Last night I made the trip down too the Wabasha Sand Pits, in Wabasha, MN. There was a guy and his son there(Rubicon and Recon)riding around in the pits. We talked and rode together for 2 hours, when I asked if I could take the Ruby for a spin. He agreed, and I was off.

If I could describe the Rubicon in one word, that word would be smooth. Everything about it is smooth. The engine, suspension and most of all the tranny. The machine is very quiet. In fact, the transmission makes no noise at all.
Power delivery is great. I reved up the motor, braked hard, and then got back on the throttle several times. And the Rubby was always right there, with power on demand.
The selectable shifter used too shift from Reverse, Neutral, D1 and D2 works effortlessly. When driving the quad in ESP, there is no noise when shifting between gears like on a 450ES. It's just smooth, quiet power.
Suspension surprised me. I could ride the machine through whoops, over logs and even jump it with great confiedence.
Handling is typical Honda. With predictable cornering, sliding and jumping.
Brakes also worked well. I don't see what all of the fuss is about with drum brakes only on the Ruby. They work great.
4 wheel drive works great out in the sand. When going up steep sand hills, all four wheels pulled at one time. I even parked on an up-hill off-chamber with one of the front wheels in the air. The wheel in the air stayed put, and the one on the ground spun me up the hill.
Size is larger in person than what I expected. But when riding the beast, it seems like the right size. Never too big and bulky.

I could not find one thing wrong with the Rubicon. If fact, I was very impressed with it.
All of this is coming from a Racer, who drives a sport quad with a built engine and aftermarket suspension. Everything on the quad seemed first rate. I have driven a Sportsman 500 several times, and for the life of me. I don't understand how DirtWheels Magizine could not rate this quad #1 in a shootout. Clearly a better and nicer quad than the Sportsman.(in my opinion)
Nice job Honda on the Ruby......

 

I have not had the chance to ride the Ruby yet,I hope my chance comes soon.You could'nt find one thing wrong with the Ruby? How was its ride when compared to a Sportsman?Was it's single axle vs IRS as plush?How about in severe off camber situations?Does the single axle hold its ground as well as the IRS?
You also did'nt find fault with the rear drum brake.Did you mud with the Ruby for an entire afternoon and than dis-assemble the rear drum and check for debree?

No quad,including the Sportsman, fits the bill entirely as perfect,
Bill

 

Choices, its a good time for our sport. The Rubicon is a great quad for some & for others they don't like it. This can be said about every brand out there.

It is amazing how quiet the Rubicon is

 

Bill,

I am a sport quad rider. And after riding the Sportsman and then the Rubicon. I liked the Ruby better.

I rode both machines over a variety of conditions. I did not do any extreme mudding or rock climbing. To me, the Ruby had more power, better handling, better engine braking, smoother tranny, less noise(engine and tranny), and was easier too steer. All of these pluses, are things a rider is going too use, every time he/or she climbs aboard the quad. I did not have time too do reliability tests, dis-assemble the brakes or anything of that nature.

Both quads are excellent machines. With switchable 4by, and IRS. The SP maybe the right ticket for you. Personally, all of the downfalls everyone points out about the Ruby(drum brakes, non-switchable 2wd/4wd option, no IRS)didn't seem too be a problem too me. The Ruby drove, accelerated, handled, and stopped like a sport quad. Not a utility.

Once again..... These are only my opinions. Every rider has different needs, likes and dislikes. It's up too you too decide what fits you the best.

 

Well, thanks, guys, it's nice to know that I got a good one. Actually, most of your comments matched mine exactly. I, too, was supprised at how quiet it was, especially after riding my wife's Trail Boss. It's pretty nimble, too. About the only time I realize just how heavy it is, or that it is in 4-wheel drive all the time, si when making a tight turn at slow speed. Otherwise, the front-end steering is pretty light. Basically, steer the front-end where you want to go, and it goes there. Although, you can break the rear loose with a little effort, and powerslide through turns. I haven't had the pleasure of taking a Sportsmen for a ride, but I am loving the Ruby. And I am looking forward to suprising my brother-in-law on his Warrior, and his wife on her Kodiak this weekend. And like all Honda's, that seat is so comfortable! No one makes seats so comfortable on stock bikes like Honda.

 

Many people try to make an issue out of drum brakes. A well sealed drum brake is as good if not better than a disk brake. There have been many posts on the Yamaha & Polaris forums about disk breaks wearing out premature when doing extensive mud riding.

I have disassembled my drum brakes twice (rear only, yet to find any water or problems. One thing about Honda is you don't have to grease it up after every ride, no 20 + grease zerks here. To some its makes a difference others it doesn't.

 

We just sold our Honda 450 a short while ago. It had about 1100 miles on it.

It never had any brake work done at all, they never squeeled, squeeked or failed to stop the quad. Never removed the drums to check on them because it wasn't needed. When we needed to stop we pulled the levers and it stopped.

Now our Polaris's well... as some people know 3 sets of pads can be installed within 600 miles. At current rates that could be $249 plus tax, or the difference in price between a Rubicon and a Sportsman HO Hmmmmmm?

But then again the Sportsman has EBS and will not wear out the brakes as fast... only the clutch!!

Makes a person wonder. Wow!! I coulda had a ....

 

Bill,
The suspension is nice and I love my quad but it is NOT as plush as the SP500. I see the SP500 riding like an old cadillac where you hit a bump and bounce for the next 1/4 mile so that you dont feel it. I have had it in severe off camber situations and havenet had any troubles but I have never been around a SP500 in that terrain.

I have ridden the Rubi for an entire weekend in some nasty mud for a charity ride, and I checked all three of my drums and they were clean and bone dry. I was AMAZED!

It has been a real nice quad.

 

Just a side note on the Rubicons ride quality. What tire pressure are you guys running at? I was looking at my owners manual last night and the suggested pressure is 3.6 psi. My tires are at 5 psi from the dealer. I'm going to change that this weekend and see how much that improves the ride.

 

Sounds like you had a good experience. I for one like it whenever a manufacturer comes out with a new, improved machine. I may be jealous that I don't have one, but whenever someone raises the bar, and it doesn't matter who or in what way, sooner or later everyone else will be trying to go just that much higher, too. I wonder if the Rubi wasn't the little nudge Polaris needed to put a HO engine in the SP or Kawasaki to come up with a 650. See what I mean. No matter what you ride, the improvements will trickle down to all of us no matter what you ride. You can argu disk vs drum, belt vs gear, gear vs hydro, and so on forever, but you have to admit, no matter what brand you prefer, it is an improvement over what you could get just a few years ago. I just wonder what the future will bring. Hopefully not emission controls on everything bigger than a bicycle, but we can do something about that. GO VOTE!!!! Sorry to shout. Just think, our kids will someday look at our state of the art machines and say 'how could you even drive that thing?'
Just something to think about - I must be feeling philosophical today - Must be the rain.
Farmr