I need to know how these bikes are holding up . I will either buy the vinson manual or rubicon. Any
advantages or disadvantages?

 

Don't buy either. The Vinson is horrible in terms of quality. It is very poorly put together, I know, I have one. Regarding the Rubicon, it is a quality machine, but still has some issue such as no selectable 4wd/2wd and the drum brakes. For the same money as the Rubi you could get a Praire 650 which is arguably the best out there. Look at the Suzuki, Kawi and Honda area of the forum to find out how few problems the Prairie has compared to the others. Bottom line, DON'T BUY THE VINSON.

 

Well what all has happened to your Vinson and how many miles do you have. Also do you have the manual shift, I figured that would help with the quality.

 

Raptor5,

Although I own a Rubicon I know many people with Vinsons and they are having very few problems with them. All of these are automatics of course. One common problem has been a problem with the shifter but Suzuki will fix it with no charge to the owner (other than being without your ride for a few weeks). With the manual shifter this problem wouldn't affect you. The engine is very strong and the machines are extremely fun to ride. The Vinson has switchable 2wd/4wd while the Rubicon is 4wd only. The Suzuki also has adjustable shocks to tailer the ride to your riding style. It also is one of the best looking machines out there (my opinion, of course). With a manual tranny this machine could be fantastic

I have to admit that the Rubicon is fantastic machine for me. I have a 2001 and bought it as a dealer demo (dealer I know and trust). I've only had mine since May. It has 2200 Km on it and it runs like new. Its a fantastic climber, has great low and mid range acceleration, handles well on tight trails and the transmission gives you instant power when you crack the throttle as opposed to belt machines that have a slight pause before the power hits the wheels. I can't say enough about the ESP shifting option - the transmission shifts incredibly smooth. You could power through shifts on a drag race much faster than any foot manual that I have ridden.

Some of the things I don't like include the fact that you have to take off the front skid plate to change the internal oil filter. It is very difficult to realign the bolts and holes when reassembling - especially if the plate has any dings or damage to it - I'm definitely going aftermarket here. The gas tank is too small - 3.7 US gallons I think - If you want to ride for a whole day you could fill up the tank more than once. If you run across any serious mud you'll want to go to aftermarket tires - this is the same story with any OEM machine out there - except for maybe some of the Arctic Cats.

As far as the brakes go I have no problem with them - they still stop on a dime. The drums will require more frequent cleaning and sealing if you ride in alot of mud though. The downside of open disks is that the pads wear out very quickly.

The Rubicon doesn't have a locker or unlocker - truthfully I haven't missed it but one or both may be important to you. I have seen posts from people who claim to have had problems with their Rubi transmission - some have even had them replaced. I don't know any of these people- maybe they will post here and give you their take.

I'd highly recommend that you try and ride both machines before you buy (maybe even ride a Sportsman, Kodiak/Grizzly - watch out for a vaporlock problem if you are riding at higher elevations, Prairie and a Cat). I rented a few since most of the dealers aroound here only let me ride round the parking lot. To me it came down to value for the money - the Rubicon was cheaper than all the rest because it was a low mileage demo.

Good luck in your decision and have fun with what ever you choose!

 

BillP
Thanks for the info BillP, it's really helpful. I actually had a 700 sportsman for about 3 months and
just had way to many problems with it so I traded for a Raptor and had a lot of fun but it is just
not as useful for me. I am not going back down the belt drive path again. I do know a lot of people
that have had success with them though, but not me.

 

Heres the sales pitch.

We have had our Rubicon for 18 months. 2700 miles and 310 hours. Zero problems, thats why Honda sells more ATVs than anyone else.

We do not do the big mud pits that swallow your ATV. We have done extensive 4-wheeling in our trunk for 23 years and understand locking and limited slip type differentials. Our truck has a detroit locker in the rear and a factory trac-lock in the front.

Out here in the west we have all types of terrain, mud, rocks, dirt, desert, and sand dunes. We have unlimited trails to ride on. In the spring time you can go from four feet of snow to deep mud and back to a dry dirt road in just a few yards of travel. We have trails with two foot diameter boulders to pee-gravel. We have hills so steep that you need to stand and lean as far forward as you can to keep the bike front coming over on top of you.

We have Goodyear Mud Runners on our Rubicon and with all the gear and riders it carries over 400 pounds everywhere. There has never been a single trail or place any other ATV has gone that I have not been able to go. It goes everywhere I point it effortlessly. On very technical trails I think our Rancher is even a better ATV.

There are better suited ATV's for the big mud bogs, I could care less because I will never go there. Do I need a locking front differential, not yet. I have had to give a tug going up river beds covered with huge boulders to ATV's with "locking differntials", I don't think it was the ATV's fault. "All wheel drive is more aggressive than "3-wd." Have I ever need it? Nope. Have I ever turned away from a trail because it was "too tough", nope, and never will.

Any four wheel drive ATV will take 99% of the riders everywhere they ever want to go. Any brand, any size.

The transmission in the Rubicon in my opinion is superior to and trans in any ATV. Ride one, play with the different shift modes. See if you can ride a Rubicon down a very steep hill. Manual shift transmissions don't have any better engine braking than a Rubicon does.

For us, this has been a great ATV. The more we ride it the more we enjoy it. Do your home work and get the one thast fits your needs the best. If we replaced it today, we would buy another one just like it.

I don't believe there are any "bad" ATVs out there. Every manufacture will let a few lemons slip out.

 

What truck do you have. I have never seen a factory LSD in the front axle of a truck. Trac-loc is an auburn light duty limited slip provided to dodge and jeep units as a rear axle option..?? Just curious!!

anytime you can get 4 wheels spinning instead of three, you are better off. I love the locker option on my prairie, I do not do harcore mudding, but use that lovely lever often.

My wife has an eiger manual which is very similar to the vinson minus shocks lcd etc. same frame and tranny. We are very impressed with this machine, lots of power fast, bomb proof. Rides great. Such a great machine that we went to trade in for the Vinson manual figuring it would just be better... Well do yourself a favor and compare the two back to back, It was not worth the $1800 difference to me. Power was not a whole lot different, handling was very close. And just for comparison, eiger will out accellerate the rubicon. (plus has 2wd).

My money would go to Suzuki.

 

Ford hsa offered limited -slips front and rear for years. Limited slips have several different names for the same thing. When the truck was new it was a "limited slip". A few years ago when I replaced the clutches the box of parts called it a Trac-loc. I installed the Detroit Locker in the rear. 79 Ford F-250. Our 89 Bronco also has "limited-slips" front and rear from the factory.

Enjoy those ATV's!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I wish all manufactures offered LSD ' front and rear. But trac-loc is licenced to Auburn. May have been someone else then.


Good ol trucks, cant order a ford now with a front lsd, actually cant get a chevy or dodge either [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]
The new wrangler Rubicon is a pretty sweet package, air LOCKERS front and rear in dana 44's, factory 4:1 transfer case and 31"goodyear MTR's !!!!

 

ford uses trac-lok too, that is what both of my mustangs had from the factory.