Listen up all you Cats out there. This is the real Cat and I'm tellin you Honda ain't got no competition to us. Honda may have been the "Pharoah" of 4-wheelin until Arctic Cat came around but I'm here to tell you that there is a new king in town. Honda's over the hill. We are the new kids on the block so move it or lose it Honda fans!

 

Your not wrong my brother,time for the honda's to scoot over!or the ac's will run you over!

 

Man, I really should keep my mouth shut, don't want to start a "bash fest" here, but you do have a couple good points hidden beneath. First off, yes, AC is making a strong impact in the atv world. For their relatively short time making quads, I think they've come a long way and are definately producing some top-notch machines. I'm anxious to see what they do for '02, as are most every other 'Cat owner out there, will be neat to see for sure.

When comparing to Honda, reliability would-or at least should be the first thing to consider. I think over the years, Honda has definately proven to be about the most reliable machine out there. However, as the years go by, I think either their building skills are slipping, or the other atv manufacturers are just getting that much better. While AC hasn't been out long enough to prove a true "long-term" reliability test, say 10 years maybe, they have proven very reliable in the last 5 or so that they've been in production, and still getting better every year. In all other aspects, I really don't think you can compare AC to Honda, there's just too many things that are different between machines-engine size, suspension (AC is by far superior with the rear swing axle), disc breaks, selectable 2/4wd, the list goes on. Granted, it may be a simple matter of personal preference, but still, it's not exactly fair to compare the two machines as it is more like comparing a cadillac to a vw bug. I don't mean to sound rude, but you just can't fairly compare two different vehicles that don't even contain the same characteristics-make any sense???

Believe it or not, but I've actually towed, or winched (with the help of a ****** block) more full-sized rigs (such as suburbans, vans, toyota's, even the mighty Jeep) out of "stuck" situations than atv's. Of the relatively small handfull of atv's I have pulled out, there has been two Honda's. The first was a 450S/ES (can't remember if it was electric or not) during elk season, trying to pull out a spike elk. I had to carry his partner, half the elk and myself driving, while pulling out his machine with the other half the elk. There was no way he could maneuver out the entire animal and his partner, it just couldn't do it. The second Honda was just a couple weeks ago, and yes, it was the mighty Ruby. I had the chance to ride it for a while, and quite honestly was not all that impressed. I did make it three wheel a few times, and the ride is just not on par with that of the 'Cat. Though, SP owners could probably argue the 'Cat is not the same as the IRS of theirs either-again, all personal preference. I must say though the power of the Ruby was impressive-it will lift the front tires off pretty easily. The spot I had to tow him out was a fairly steep uphill muddy slope that dropped sharply down into a bog, then strait up again and out. At first I believed the problem to be tires-or the lack of. My 'Claws had no problem at all making it through. The Ruby however couldn't get over the first hill. After pulling him up, sliding down, then threw the bog and up the other side, I just assumed it to be the added benefit of my 'Claws. Then, I heard the purr of our second 'Cat. The two girls on my Dad's 'Cat-completely stock mind you-had just motored up the first of the two hills, and were in decent down to the bog. I thought OK, this will be funny, they'll get good and muddy, then get discouraged and I'll pull them out too. Wrong. They laughed all the way down, into the bog and in low range, motored on up to the top. Granted they had a little more difficult of a time when compared to my 'Claws, but the fact remains they made it, the Ruby didn't. Both were on stock tires, stock machines, so I can't explain what happened there-both had double riders of roughly equal weight, I have no real explanation.

Anyway, hope I don't offend anybody here, these are just my recent obervations/opinions, take it for what it's worth. It's been a while since my last "long" post, so thought we were due.

Best of luck, enjoy the new 'Cat, hope to hear some of your good "stuck" stories in the near future.

Mike