Thanks for the advice.... I am starting to lean in the direction of the Rubicon

 

Great! I'll sell you mine and then I can go buy my Outlander!

 

Let me guess, the Outlander 800. The biggest and baddest bike there is. However, you are going from the most reliable quad to one of the most problem filled quads, but hey as long as you have the biggest and baddest right!

 

I've owned the Rubicon for two years now. I wouldn't exactly call it totally reliable. I've had some problems with it. The perception of reliability is what everybody talks about. It's pretty sad that that is it's biggest selling point, to most people. Oh ya, go on the Rincon forums if you think the OL is the most trouble-prone quad.

 

[quote]
Originally posted by: Blackadder
I've owned the Rubicon for two years now. I wouldn't exactly call it totally reliable. I've had some problems with it. The perception of reliability is what everybody talks about. It's pretty sad that that is it's biggest selling point, to most people. Oh ya, go on the Rincon forums if you think the OL is the most trouble-prone quad.[/q

For the record, I think that Outlander is the most advantage quad on the market. I was actually interested in a 800 Outty, but the dealer told me that after March 31 they were not offering the 3 year warrent anymore. That was just about the time that they moved their operation to Mexico. Go figure! . So the way I see it, they were loosing a lot of money on warrenty work or because they moved to mexico they weren't standing behind their units anymore. In any case, I wouldn't buy one for nothing now.

Has for your Honda, you may have had your issues with the Rubicon like other people have had, but over all the chances of problems are greatly reduced with Honda. I can't, first hand speak for the Quads, 'cause I've never own one, but the cars are in a league or their own. So if you think you have had problems with your Honda, try an Outland on for size. It will be like getting hit in the face with a frying pan after about three to five years. Ask Prohonda why he doesn't have his Polaris anymore. Same reason only worst with the Outty.

 

KM-

You should really get your facts straight. Bombardier is currently offering a 42 month warranty, a bit longer than Honda's six month. They will not move their production to Mexico for at least another year. I hope you are not dissing on our Mexican neighbors manufacturing abilities. It's hard to know where any vehicles are "manufactured" any more.

Also, I don't know of any real facts or studys about different manufacturer's long-term durability. Making blanket statements like Bomb having tons of problems when they become three years old is pure guesswork/rumor-mongering. You seem very opinionated considering you don't own a Rubicon, and certainly have never owned a Bomber (as I also haven't). Sorry I voiced my opinion in responce to your asking for one.

 

Opinion are like bellybuttons everyones got one and my opinion is no more, or less, important then yours. I'm only repeating what I was told by a BRP dealer. I guess he wasn't properly informed, but I've riden alot of different ATV's and your statement earlier about Honda's "perception of reliability," is what sell's their ATV's isn't true. When I test drove a Rubicon the feel of that unit (quality) wasn't just my "perception." And in Canada, they are the #1 selling ATV for the last 2 years with 29 percent of the market. Check their stock price, It has been going up for the passed 3 years and almost doubled in that time. Do you think that investors would invest in a company like Honda on "perception" of a product when that product is so visible to the public. I will agree that Honda offers something totally differ to their customers. IN MY OPINION, they're not buying in to the feature side of the market. Which seems that's what the other 6 main manufactures are doing. Honda's features are their quality and yes you are paying for that quality, but I would be willing ( like so many others) to pay for a product that is built a little better. They are going after a market base that are tired of buying a product that has parts replacement after a short time. This doesn't fit everones needs however because some people want the power, the diff lock, the IRS and so on which is ok, but if you think that a 700 cc King Quad ( for example ) with all of the mensioned features can sell for the same price as a Rubicon and still have the same quality you're kidding yourself. If they were selling on perception alone, do you think they would be doing so well right now.

I drive a Honda car. Before that I had every other manufactures product in my driveway. After a short time it was just expected that we had to put money into repairs. So this time when I was looking, my mechanic told me to try a Honda. So now I have a 8 year old Honda with 166 000 km on it and a chevy with 60 000km on it. Which one gives me the most trouble? The Chevy's total cost to date is $2000 for repairs out side of oil changes and the Honda's is $0. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking Chevy. Because all of the other cars that I have had before that was the same. The kicker is, the Honda still feels like a new car. I believe that they build everthing with the same quality.

The statements I've made here are just my opinion, but when I see a product like that, it is hard to turn away when you're looking to buy again. I hope you have great success with your Outlander, because when you're spending the kind of money that these manufacturers are asking for their products you would like to know that you're not buying parts to keep it on the trail shortly after the ink dries on the bill of sale.

 

KB-

So now you want to base your ATV purchase decision on the fact that Honda's stock price is going up quickly by Canadian investors in the stock mkt.? You are getting pretty far out here. You are the one who was talking about being able to buy a Suzuki with many more features than a Honda, and now you are totally pro-honda based on your repair experience with your Honda car. I have also owned Honda autos (I think, 3) and did have excellent luck with two out of the three. They do make great cars although actually Toyota is rated better. I have currently own a Dodge & a Ford. Both have been excellent machines. The point is, all the manufacturers have improved their quality- modern-day machines are quite reliable & trouble-free considering they are now way more complicated than say, 20 years ago.

You've gone from asking for reasons not to buy a Rubicon to totally defending them. The fact of the matter is that all Honda has going for it is the reliability that seems so important to you. If that is indeed your only purchase criteria then you should definitely buy the Rubicon. It is a very good quad and will serve you well in the long-term. By the way, do you consder disc-brakes a cutting-edge "feature?" The Rubi just got them this year. I guess you want to pay extra for the old ultra-reliable drum brakes that mine has. If you do buy one, I would reccomend an '06 as this is the year they finally up-graded them to only five-year-ago technology. Yay, disc-brakes and selectable 2 WD, 4 WD!

 

Will first of all, I do enjoy this debait. You bring some good points to the table and I like your competitive nature. Having said that, I would like to start by saying that the fact the stock price is up isn't the only reason I'm looking at buying a Honda, but unlike other companys that are going through fiancial hard ships, like GM, Honda don't have to be cutting corners to stay out of the red and letting consumers pick up the tab.

You are correct, reliability is a big reason for my purchase, but it isn't the only one. If the machine wasn't what I wanted, then I would have to look elsewhere. I do not need all the power of a big bore for the type of riding I'm doing, but I would like to know that the Rubicon isn't totally left behind when it comes to the lack of cc's. From what I see from my test ride and forums like this, that isn't the case. I don't think I'll be entering the Mud Nationals with a Rubicon, but that's not what I'm looking to do. for the type of riding that I'm doing, the Rubicon will be more than I'd ever want, so I ask myself, why would you take a chance on a unit that may or may not be as reliable? Also, my decision is also base on the test ride I took a few months back. the feel of the bike was very impressive. I took the thing in snow 3/4 of the way up the tires and it cut through like it was on pavement. All the time it was in 2x4. When I when to 4x4 no issues with anything that I'll be putting it through. The aceleration was compariable to the Grizzly and the only thing that I noticed was the lack of top speed (55 mph) which doesn't matter to me. The lack of IRS was matched with the Canadian Trail Edition suspendion, it may not be as smooth has IRS, but it was very close. But the stabilty was much better than a big bore with IRS and cornering was like a racecar. The Canadian Trail Edition is the best SRA system out there.

And yes I do consider disc brakes cutting edge feature if you are comparing the type of disc brakes they use. They wouldn't put disc break on a ATV until they could do it right. And they did with the self cleaning disc. Also, comparing that to a car, my car has drum brakes and its more reliable then any car in it's class with disc brakes. See you can do things to any machine to make it sell. You can put thing on that are attactive, or you can make the machine attactive by making it well. I guess for me and the majority of people we like the second way.

But enought about me, I told you my reasoning for my buying decision, what about yours. You said you want the 800 Outty. How did you arrive at that? My thoughts are that the 800 is the strongest, best in mud, best feature machine out there. I also think that BRP has the most aggresstive ad campaign of any ATV MFG. My biggest reason for not buying one is that it's not a Honda. Now that may sound one dimensional, but for me in the auto side of this debait, nothing come close to the quality of Honda. Also, I know of other people that has had Honda ATV's and they say the same. Great machine with little down time and that is important to me. So how did you arrive at 800 Bomb?

I'm sure we will not come to an agreement on our purchasing decision, but if it works out in the long term that we are happy with what we purchased, then that's all that matters.

 

The CTE has plenty of bottem end....PERIOD! I've got 26" lites on mine and it handles them easily. Low in ESP 1 is low, but not quite as low as 1st gear in a Foreman. The CTE has a tad more displacement which makes up for it and Yes! it will pull like crazy. Do not listen to the BS about ground clearance advantages of the IRS machines. As soon as you put any weight on those IRS's they squat like sick mules, and your ground clearance adavnantage quickly dissappears. If you are indeed looking for dependable and capable, a Rubicon should work well for you. It will NOT embarass you when your running with larger machines. In fact, when your doing some pure hard core trail riding a CTE will likely out perform most big bores. My pal has a Grizz and I know I can out run him on trails....because of the CTE's handling (SRA), peppy throttle response, and shear nimbleness. Yes on a wide open flat those big bores will overpower you, but as I said a CTE performs very well in just about every catagory so you will not be embarrassed.