My girlfriend and I are avid campers and hikers. We spend a lot of time camping, but we have been saving up for a while and are ready to invest in a couple of ATV's. We live in a mountain area and plan to do some very remote ATV'ing, mostly on gravel roads and forest trails, with the odd mud/snow thrown in. We've both riden ATV's before but never owned them.

We aren't sure where to start, just that we know we want Honda's because that's what everyone tells us is the most reliable and we've seen that too, and also there is a honda dealer close to us. We've looked at a few of them and aren't sure what we need. The one thing is, we are going to be driving at high altitudes, possibly 5000 feet or higher. How do these ATV's do at that height? Would we want a liquid cooled at that height?

The ATV's will only be used for hiking. They won't be used for pulling stuff, plowing snow or sport/racing, just trails. The three most important things for us are: Reliable, Range and Carrying Capacity. It's just going to be my girlfriend and I on the trips, and we need to fit everything on two ATV's to last us for 5 days at a time. This includes auxilary fuel. Is there any type of auxilary fuel to mount onto the front of an ATV?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Overall, we are looking at the Foreman, but we notice it is not liquid cooled and also I wonder if the lower power will be an issue? Would the Rincon be the best bet?

Thanks,
Allen

 

Welcome to the forums Allen. Most ATVs are liquid cooled and work fine in the mountains. If you get an EFI you never have to make any adjustments for altitude since there's no carb to re-jet. I don't think Honda ever made anything that meets your requirements, and from what I hear they are very underpowered compared to all other brands. The horsepower specs I've seen in the forums seem to confirm that. There are good quads out there of all different brands, and I don't try to talk everyone into getting a Polaris just because I like them. But the Sportsman X2s are the only two ATVs I know of that would fill your needs. The 500 and 700 can each carry 90 pounds on the front rack and 400 pounds in the rear box. I believe that's about double the carrying capacity of anything else.

http://www.polarisindustries.c...X2/Pages/Overview.aspx

http://www.polarisindustries.c...X2/Pages/Overview.aspx

 

I don't think the Rincon would be a good bet. They don't have the best engine braking in their class, and if you are going up AND down mountains, I think you would want something that saves the brakes a bit more. EFI would probably be your best bet, as it works better than carbs for altitude changes. But give it a spin if you can, you might like it.

Not to disregard what Jumbo said, but I actually think you should check out the Honda Rancher 420. It has EFI, manual shift transmission which should be reliable, excellent engine braking due to the manual tranny, and actually the 420 is said to have quite a bit of power for the engine size. Don't know the hp specs, but it should at least be worth checking out. The 420 should get decent fuel mileage as well, altho if you are doing long range treks carrying extra fuel is always recommended at least until you have a very good idea of how far you can go on a tank. Also it is a personal thing, but you may or may not want a solid rear axle, they tend to be a bit more stable in offcamber situtations, but it depends on where and how you ride, also your capability to use body english to compensate.

If you want to carry big loads of gear, then yeah something along the lines of a Sportsman X2 might do the trick.

Go to every dealer that you can find near you and try to AT LEAST sit on every single atv you can, and take as many out for a test ride as you can. That way you can get an idea of how different quads feel, and possibly react to your body input.

Feel free to ask any questions, and welcome!

-Krait

 

Hmm, I missed the part about carrying enough gear to last 5 days, yeah Rancher might be a bit small for that much gear lol. But still check it out, otherwise Polaris does have lots of nifty attachements for their quads like gas can holders that mount right up on the racks, I believe its called 'Lock N Ride' or something like that.

-Krait

 

Honda might be too embarrassed to publish their rack capacities, but I found it somewhere else online. The Rincon 700 front rack capacity is only 66 pounds, and the rear rack capacity is only 133 pounds, like a 250-300 class ATV. So the total rack capacity is only 199 pounds, or 40-41% of the Sportsman X2s capacity of 490 pounds. Like I said before I don't think Honda makes anything that meets the requirements needed for a 5-day camping trip in the mountains. Polaris does. Someone else might but I haven't seen or heard of it. It would take 5 Rincons to haul the same weight as 2 Sportsman X2s. Maybe you can have three friends help haul all your gear. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Yes yes, I think for hauling 5 days worth of gear something more than any standard atv might be needed. The Rincon also doesn't have low range, it isn't meant to be a fullon 'ute, so towing for that will be much lower than a Sportsman. Also some manufacturers estimate their towing on the more conservative scale of things, Polaris doesn't because it likes being known as a workhorse with huge towing capacities. But I agree a Sportsman X2 will have a MUCH easier time hauling what they want then any Honda.

Like I said, I missed that whole 5day thing...depends on whether they like to travel light or carry the kitchen sink. The Polaris X2 would definately be the one for the sink lol.

-Krait

 

LOL. The kitchen sink would fit in that box like it was made for it. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

The X2s can tow close to a ton besides the other 490 pounds on them.

 

If reliability is a major concern (which it should be on 5-day trips), I would definitely do a lot of research on the reliability of any machines you are considering. I won't start brand-bashing, but I'd much rather have reliability over carrying capacity on extended trips. I think Honda is a great start for reliability, but stay away from their electric shift models and make sure that they have the features that you'll need.

 

Thanks a lot for the replies. I am definitely not totally set on a Honda. I never thought about Honda's lack of supplies. As for equipment on our 5 day outing, it would be packing very light but it's still a lot of equipment. How does the grizzly series compare? The local dealer has a great deal on leftover 2008 grizzly 660 models.... any advice on this? Only thing it doesn't have is EFI. I also took a look at the Polaris mentioned, how is the reliability of polaris? I do not want to offend anyone, but literally when I mentioned I was buying an ATV and started asking about brands, I had 3-4 people all say to me "All brands are pretty much reliable, except for polaris." So it sort of scared me into the whole polaris thing...

I forgot to mention that we would prefer an automatic transmission, over a manual.

Thanks,
Adam

 

Welcome to forum! You and I have allot in common as in the love for camping/outdoors, I use my Popo all the time for rough trail riding here in the rockies of CO at altitudes above 10'000 ft and love it. You just wont find a better riding machine than a Popo. With that said yes I would buy another one but there is one machine I would take a long hard look at and that is a Grizz 700. The 700 Grizz uses essentialy the same engine as the on found in my Raptor 700R, I feel that this engine in paticular is one of the best allaround engines in any quad today! You have a great power band from the bottom all the way to the top and after having my Raptor I think that I personaly want something that is a little more sportier and lighter handling than my Popo, plus the Grizz offers power sterring something no one offers other than Honda!

<span class="FTHighlightFont">You just need to find the quad that fits you best! </span ft>

To say that a Popo is unreliable is just ludicrious, anything that has moving parts need some TLC once in a while, but the one sujestion that I will make to you and after making this mistake on my Popo Is get a machine that has EFI you will appreiciate it in the long run!