Im sure this topic has been covered, but please help me out. I have a 2004 Polaris Sportsman 700 and an '01 Honda Rancher ES (which im selling). With the money i get back from that, im buying me a Rubi or and AC. Any help is greatly appreciated. Is the Diff Lock worth it?

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2004 Polaris Sportsman 700
'27 ITP 589 M/S
2500 Warn Winch

2001 Honda Rancher ES
2500 Warn Winch
(FOR SALE)

 

i would go with the rubicon.

 

Thanks mudblaster. I have a question, i know the Rubi has ESP and Auto, but how does the D1 and D2 work, what are they for?.. like hauling loads or..? and also, I have an Artic Cat and Honda dealer both within 10 minutes of where I live. I am into mudding, and I know the Locking Diff will come in handy, but with that new Detroit Gearless Locker from Highlifter, I will most likely purchase that if i get the Rubi which should give me true 4wd. My cousins have had 3 Foremans, (2) 1998 Foreman ES's, and a 2004 Foreman S, and they are all still running strong, which I find amazing considering all the rivers we've submerged them in. So i know my rubi (should) last me a long time if i get it. Well so whats the D1 and D2 for? thanks. What is the top speed on the Rubi, I have never ridden one.

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2004 Polaris Sportsman 700
'27 ITP 589 M/S
2500 Warn Winch

2001 Honda Rancher ES
2500 Warn Winch
(FOR SALE)

 

My good friend just made that same decision. He ended up with a 05 AC 500 Auto LE. He liked the lime green, diff lock and thought it was a better value than the Rubicon.

The reason I would choose the Rubicon is #1, the transmission. I love the Rubicon's trans. #2 is stability. The Rubicon has a lot more stable feel and has a lot lower center pf gravity. #3 The Rubicon weighs 600 pounds.

Time will tell. I have over 5000 miles and 600 hours on my Rubicon and have only spent $12 in repairs. I would buy a new Rubicon tomorrow. My good friend would buy a new AC tomorrow. Two nice ATVs. Very different from each other.

 

If you like the 4wd on your Sportsman, then there's your answer on the diff-lock. Night and day if you get it in the right situation vs. any limited slip. Fit and finish on the Rubicon is a lot better I imagine. I would rather have the AC myself due to the IRS, ground clearance, differential lock, and the better ride quality. For that, I could handle the smaller things like rattles and brittle plastic if such a thing is true (never had a cracked anything on my 99 AC, and I watched the fenders bend on several trees without any blemishes).

Seems kind of like the argument I had when I got my 500 back in 98. It was that or a Honda 450S (no rubicon back then). I took the AC because it was a better value and had more features. I felt like I did the right thing even after 3 years of riding it around others that got 450's. Granted the Rubicon is a better quad than a 450S, but a 2005 AC is better than a 1999 model by quite a bit also.

 

JJonJon,

It sounds like you should go with the cat. I have both. I have an 04' Rubicon, and an 05' AC 500 manual. The Rubicon is my wife's bike. As mentioned above, it's a great trail bike, and a good working bike, and probably has the best automatic tranny on the market. I say that because it's not belt drive. For mudding however, it sucks! The AC 500 manual is the bike of choice for mud riding. The AC has way more ground clearance and is much wider, disc brakes (which the 05' Rubicon now has up front), 2wd/4wd with diff lock, and an easy to clean radiator, and a much more durable engine. If you ever drown the Rubicon, it's going to be very expensive. I ride all the time in mud with 3 Rubicons in our group. The problems they keep having is low ground clearance, no locker, and the radiators are hard to clean, so we are always having to stop because one of them is running hot.

On another note, I had an 02' Rancher before buying my cat, and I had installed the DGL. I don't recommend it much. In my case, it was very hard to steer after installing the DGL. I also have a 99' 300 with a spool locker in it, and there's really not much difference in the steering as far as I can tell. I wished I would have just spent the $35, and bought the spool locker for the Rancher. Everyone kept telling me that I installed the DGL incorrectly, but I don't think so. There's a test they show you how to perform to ensure that it's operating as it should. Looking back on it now, I could have had a problem with the toe on that Rancher.

 

D1 is performance moad and D2 is for cruising and taking it easy.
and the 05 cats dont have the same plastic as the 04s and older.
and they do brake insted of bending like the older ones.
also once you crack or brake your plastic you resale gos way down.
somthing to think about if you like me and want a chang after a few years.

 

You may be right about the plastic. I've only had my cat for a couple of months, and I've got some scratches on the sides of my plastic. These new 05' models look good, but I kinda wish they still had the black plastic mud flaps. I've already priced the front & rear fenders, and each one is over $100. My plan is to be as careful as I can when I get into the tight trails, and before I'm ready to sale my bike, I'll buy new plastic if I've done any real damage. One thing I've noticed is that by adding the 27" Mud Machines, the tires rub before the fenders do.

 

Also depends on how you ride. I'm pretty **** about running fenders into trees, so brittle plastic wouldn't bother me that much. Others will try to fit between tight trees constantly and probably would crack some fenders. In 20 years of riding quads, the only fenders I ever cracked were on a Honda 300, and that was because it rolled about 7 times down a hill. My cousin has some cracked fenders on a 1998 AC454, but then again the plastic is weathered from sitting outside in the rain for 6 years, and its been rolled.

 

Where I live resale would be a consideration. Used Rubicons and Ranchers are very hard to find, they are never in the papers. As soon as someone says they have one for sale it is gone. They hold their value better than all others.