I won't have much of an opinion on it until they pit it against the other big bore machines, or when I ride one.

 

I like Honda, but I ride Polaris... they offer more features I want, and more overall POWER.. YES, they arent quite as reliable, and require more maintenance.. but you gotta give to get...
BUT the RUBICON...
Its going to be a 2001 and STILL has drum front brakes??? I know its just a little thing, but WHY cant they go to disc? Whats wrong with Hydraulic brakes on the rear? Disc or drum.
I want to buy a Honda, but the 2/4 drive option has spoiled me TOO much... I wont own another 4x4 without it.... MANY riders like the option...
COME ON HONDA.. U can DO better than this!

 

I'm like Rooster, i won't have an opinion until I see it in a shootout where they test more things. They will either pick it to death or overpraise it for minor things. Basically, the transmission is the quad. Other than that, its just a bigger honda 4 wheeler with the same basic honda elements. It is an over worked subject I know, but the drum brake thing has floored me since the first preview. Thats just dumb making a new flagship awesome *** atv and then not giving it discs. I mean just about everyone at least puts discs up front now. 10" of ground clearance compared to 7.7" on the 450? Is that frame to ground on the Rubicon compared to rear differential to ground on the 450? I bet so, because there is no way that the diff on the Rubicon is 10" off the ground at the lowest point. I think that it will be a top dog quad, and basically one of the most envied, but its not so extreme that it is in another class I don't think. Someone will have to make a manual transmission IRS quad with a 500 engine, selectable 2wd/4wd, disc brakes, 12" of true ground clearance, both front wheels pulling, 3 headlight, brakelight, steel racked equipped quad that will turn on a dime before everyone here will be speechless. When they do, I hope they pick a good color and not lavender or something lame.

 

Papico, I the trans wont build any more RPM than needed. here is a example: say you take off with 1/2 throttle, engine revs to 3,000 RPM and stays there until you reach the crusing speed at that throttle level..say you take off at full throttle, engine revs up as normal but not over 4,500 PRM because that is where most of the power is and stays there until it reaches full speed then it will rev out as far as it canThe engine will pretty much stay in the meat of the powerband for the throttle used but the quad will skyrocket up to speed It will feel similur to the torque converter on any auto trans on car/truck when takeing off but there will be no gear feeling type shifting. at a dead stop Step on the gas on say a Ford F-150 automatic, engine revs higher as you step on the gas, but not over 2500 RPM because that is high enough to get most of the power..kinda the same idea.
I agree about Year 2001 and drum brakes!
Front hydrolic drums=1980's technology
Rear Mechanical drums=1890's model T technology
non-2wd mode=1990's yamaha/polaris technology
Rubicon@$7,000.00=time to buy a rancher@$5,000.00
Joe

 

At $6999, the Rubicon isn't all that expensive. The SP500 is more than that, and as far as I'm concerned, the SP isn't worth 5k. Belts and grease fittings, 700lbs, top heavy...nah, that's not for me. The Rubicon has no belts, weighs 100lbs less, and sits at just about the same height as the 450S, with a wider stance for more stability. The Rubicon has 10" of clearance. (Honda measures all of it's quads under the rear housing. The Rancher has 9.8", so why couldn't the Rubicon have 10"?) The drum brakes don't bother me, and neither does the 2wd/4wd option. As far as I'm concerned, the Rubicon is actually cheap given the prices of things today. 10 years ago I didn't think I'd see a quad for over 5k. Now you have a hard time to find one for 5k (new). It's just my opinion ofcourse, so I don't want 4 dozen replies say that I'm wrong or that Honda sucks and Polaris rules. They're both good machines, but with the technology in the Rubicon, a 500cc (499) motor, and the Honda name, $7k is a steal. We might as well face it, quads aren't going to get any cheaper, the prices are just going to continue to go up with each new model.

 

A shoot out with the Griz, Sportsman, Magnum, & Traxter should tell the tale.

Either way its a step in the right direction!

 

A courageous lemming stepped forward and...

Stated the most pertinent factors regarding the function and reliability of a "muddin' quad".

Sensors, electrics, cpu's, mapped programming, ad infinitum. These are not the attributes that one looks for in a rugged off-road package.

I agree. Recently I have noticed a certain 450ES develop a tendancy to momentarily cut-out during acceleration. Hmmmmmm? Could this be a defective "sensor"? Don't know and I am sure that the local technician, (alias 20 year old grease monkey) won't know either. It will have to come to the shop he will say. Where for only $59 dollars an hour they will TRY to isolate the problem. Oh-boy.

We have had a 450S and an ES in the family and I would have to choose the 450S as the reliability champ regarding "Electrics".

I wonder how well the Rubicon will sell to those in the outback or bush?

 

Here's another observation. The test run was conducted in an area I ride around Lake Arrowhead, which is at ~5100' altitude. If they rode where I think they did; the altitude was even higher. My experience with bikes and quads is that jetting makes more than a "slight" difference in power at these altitudes (I usually ride from 5000-10,000'). The air density loss is around 10-25% producing a somewhat equivalent loss in power; even moreso if you're not jetted properly in which case you're running rich, which is not conducive to responsive power. My understanding is new bike/quad engines are jetted for sea level. This makes sense since no maker wants a new motor being "broke in" while running lean. My new Quadmaster ran very rich/sluggish and required a significant "down-jetting" along with a K&N filter (free-er breathing) to run properly. I experienced the same with my Honda bikes too. I' speculate "the jury's still out" on the power issue and the writer may have understated the "slight" effect this test altitude had on performance. This, of course, assuming Honda did not re-jet for the test altitude.

 

Actually the dealers Ive heard from are selling them for $7500 firm and I have never seen a sp for that much. And this is a lot of money, the most expensive 4x4 and this is WAY too much money for not getting all of the nice things like disc brakes, 2/4 wd switch, and true 4 wd. I do agree that this transmission is incredible and should perform great. But I dont think the transmission alone is worth all of that extra money.

 

Sportsmans MSRP is $6999, but I can get them for $6300 easily in Arkansas any day. Now the Dealers with the demand being what it will be will not come off a Rubicon one cent.