You can't compare Honda cars to their ATV's. That is not the same. They do have long lasting cars though, my 84 accord crapped out at 187,000 miles, and it wasn't the engine that went, it was the frame that broke in half. However, I am currently driving a 1991 Chevy Suburban with 203,000 miles on it, same engine and all - no rebuid. And I don't even like Chevys... I guess the point I am trying to make is that when you buy something new, or know the history of it, and you take care of it, that machine will last you a long, long time.

 

before i got my 300ex i had a 1987 trx250 that thing was bulletproof and still is. Go with a honda. I've had bad experinces with polaris, so is my friend.

 

I have an 04 Rancher as well and I love it!!!! All of your comments are greatly appreciated. It's nice to hear opinions from REAL riders, and not just from salesmen pushing their products on you. When I was buying it came down to the Rancher or the Sportsman 400 and the 5 or 6 people that I know who ride all told me to buy the Honda, except for one Yamaha man. I made my decision and haven't regreted it.

My brother is leaning towards a Honda, mostly because the local dealer is such an easy guy to do business with but once he reads your comments, and especially since nobody has come right out and said "Buy a Polaris", I'm sure that he will be further persuaded.

Any additional comments are greatly appreciated!!!

Thank you.

 

I believe that honda's are probably the top dog as far as reliability is concerned. I just sold my 1982 185s 3 wheeler and the only thing that we ever did to it was change the oil, breaks and replace the back bearings last year. Other than that, it has been rock solid. I have a 1997 honda recon 250 and I have never had any problems with it. I had a 1995 kawasaki bayou 300 4x4 and never had any problems with it either, nor have I had any problems with my 2004 kawasaki priarie 700. My cousin's on our lease all have 450ES formans and they are rock solid!!! Two of them had older polaris's that was always breaking down. The new polaris's are much better than the old ones were, but honda's are still the one's to be for reliablilty. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

I work for a ATV Dealer here in Alberta Canada and we sell Honda,Polaris & Suzuki. All of them are good however Honda is by far the longest lasting motor that I have worked with. The Honda 350 is probably the very best Honda ATV that is on the market today but Hey they are all good

John

 

Honda is the most reliable. My uncle has an 84 TRX200, the first Honda fourwheeler and he always runs the dogsh** out of it but it never quits. Stick with Honda, you cannot go wrong.

 

Honda is testing a lear jet in Arizona. It does 500 mph and uses 40% less fuel.

 

Yes you can, The Honda Rincon Tranny is close to the same that's in Honda's cars.

 

Sorry, not even close. The Tranny on the Ricon is as close to the ones on their cars as the CVT that HONDA uses is as close to the ones that Arctic Cat and Polaris (and others) use in their ATV's.

 

The rincon tranny is more like a car than any other atv transmission. It has a torque converter, which is the reason for the lack of engine braking.

Edit: Brainfart...