Well now I really have to make up my mind after my Honda commited sucid by breaking the ratchet strap(still have not figured that one out) and sliding of the trailer at 65 miles an hour. It made a horrible mess of the frame when it tried to run through the concrete wall. Only good thing about it, was that nobody was hurt (except the Honda). So now we are down to the Honda Rubicon or the Traxter, but them there was this big beast of a machine the Ranger. I was wondering what you guys know and have experienced about it?

 

Had that happen to me but the bike did not fall off the trailer. Now I have the large ratchet straps used for holding lumber lifts together.When you crank these straps you can easily squeeze all the suspension travel out of the bike and the straps are the wide kind found along the sides of transport trailers.

 

I was over at KC's Powersports last weekend and saw the Ranger sitting out in front. It Looks pretty nice(and expensive). I got in the drivers seat and it felt kind of weird. It seemed that there was not enough leg room and was cramped. I also saw a Silver '01 Sp 500H.O. and Magnum. The silver was pretty sharp and looked a whole lot better than that ARMY green or whatever shade of green that the Sp comes in. I don't know if KC's is making any deals on Rubicons or not. My #1 Choice would be the SP, followed by the Kodiak and Rubicon. Follow this link to see a Silver Kodiak being compared to a Rubicon. http://www.ridemotorcycles.com/vs_.htm
If you don't mind the drive, Lake Hill motors in Corinth, Ms. has excellent deals on Honda and Yamaha. http://www.yamahadiscountprices.com/ I hoped this helped you out a little.

 

I when for a ride with two people wih a 2000 Kodiak(Blue nicest color I ever seen) and Rancher.When all three bike are parked beside each other the SP dwarfed the Kodiak and the Kodiak did the same to the Rancher.

 

If you don't buy one right away, you may also want to check out the new Kawasaki Prairie 650. It looks like it will have a solid rear axle like the current one, but unlike the current one, it will have a lever to manually lock the front differential, 2 or 4 wheel drive, engine braking, and HUGE power with a top speed of about 65mph! Not that you are looking for a rocket, but it sure will make the long stretches of logging roads fun! Just another possibility.
All the ATV's mentioned in this post are good ones. None of them have everything. See how many you can try out before you buy one. One of them will suit you, and it may not be the one that sounds best in the specs. or books. If the dealers won't let you try them, see about riding someone else's. I've found that they all are very different from what you read and you will have definite preferences that others don't have--just like when buying a car. If you can't decide, buy the one with the best dealer support.

 

Well I finally bought a new one. I drove my dads traxter great machine. I drove a rubicon also a great machine. But when it came right down to it, there was the avalability and cost factors to consider also. So I ended with a 2001 honda 450es.
I had to travel about 45 miles to get a green one but it seems to have been worthit so far. I have several contruction sites near my house and as you can imagine as soom as it was off the trailer I was off and ridding. I crawled over some dithches and dirt piles and ledges that would have fliped the 86 350. The real test comes this weekend, when I will be off to the woods. Another selling factor on the 450 was the dual shocks on the back. That set up seems to more stabile in the woods all though yamaha and some of the other manufactures seeem to disagree. But thanks for the help and input.