THIS IS WHAT IVE BEEN SAYING FOR MONTHS NOW...HONDA IS MAKING JUNK! ! ! **** POOR CRAFTSMANSHIP AND PASSING IT OFF TO US AT A HIGHLY INFLATED PRICE...EVERYTHING IS SUPER THIN WEAK TUBING, OR PLASTIC CRAP..WHAT HAPPEN TO CRAFTSMANSHIP AND RELIABILITY...I OWN A 400EX, I CANT TELL YOU HOW DISSAPOINTED I AM AT THE DESIGN ENGINEERING....THEY DO IT THIS WAY TO SAVE A BUCK, BUT WE ARE STUCK WITH CRAP....TRUE, THERE MOTORS ARE AWESOME, BUT THE FRAMES, SHOCKS, A ARMS, ETC...BREAK IN A HEARTBEAT...IT IS UP TO US TO VOICE OR WORD, BY NOT BUYING THEIR PRODUCTS IF THEY WILL NOT MAKE THEM BETTER....AS FOR AS DEALERS, THEY ARE THE CLOSEST SCUM TO LAWYERS

 

My 84' 200ES big red hasnt even had brakes put on it yet, just 2 quarts of oil a year and still packing out 1,000lb elk every year and at least a tank of fuel a week. My old 88'blaster, well its on its second set of everything (fith set of brakes that keep falling out) since i sold it 2 years ago. The Suzuki king quad I let go last year, well the drive range rods rusted and broke off. My Yamaha Warrier I owned for 2 months until the shifting fork bent, well sold thatafter i split the cace's and fixed the thing. Now I am left with 2 honda XR's, one Honda 200SX the big red and a few 200s's and such without one problem. I still own a few others such as a 94' Suzuki RM125 and stuff. No argument, everyone has bad luck but I have never had bad luck with any hondas in my shop.

 

i brought the first rancher recall to the forum back in november of 99, this sounds like a rehash of the same thing. back then it was a missed weld on the front a-arm and honda said to stop selling ranchers till the serial numbers could be checked out. it was just a few machines. i think someone may just be repeating an old rumor to get people stirred up about nothing...
rancher

 

i by hondas because of there reliabilty/durability

and there ability to put together a solid quad out of the box.......

now i am unsure about honda

 

I went to the local dealer Saturday to buy a Rancher es 4x4. They said they got a letter in the mail from Honda stating that they could not sell any Ranchers because of this a-arm problem. I don't think they were lying as there were alot of disappointed people that day including me. The good news is they had a left over 450es that they sold me for $5700 + tax. So I was disappointed but now I'm happy. I got a bigger machine for $300 more.

 

EXACTLY MY POINT HONDARON, JUST A FEW YEARS AGO, THEY DID MAKE QUALITY PRODUCTS....LIKE YOUR 84 MODEL YOU DESCRIBED, BUT NOW DAYS, IT SEEMS LIKE IT IS A COMPETITION BETWEEN ENGINEERS TO SEE WHICH ONE CAN MAKE THE CHEAPEST AND LIGHTEST QUAD AND SALE FOR THE MOST MONEY....WHAT HAPPENS IS THEY CUT CORNERS TO SAVE A BUCK, IT USED TO NOT BE LIKE THIS

 

After reading this thread, I called my dealer because I just purchased a Rancher about 2 months ago. Here is what he said, Take the last 6 number of your Vin number. If the last 6 start with 00 you are in the recall, Mine started with 10 so my rancher was fine. I hope this helps others out. He also told me that only the affected rancher owners will recieved notification of the recall.

Bill

 

Nothing is made as good as it used to be. No one can despute that. Honda is still the best choice in my opinion. I think the sport quads suffer from weak frames mostly because they are made the lightest possible which means trade-offs had to be made. Utility quads on the otherhand are designed not for light weight or speed, but for durability and reliability. They are heavier yes, but have thicker frames and more steel, obviously by looking at the weight difference.

 

Well I dont know if this is true or not (because of all those incompitant polaris junkies that cant spell come in here and make rumors up) so im going to call my dealer tomorrow and find out the deal. Thanks to all the honda lovers that wont change their minds about honda just because of one occasion, it happens to everyone.

 

I'm NOT gonna call my rapist (dealer) because their empoyees couldn't spell recall let alone know if there is one on the rancher....