I am thinking of a new bike and I love the Rubicon, however I like the traxlok and IFS. So I was wondering about the Rincon. Everyone says no it has no low gear. I was wondering with 650cc of honda power how low of a gear it needs? my questions are
1. How under geared is it? how is it in ESP?
2. How is reverse geared?
3. How does it handle a trailer suspension/brakes?
I trailride/hunt/work have small farm so firewood, brush, fencework. etc.

 

The single-cylinder, 649 cc motor has a great amount of power. But as you have probably heard and read, it is lacking the gears. I have used the auto mode on a few rare occasions, mainly riding through feilds and such. When on the trails, I mainly use 2nd gear as long as it is on decent trails with not to much slope, and i am 265 lbs. myself. I have had the problem on LONG and STEEP hillclimbs like some of the sicking powerlines out my way of the quad wanting to die off, I usually hit them in 2nd at about 25-30 mph. Then almost immediately have to downshift. Even in first the quad had a bit of trouble making it to the top. The reverse has a limiter on it at 11 mph. There is no reverse override like on our Cats. The suspension is extremely soft for pulling a heavy trailer. The brakes, as long as you burnish them properly, work quite well. But you won't have to worry about that, because the quad won't pull much due to the gearing. I have 589's on and backed up to pull a friends 700 polaris out of a mudpit. I was extremely dissapointed in the quad. The tires were getting such a good bite that the rincon would't even turn the tires. From what you said you use your ATV for stick with the AC. Also the EBS on the rincon does nothing, whereas the AC sometimes can feel like it will throw you over the handlebars. The rincon is more of a sport bike, the only thing that classifies it as utility are the front and rear racks.

Hope I have been some help to you and good luck with whatever you choose.

 

The Rubicon looks pretty nice for utility/trail work. The Rincon really works best for trail riding.

 

The rincon is a very nice quad. Even though it is not the top power/torque producing motor, it makes good of the power to weight ratio. The IRS is probably in the top 2, if not the best. The tranny is very reliable, but honda could have made it with a low range and a front diff locker. If they were to do that, it would be awsome.

 

The rincon needs a little help breathing to make it come alive. I just installed a Big Dog Exhaust on mine and I am very impressed. Overall the rincon is a sweet handling machine but stock it is just a little sluggish (ie. won't spin the tires a whole lot). Since I added the pipe it is alot more fun to ride and it doesn't need a low gear. Also who needs engine breaking if you have the suspension to go fast down hill and brakes to stop when you need to. I do agree that front locker may be needed. I'm going to Tellico this weedend to see how the open diff works up on the rocks.

JB