In the cool months, we ride sport bikes in the high and low desert. But when it is hot we switch to high altitude, riding utilities in the local mountains and Eastern Sierra. We ride mostly old mine roads. I live for the rocky technical trail stuff where the major requirement is high ground clearance, but also do a lot of trails and fast wide open fire roads. No serious mud, a lot of water crossings (but nothing real deep), and snow is usually limited to bashing through drifts that have not yet melted. We have not done much serious winter high altitude riding (fresh snow), but may do that more in the future.

So far we have gotten along pretty well with the 2X4 Rancher and Recon. If the rider picks a good line, we can get through most stuff without having to get off and lift the bikes over anything. Surprisingly, the little Honda 90 does great too!! It has a short wheelbase, and will pop over most big rocks. If it gets stuck, we just carry the thing. This bike is such a peach!! Similarly, the Recon is relatively light and two adults can carry the bike through any real bad stuff.

Anyway, I would like to have the added security of another 4X4. My plan is to sell the 2X4 Rancher (a very capable machine in its own right, and I got it new for the price of a Recon!!), and put my daughter on the 4X4 Rancher. Then I would get something new for myself. More horsepower is always nice. I have been thinking of the pros and cons of the different machines, and here are my thoughts:

RUBICON--Powerful enough to recover a broken down machine. Water cooled. Nice ride on the trails and fire roads. Kind of large and heavy for the technical trail stuff though (but lighter than other bikes in its class!). Reliability of all the electronics worries me. Expensive!

RANCHER AT--Smaller than the Rubicon so it should be better for technical riding, BUT not that much lighter (only 30 lbs!!). Selectable 2wd/4wd. Cheezy undercariage protection. New and unproven (but a Honda!). The reliability of all the electronics worries me. $1,000 cheaper than the Rubicon!

"03" RANCHER 350--Proven machine and absolutely bulletproof (at least in the foot shift version). Not as light as I would like, but 30+ lbs lighter than the AT, and 60+ lbs lighter than the Rubicon. The "04" Rancher 350 will get a different body style (the SUV styling like the AT). So, any 03's that a dealer has are outdated, and I should be able to get one for a VERY GOOD PRICE! Even at MSRP, it is $800 cheaper than the AT (the SUV style 04 Rancher 350 will be $200 MORE than the old sytle 03), and a whopping $1,800 cheaper than the Rubicon.

So fellow riders, what are your thoughts?????

 

You left out the fact that the rubicon is a 500. I got one for 5950 and that included a 3 yr Honda warranty and a cover/gun rack. I have ridden it for 50 miles in W.V. through Mountains, Streams, up very steep hills/mountains, over logs, rocks,ect. The atv has perform excellent! plenty of power with two people on it. Has a great center of gravity feels like it sticks to hills when going sideways on them. The trans has been around in one version or another since the early 70s. If you young you wont remember the hondamatic, but I do. This is an atv that you wont out grow in a few years. It can do anything you want it to do within reason. The prices today are less than what some paid for 01. I looked at all the atvs out and could have got any of them. After looking at atvs that were a few years old it doesnt take long to know which will hold up and which ones will be setting in the barn waiting to be repaired. Think about who will ride it a few years from now and what it is expected to do. That will help you buy the best one for you. Dont let a little savings now take you out of the right choice.

 

One thing I forgot to mention is that a typical ride starts in the valley at about 4,000 ft, and ends up at over 10,000 ft. The altitude robs you of a lot of horsepower! So, having a lot of horsepower to begin with is a big plus, BUT not if it comes at the expense of a lot of extra weight or size! The Rubicon certainly has the best power/weight ratio. Both the Ranchers are heavy for their displacement.

Remember, I spend most of the year riding a 370 lb sport bike, so a 600 lb utility seems like a brick. And light little bike is a big asset in the technical stuff, and that may turn out to be the limiting factor??? What I need is a 400 lb 4X4 Recon, with a 500+ cc engine in it!

 

We have a Rubicon and a 02 Rancher 4x4 ES. I rode a 04 Rancher AT 4x4 the other day. In my own opinion, the 02 Rancher is a great ATV. Very capable and great for technical trails due to its size and weight. The 350 Ranchers are very inexpensive to maintain too. The 04 350 Ranchers are the same as the 03's except for maybe brake lights and maybe some other small item. For 04, Honda still makes all 4 350 Ranchers, they just changed the plastic.

The new Rancher AT is very impressive. If I were going to buy a new Rancher today it would without a doubt be the new AT 4-wd with the GPS. The 400 definitely has more power and the trans is like the Rubicon except no low range, which like the 350 Rancher, it doesn't need it. It has a very low first gear and when in the auto mode it is very throttle responsive and the ESP feels great.

We bought the 02 Rancher for our daughters. I like it being in 4-wd all the time; I like two separate brakes, front and rear. If one fails, and being in 4-wd, you still have 4-wheel braking. The four-wheel drive is great for coming down steep hills. Coming down steep-loose hills is where you will appreciate the 4-wd the most. No more sliding down a hill. That makes it safer and I like that for my daughters. It is always there. You don't spin out or get hung up and then put it in 4-wd, they just drive through. It's a great ATV for our daughters and they like it too.

Today, we wouldn't trade our Rubicon for any other ATV on the market except a brand new 04 with the GPS, another Red one. I have ridden a Rincon but for now, we will keep the Rubicon. We like every thing about it and especially the transmission, nothing like it on the market. Over 3300 miles and zero problems. You can have problems with any ATV so get the one you want and take care of them. If I rode the Rancher all the time, I would have traded our 02 in on a 04 yesterday. I really like the new Rancher AT.

Our Rubicon is an early 01. When we bought it, it was "new and unproven." It has proven itself for over 3300 trouble free miles.

You have picked three good ATV's to choose from. Ride them all.

 

hey Specta, long time no talk... my rubicon is also performing awesome! I only have 1,000 miles on mine as I work 7am to 7pm for 10 days strait! I pulled it out of the shop and blasted some trails last weekend and it performed perfectly takeing myself and a friend into some of the most rugged terrain in Oregon!
Joe

 

I looked at the Rubicon and the AT today, side by side. I am thinking that the Rubicon is just to big for a good technical trail bike. Once you reach a certain size (or price range), you might as well just have gotten a Jeep (with a roll cage)! This is sport bike country, and mostly everybody is appalled by the large mass of the big utilities. They just sit on the dealeres floor, while hundreds of sport bikes go out the door. I can hardly get anybody on the Rancher. They all just think even it is to big. Also, I am very disapointed in the weight of the AT. At least I can load my current Rancher on the trailer, without using ramps.

Spectra-You mentioned 4wd braking. In general, I do prefer the security of full-time 4wd, both for engine braking and brake braking. And, that is one of the reasons I would like to get my daughter on a 4X4. But, the one place where it kills you is when you are descending a drop off. When those front tires hit the bottom, you had better be off the brakes and on the gas, or you are going over the bars. When in 2wd, you can just skid the back tires and let the front coast free, so it won't fight you when they hit the bottom. This is one place where a 2wd/4wd selectable is a good option. What we do in any case, is attach a rope to the rear rack and have a spotter there to save things, just in case somebody gets in trouble.

 

i know what you mean, after a good trail ride on the rubicon I jump on my XR250 and it feels like a mountin bike!

 

It sounds like the new Rancher AT might be the one for you. Our 02 Rancher seems do be more agile for real technical trails. But I do believe the only place a Rancher will go that a Rubicon wont is some place that a Rubicon physically wont fit. But like I said, I do like the new 400 AT.

 

I would pick my rubicon again out of these quads. I rode my friends rancher out on the trails today and it didn't have near the pep that my rubicon had and it only had 25" 589's and my rubi has 27" claws. My buddies rancher has still never beat his brothers 450 foreman in a drag race but it you run them up to top speed they both run about the same. I know it's only a 350 but the power is nice to have on tap to tackle a big mud bog or hill in second or third gear. It will fit in a bit tighter places than the rubi but it's rearend seemed kind of bouncy on the trail. It just reminds me of my 300 honda exept you don't feel quite as cramped on it it feels like it has the same power as my 300. I am 6' tall and I want a bigger bike to fit me better and it,s always nice to have more power. I rode another friends eiger for a minute today, and it has great power for only a 400cc quad, it's close to the rubi's power. It has a high geared reverse though. My friend couldn't get that thing to back up at all with the 26" mud hogs on there but other than that its an outstanding 400 quad and it's more full sized feeling than a rancher, and I bet the price tags are not super high either.

 

nick-Technical trail isn't anything like drag racing or mud bogging (some of these places get maybe a couple of inches of rain a year--2 valleys West of Death Valley) or even hill shooting! It is mostly done in 1st or 2nd gear, sometimes rock crawling your way through huge boulder fields. Lightness and agility are most important. Heck, you could get off the bike and walk faster than you can ride (one reason water cooling and fan are a big plus)! Huge horsepower is always nice, but hardly a necessary. The biggest thing is that you want a bike that will take you back home at the end of the day, even though you have beaten the crap out of it. IT'S MORE ABOUT SURVIVAL THAN PERFORMANCE!!