A top speed race is no way to judge a utility quad. I still to this day have never had my Rubicon above 30-35 MPH. I have no reason to go that fast.

 

I have heard of the cable slack issue with the 400EX is it easy to fix?

 

Your right Tex. Who needs to go that fast? But my problem is that he took me out of the hole and just pulled away like I was on a 300 or something. I check my cable every so often to be sure there is no slack so that wasn't the problem. All I can say is I was suprised at the way he smoked me! I never thought he could pull me like that. Oh well... at least I don't have a belt (or maybe I wish I did have one).

 

I know this isnt a proper reply to this topic, but a big solution to this problem would be to buy the Kawasaki V twin. I just rode one last night....damn, that thing has some serious power. An atv mag has it quoted as 43 HP....I believe it now. Just $.02.

Now for you power issue, I would check the throttle adjustment...a HO is going to be faster, but not that much. Keep in mind, the big foot tires will give him a higher top end but will decrease his take off. Let us know what you find....by the way, where do you ride near beaver falls?

Eric

 

xepathfinder, yes all you need is a pair of plyers (the lock nut is tough on your hands) and the key to the quad.

Green01Ruby, I have drag raced a SP500 non HO and I can stay with that "particular" one all day long. Dont expect a Rubicon to hang with a SP500 HO in a drag race.

 

Bash, you ain't wrong.

When was the last time you saw a bulletproof top-fuel dragster?

In general, performance = unreliability.

 

Green01Ruby I would'nt get too broken up over that. Over the long run you'll be alot happier with the Honda due to it's reliability and resale (if you ever sell it). So what? The Ruby is a slower than one of the most powerful utility atvs made-big deal. I doubt Honda thought much about racing when they designed the Rubicon. One day you may end up towing your friend's busted Polaris back 5 miles to camp then I guarantee you'll feel a lot different!

 

GreenRuby: it just goes to show you, cheaters never prosper. Another thing, don't feel bad, it happens every day. You should see my Ruby owning buddies face when my Kodiak constantly eats his Ruby alive.


Hillhound: these days, I would put my money on the Polaris towing the Honda home.

Maybe that's why Hondas are SUPPOSEDLY bulletproof, they are so underpowered, they don't stress out any of the motor components.