I have tons of older honda ATC's and one 200SX along with 3 newer XR's takeing space up in the shop. I went rideing today (frist time in a while since I am 24 and working alot) with some friends who were rideing 3 ranchers and one 99'kodiak 400 and me along with my trusty 86'200SX Needlesss to say I was amazed that there cruseing speed on wide open gravel was redline for my 200 (45 or so) I also often found myself in 3rd and 4th gear trying to keep up in the faster trails. The poor ride on my 200SX makes easy trail conditons on the rancher a serious pain for me as i seem to hit every rock and stump that is more than 4" tall. This brings me to some serious questions on the Rancher VS Rubi question, I ride in almost every climete here in oregon such as: Super tight overgrown woods, wide open sand, wide open dessart, deep river crossings, snowmoble trails, flat fields, Steep trails ect. Today we climed a serious hillside of old growth forest without any trails. A few times my front end came up when crossing trees ect, the ranchers had no trouble at all but my friend on the kodiak turned the rubber side up when he got sideways on a steep section after slideing sideways when crossing a wet slimy fallen tree. That thing must weigh as much as the rubicon as it took 3 of us to get it right side up! I would hate to be trapped under the thing while alone up hunting. Any ideas on the length and width between the rubicon and his Kodiak? It made me think twice about getting such as monster quad.. how does the rubicon handel in extreame steep tight woods conditoins compaired to the rancher? What about fuel milage, we burned 1/2 tank on the ranchers but my tank was still full on my 200SX. I dont want to carry a can on the rack of the rubicon! we only ride 40 miles or so before turning around.

 

For the type of riding you do and the requirements you've listed sound like the Rancher would be best for you. I own a Rubicon and it's a gas hog. I'm surprised that the state didn't charge a gas guzzler tax when I bought it.

I don't know your budget but the Rancher will save you $1500.00 or more. If it were my choice and my mind was set on Honda. I would personally go for the Forman 450S. I personally don’t care for the ES version. With the ES you'll get nice floor boards that help keep the mud off you but you can get these after market. In my area you can pick up a 450S New for 5695.00

 

If gas mileage is an issue to you at all I would strongly consider the Rancher. The Foreman isn't too bad stock but when you add bigger tires, etc you can see the drop in mileage right away. I lost about 10-15 miles a tank by adding 27" Mud Runners on my 2000 Foreman S. The 350 has to do much better than that. (I've never ridden with one though.) Hey hiofcer you must not live to far from me I just moved to Blaine in March. If you need someone to ride with drop me a message.

 

JRM,
Sounds like the Rancher would fill your requirements best but the Rancher is not a light machine. I turned mine wheels up in a large mudhole after one side feel in some hudge tractor ruts. I couldnt lift it up and over. Luckily I had a winch and I used it to pull it back upright.
I chose the RancherES 4x4 over the Rubicon primarly for financial reasons otherwise I would have the Rubicon. But i'm actually very pleased with the Rancher, Honda has done their homework and has really produced a "#1 in it's class type of ATV" with the Rancher.

 

Where in Blaine do you live? I'm off of 35W and 95th. I would be more than happy to go and ride. My next trip is scheduled for Oct 6th. We'll be going to Outing MN.

 

Hey neighbor, I love my Rancher. It will accelerate up to 46 mph pretty quick its, but it takes a pretty good distance to wind it up to 50. Most of our riding is done in the 5-10 mph range with some logging roads and the gas mileage is about 25 mpg.

The Rubicon does appear to be a good machine but is it worth $1600 (MSRP) more? Thats a decision you will have to make. The Rubicon is a very quiet machine, no tranny noise.

Our Rancher is 6 months old (out of warrenty) with 615 miles, the only problem so far has been one rivet popped out of the plastic, but this was easily fixed.

Its a tough choice. Ride the Rancher & Rubi then make your choice. Its a tough one. One final note, I carry a 1 gallon plastic gas can on my Rancher for emergency. The farthest on a tank of gas so far was 60 miles there was still gas in the tank, you can probably get between 70-90 miles on a tank.

good luck

 

hiofcer,
I live at 129th and highway 65 about 5-6 miles from you. I'd be more than happy to ride with you sometime. Why don't you e-mail me and maybe we can set something up. My address is rdonat@amcomsoft.com

Thanks

P.S. Just to stay on subject buy whatever you will be happy with JRM all previosly mentioned machines are great.

 

JRM: Good desision to have! I have both, but for your needs and the weight issue, you might want to think about the Rancher. IT is as capable as any atv out there. If you find one it is not, it is easily modifiable. It is agile and very light, might be the lightest Utility atv out there. You can't go wrong with either. One note, the Rubicon will go about 55mph. The Rancher is more 48 to 50mph. But there is no comparison out there for acceleration when it comes downt to the Rubicon.

Good luck, Scott

 

Wish i knew someone with a rubicon to ride because i am leaning towards it. Our dealers around here laugh when we ask for a test ride. My reasons for leaning towards the rubi are it is only 65 more pounds than the rancher, turns the same, liquid cooling will keep the heat deamons away when below 5mph floored with a bear on the rack and when I lay a 1k pound elk on the back rack it wont burn any clutchs because there are none. I also pull heavy loads or gravel around the house. The dual range and D1 and D2 are also nice features when doing ult work. A friend said to me to get the rubicon because I will still have my tiny 200SX to trash on up in areas like where were yesterday. Anyone ever go rideing on a packed snowmoble trail with a heavy 4x4 yet? I dont want to get stuck 20 miles away from camp, with no cell coverage

 

on my SP I get 20-25 mpg, with a 5.5 gallon tank I go 90 miles before fillup and have gone 104. The ruby I bet gets close to the same as my 500 20-25 depending on riding terrain and style. Should be no problem going 40 miles on a tank with the Ruby. how big is the tank on the Ruby?