Foreman es 450 i read your posting and i totally disagree with you Big bears aree a lot faster than a forman and will definatly hang on hills.i rode a 450 s a lot it was a good pulling 4 wheeler but it was slow and when we hit the flats i was gettin dusted by ranchers,big bears,kodiaks and artic cats every time you turn around.ive raced in these flats for years and my 400 yamaha has never been beat by a foreman 450 or 400. and the 350 rancher i own is as fast if not faster thatn the big bear.plus the big bear is higher up than the foreman and so is the rancher. i will admit the foreman pulls through the mud better than the rancher or the big bear but not enough for me to spend an extra $1000 buying one.i like my honda better than the yamaha i have but the big bear is not a weak quad.it has a very stout engine on it. and its fast for a 4x4.very nimble too. and its hard to hang up but like i warned in my earlier posting its a little more top heavy than a rancher or a foreman and it flips easier too.


00 honda rancher 4x4
01 yamaha Big bear 4x4

 

I gurantee you that I can take my little 03' Rancher anywhere you want to take the big bear. I ride on big rides every weekend and I've never had a problem keeping up with any of the bigger bikes. All these boys now days put those big lifts and tires on their atv's and makes them mad when I can go anywhere they go. Don't count out the Rancher. But compare apples to apples. The Rancher shouldn't even be considered when your comparing the foreman and the big bear. You should compare them to other bikes with close cc's and features. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

 

I agree. But not just with the rancher, just htink about all those extrememly old stocker three-wheelers. I've been riding with guys that can get those in places i didn't think a quad could get to. The best way to determine between brands or machines is to look at how they run and little annoying things about them like bad mudflaps or something. Or even better, check out the service of your local dealers, I'll never buy a Honda as long as I live in Alaska, because the two Honda dealers have horrible service and are impossible to deal with when I need work. On the other hand, Yamaha always treats me right. They dont charge me when i need work done on something stupid like the recoil starter. One time I was exchanging a custom pack for my big bear, and the one i was exchanging for was an extra 20 bucks, and the guy just gave it to me. Those are the kinds of things to think about when buying a machine, because Honda and Yamaha are about equal overall. Hondas are a little better made, but my big bear is $1000 cheaper, doesnt have an LCD screen to bust like they always do, and the Big Bear comes with 2 inches more clearance and longer suspension travel. Its pretty even between the two.

 

manual foot shifted forman s only way to go never i repeat NEVER have i been stuck and its been up to the tumb throttle to the fender tops and completly submerged across a creek or 2 if its not to wide to run out of air it will crawl the bottom and come out the other side. eiger got stuck behind me and a rancher w/589 tires and an articcat 454 bearcat with outlaws all got stuck in a tire deep hole, bottom(top) of fenders(rack deep),pulled them all thru then went back across just to c, it was a cake walk about 50 yrds. so the articcat had to try again and i pushed him out backwards with our front racks together and still made it thru.....i went thru this hole again on our way out every1 else went around it.hahaaa have upgraded to 28" edl vampiers since i made my signature on this id but the 27's never left me stuck any where either i have to agree all the other quads ride better than the foreman, definitly rides like a truck, but it pulls like one too[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] and tires make a huge diference and im sold on vampires

 

I have to agree. The foreman will go through mud with best of them. I'm a firm believer in the rider also. I've seen great riders take little recons places that I wouldn't take a Grizzly and vice versa. Another thing that plays a big factor is tires. Just because they look meaty doesn't mean they will pull well. Alot of them pull great forward but really slack in reverse. Also air pressure is a big one in the mud. A buddy of mine kept getting stuck all day then I checked his air pressure and found there to be way to much. I let some out, down to about 3 psi. and he didn't get stuck the rest of the day. My rancher is push button shift and I was weary about it at first so I did some checking with a honda tech. friend of mine and he said honda has had very little trouble with them. I also like the fact that if something happens to it there is a shifter in the trunk so you can switch to manual shift.



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2003 rancher es
warn 424 kit

 

hard to get in trunk and slide a splined shaft on cause your gas tank deep in mud and es done went out...i'll take mine manual foot please

 

very well said. I hate electronic crap on fourwheelers. Just more things that can break and aren't fixable out in the field. What's wrong with an analog speedometer, or trip? And personally i think manuals are a lot more fun to drive, and the only benifit of being able to shift with your thumb is not getting your feet wet or muddy if you're in deep. But hey, isn't that what a $20 pair of hip waders is meant for? You'll need 'em anyways when you or your friend inevitably gets stuck and you have to hook up a rope or winch.

 

Foreman450ES, I never said anything about my friends eiger being rubberband drive, it's a five speed and a very nice bike too. About the GC issue honda measures from the lowest point, back axle and the bear is more than likely measured at the frame. I know that honda used to say the rubi had 10" of clearance but then changed it for a while along with a few other bikes too, not sure what it measures out to now on there web site. I can take my 300 4x4 honda with good tires most if not all of the places I take my rubi, and it's lighter and narrower so it does ok in the mud and it has what 6-7" of GC, its all the rider and tires.

Vampireforeman, I have seen 450's get stuck, one guy had a yellow 450s with 27" vamps and got stuck, I pushed him right on through with the rubi and 27" claws. I have gotten stuck in a pond and three 4x4 atvs couldn't even budge me, I had to get a 4x4 truck and I wondered if it was going to pull me for a minute but after he put her if 4x4 mode it quit spinning and started pulling. I bet that 450 will go with 28" edl's now.

 

yea its pretty nasty with the edl's.......i mail ordered them and OMG when i opened the plastic, the lugs are frekin huge ...i didn't say it wouldn't get stuck...i said i've never had mine stuck ...yet........and about u pushin sum1 thru the mud i do it alot and ...what didd it do to the plastic on the front of your grill....thats 1 reason i didn't get a rubi or a rincon the foreman was all metal up front...i no its backed by metal but did it bust or distort it any?

 

The shaft is squared not splined and if my poor little rancher breaks in the mud and I can't manage to get the shifter on then I know deep down inside I can call the vampire foreman from arkansas to pull me out. He pulls out everybody and has never been stuck. By the way I have an old set of 44" thornbirds I'll sell you for a good price. Then you can tower over all the other little quads and be the mud king. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]