Only you can figure out if you need 4x4 where you ride. I do. I ride in mud and snow, and up steep bumpy hills and other nasty terrain that you have to go slow on. A 4x2 won't go all those places and isn't as good for work. If you're just going to ride it on something nice and smooth, and no snow, and not do any real work with it, you don't need 4x4.

 

You can mate the 420 to any tranny you like but that will not change the fact its a weaker 25-26 hp OHV motor. To many 500/450 4x4 Utilities that are 35hp + to call it some kind of super quick Utility.

You can put a weaker motor in the best handling chassis there is but if some lumbering heavier ATV can still accelerate quicker and cruise at a higher top end speed than I would still have more fun on that.

Don,t see the point in a good handling slow ATV.

Replace the Rancher,s OHV 26 hp motor for the Suzuki OHC 37hp 450 King Quad motor and that would be interesting.

 

Sport quads are about going fast....but utes are about being able to pick your way through a rock crawling section on a super stable machine...and that is what the Rancher has in spades!!!

There are always these same guys who trot out the CARB "at the crank" horsepower figures, when they need to make their favorite ride look better than it actually is! At the crank means nothing in the real world, where things like weight, tire size, efficiency of the transmission, and a hundred other things come into play.

And...anybody who thinks the Rancher 420 is "slow", has never ridden one. Word is that the new Rancher AT (gear-on-gear twin clutch automatic transmission!) will rip your arms out of their sockets in the first three gears if you aren't easy on the throtle...and you know a gear-on-gear trans is going to be way more efficient than a rubber band drive!

 

To answer the original question. Honda or Yamaha??? I have been a die hard honda fan all the way up to the Rincon 650. I owned it for a year and did every mod I could to get it to perform up to par and finally sold it and bought a Grizzly 700. NIGHT AND DAY difference. Yamaha makes a superior product hands down (at least in the utility segment). I have a blast on my 4x4 and it really isn't that much slower than the sport quads. Just depends on what you want.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: reconranger

Sport quads are about going fast....but utes are about being able to pick your way through a rock crawling section on a super stable machine...and that is what the Rancher has in spades!!!



There are always these same guys who trot out the CARB "at the crank" horsepower figures, when they need to make their favorite ride look better than it actually is! At the crank means nothing in the real world, where things like weight, tire size, efficiency of the transmission, and a hundred other things come into play.



And...anybody who thinks the Rancher 420 is "slow", has never ridden one. Word is that the new Rancher AT (gear-on-gear twin clutch automatic transmission!) will rip your arms out of their sockets in the first three gears if you aren't easy on the throtle...and you know a gear-on-gear trans is going to be way more efficient than a rubber band drive!</end quote></div>



A gear on gear tranny is good on sport quads,a cvt will out accelerate and put more power to the ground than a gear on gear in a utility and beat it on the top end,and I'm so confident in this I will race any rancher 420 on my scrambler.Honda just needs to get with the program and come out with a cvt transmission then just maybe I will give honda some sort of relevance in the utility market.They have failed with there electric shift transmission that every week on this forum we see people trying to fix there flawed system.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Sport quads are about going fast....but utes are about being able to pick your way through a rock crawling section on a super stable machine...and that is what the Rancher has in spades!!! </end quote></div>

The Rancher,s low 6" ground clearance and 24" tires are not what you want for Rock Crawling. Never heard of a person it Rock clawling and mud running lowering there stock ATV but you sure here them buying lift kits and larger tires all the time.

When you come out of a rough slow rocky and muddy technical trail and get back on the logging roads and the trucks are parked 10 miles away,speed comes in Handy on a Utility.

On my 350 Big Bear & 450 Foreman everyone had there ATVs loaded up in there trucks and were on there second beer by the time I caught up, not fun to say the least.

 

well i dont think you can put the 420 rancher in the 500 class and up and realy expect it to have the power in that class. but it will compete no problems with the other 400 class utilities, probably has the best low end power in the 400 class. but if you look at all the 400 class utilities, there realy isnt one more powerful then the other. just a handful of 1 or 2 bells and whistles vs the 500 class and up utilities that have all the bells and whistles. at alot higher price market.

 

the rancher is one of the best machines for the money. I have read about all the problems with the eletric shift so I got the foot shifter 4x4. One of the most reliable machine on the market. The only thing it lacks is low range and front diff lock. But first gear is supper low so you can work it pretty hard. And for sliding it you can't beat the solid rear diff. I just bought a 09 grizzly 550 eps its a faster machine but the honda is easier to ride. And like I said for the price you can,t beat it.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>well i dont think you can put the 420 rancher in the 500 class and up and realy expect it to have the power in that class. </end quote></div>

Suzuki did it with there new 450 KQ.

450/500 Utility comparison.

Beat out all the 500s.

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>I just bought a 09 grizzly 550 eps its a faster machine but the honda is easier to ride.</end quote></div>

Not sure how a ATV you do not have to shift at all and has a single lever all brake system with power steering can be harder to ride than a shifting model with back and front brak controls.

No shifting and power steering ,it just can,t get any easier than that.

 

The rancher is a lighter bike and not as top heavy, as the grizzly. It will work you on tight trails. Don,t get me wrong the grizzly is a lot of fun and I wouldn,t buy a nother machine with out power steering. and the solid rear diff slides real easy.So I still drive the rancher from time to time but the grizzly is my primary.