I have narrowed it down to these 2 choices. 07 Honda Racher 420 4x4 or 07 Yamaha Grizzly 450 4x4. Any input would be nice. Both have features I wish the other had (Fuel injection on the Honda, IRS on the Yamaha). I ride primarily on trails and light work around the yard. Thanks.

 

The 420 has a very sporty ride, and the engine has a very sporty feel as well. I prefer a the sporty feel of a solid axle, but I ride a ute mostly like a 4wd sport quad, so it's a great choice for me.

The IRS quads that I have ridden have been very disappointing. Sloppy feeling with lots of body roll. Keep in mind also that IRS numbers look good on paper, but you put a heavy rider on it or put weight on the rack, and it will squat and end up with not much more ground clearance than a solid axle machine. Plus, if you pull something or even under torque it will squat as well.

The 450 something like $1,000 more money. And, Yamaha is flat out lying about the displacement! It is actually a 421!

 

I would prefer the Yamaha between those two choices (I'm a long time IRS fan). The Kodiak has a front diff locker where the Rancher does not as well. Just a little feature that might come in handy some day under certain situations. Now have you checked out the new Suzuki King Quad 450? It has all the features of the Kodiak plus fuel injection too. If I were in the market for a quad of this size, it would probably be at the top of my "preferred" list compared to what is out there now. I would want to try them all out first though...

 

Out of those two choices, i would get the Yamaha

 

Yep, here you go with garbage again trying to stir up trouble. Even though a IRS might squat, it has much more downward travel, thus increasing the ground clearance and allowing the wheels to touch the bottom of ruts to get grip. AND, most people I have seen on here have not been dissappointed with IRS. IRS is great for utility quads in mud and ride comfort. Yes they squat when the tonge weight is heavy when pulling, but they only squat to a point. It doesn't affect the ability to pull.

As far as yamaha "flat out lying", what a joke. Every manufacture does this. Explaine to us how you can say this and ignore hondas rancher 350, which is really a 329cc motor????? Sounds like the pot calling the kettle black. HAHAHAHA Amazing how you always try to put your bented views instead of objective views.

 

So, reconranger, lets look objectively at the facts.

Ground clearance = yamaha 450 wins hands down
Ride comfort = yamaha 450 wins b/c of IRS
Mudding capability = yamaha 450 b/c of IRS and diff locker
4wd system = yamaha 450 b/c of diff locker honda doesn't know how to make a diff locker for some reason
Fast trail riding = honda might edge here
slow trail riding = equal
Tranny system = yamaha 450 has a low range = winner honda doesn't know how to put a low range on except the rubicon which is a very good machine.


Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmm

 

I don't understand your facts.
Just because a machine has IRS does not mean its better. It means its different and its up to each rider to decide what they like. By your definition, all sport quads are inferior because of a solid axle.
Transmission- again, rider preference. Honda intended this to be sporty. Most sport quads have manual transmissions. And as far as low range is concerned, tell me what the drive ratio is for a 420 Rancher in first gear compared to the Grizzly 450 in low. Do you know the numbers?
Ride comfort- How do you know? Have you ridden both? I have not, so I can't say. Just because it's independent does not mean it's more comfortable. Maybe the IRS has stiff springs and shocks? I do know that the 420 Rancher is much softer than the 350 was.
Don't get me wrong. I have IRS and love it, but I used to have a Polaris 325 which was solid axle and very comfortable.

I suppose you will consider this another attack. Just like you seem to think Reconranger's comments were directed at you. He was giving his opinion based on his personal ownership of a 420 Rancher and your name was never mentioned. If you don't own either of the two quads in question, or don't have firsthand knowledge of either, then you are the one attacking with your unproven "facts".,

 

Sorry if I cam across as attacking. I really didn't mean to but reconranger has ticked many people off including me by his comments. I have rode the griz450 a few times since my friend has one, but I haven't ridden the the 420 rancher yet, so you are correct. I was just going on past knowledge of SRA on a utility machine vs IRS. And as far as SRA vs IRS, IMO the IRS is better for utility vehicles and SRA is better for sport quads. It doesn't mean either is bad, just different applications. If one is going to do any mudding, the IRS will be better b/c of the ground clearance. However, I do understand that they 420 rancher is more of a sport utility and thus the SRA is probably the best. Personally, I would still like to see a low range option just in case someone wanted to use it more on the utility side for towing etc, but all in all, the 420 rancher is probably a great machine. On another thread, my frist reply was that I have considered looking at a 420 rancher for my wife since she doesn't mud and is mostly trail riding.

Anyway, I appoligize to you if I was harsh.

 

I am going to say that the 420 is alot funner to rail corners fast trails, and jumps. But the Yamaha is way better in the snow and mud. So, hands down the Yamaha wins this round.

 

Well, I decided on the Honda 420 ES 4x4. As far as I'm concerned, this is the quad for me. I have owned an IRS machine and the ride on this 420 is not too far off. I'm not a deep mud runner. This is alot of quad for the $. Thanks for the input.