M4L
You're so witty, you put us all to shame!

 

I just bought my first ATV last week, so I have no brand loyalty what-so-ever. Ideally, I wanted a 350 or bigger 4x4 with in/out 4-wheel drive. I looked at everything from Polaris to Arctic Cat to Suzuki to Yahama to Honda. Polaris was too expensive. Arctic Cat (which I believe are great ATV's) offered a 400 and 500 4x4. The 400 was decently priced, but I found an '04 Foreman for a little less, and the 500 was a little more than I was willing to pay. I thought about a Suzuki Eiger, but I've never known anyone that actually had one. It pretty much came down to an '05 Rancher ES 4X4 ($4300), an '04 Foreman ($5,099), and an '05 Yahama Big Bear 4X4 (listed at $5,199, could have probably got it for less than $5,000).

The Rancher was a full time 4X4, which I didn't want, and, for $800 more I could get the Foreman. So it was betweek the Big Bear and the Foreman. The Foreman was bigger (433cc) than the Big Bear (388cc), so that made me lean toward the Foreman. But, I could probably save a few hundred dollars, and get a newer year-model if I got the Big Bear. Well, I asked around, and EVERYONE I talked to suggested I go with a Honda. Even my dad, who owns an Arctic Cat, told me to go with a Honda. A friend of mine who has a Foreman told me that he's drove his through water deep enough that it started floating, and still kept running. I also have a few friends that have Hondas that are 10 years old, and they still run like new. So, having spent a week and probably 20+ hours going over the specs of various ATV's, reading reviews for the dozen or so models I was looking at, and talking to people who'd owned Honda's, Arctic Cat, and Yahama, I ultimately decided on an '04 Foreman. I've had it in water up to the headlights and thick claylike mud up to my knees, and I've yet to be disappointed. Yes, I've gotten stuck a few times, but the mud I was going through, I doubt even the biggest baddest ATV with the best mud tires money can buy could've made it through.

 

WHY did I buy my Rincon?

Because I was tired of the bad experiences I had with the clutches on the two brand new Polaris belt drives I owned..There was allways something wrong with either Polaris I owned,and the clutcing issue were endless.

The Rubicons tranny did not impress me in the least bit,so when honda introduced the fluid/torque converter type tranny on their Honda Rincon,I thought,wow,this quads tranny should last forever.

What I did'nt really expect was poor engine braking,leaky front drum style brakes,a poor quality low end.

I put up with no locker and no adjustable shocks,but the poor low end,no front locking diff and leaky drums?It just got to be to much for me to tolerate in the end.

 

i choose to ride honda because of the low maintance.....dont get me wrong i do the routine maintance probably more often than most.....i have worked on all brands and would buy anything if the price is right... and do....if youve looked at my pics out of all those atv the 400ex and john deere lawn mower are the most reliable...just my 2cents