Heres the deal. I have wanted a four wheeler ever since the first time I rode one when I was 13. Now I am 19 and am finally going to get one this summer. At first I thought the decision of which one to buy was going to be fairly easy, it's not. I was first looking at the Honda 250ex and then was told that this was going to be too small for me. After riding one at a friends house a few weeks ago I understand what they were talking about. Then a Honda 400ex was recommended to me. Sounded great. Then I spoke to a cousin of mine about this and he said to get a utility quad. He said buy either a 4x4 es rancher or a 4x4 es foreman. He also said the suspension on a utility would be a lot better. This is important to me because I enjoy a smooth ride(had some pretty rough rides on a Honda 80 when I was 13 and 14) Now I am really confused. I will be riding primarily around 10 acres of land my parents own here in Fort Worth, Texas. It is Pretty flat land with a stock tank. I will take it other places eventually. I like trail riding and some light mudding. I also enjoy going fairly fast on a four wheeler (max I have gone is like 55) I have NEVER used a clutch on anything before. What 4 wheeler should I buy? Utility or sport, 4x4 or 2x4? I have also been told that Honda makes one of the best 4 wheelers and that they have low maintenance. What do you guys think I should do? Thanks for all your help.

 

Well i think i would get the Racher AT 400. you can have it in 2x4 or 4x4, it's auto matic so no clutch, and it ok on speed. mine tops out at 53 here at 7000 feet, the ride is ok kinda stiff but it's a UTE atv not a sport. the 400 ex is nice and would be faster then the Rancher at 400 the ride would be smoother also. but then again. it's ONLY 2x4. so good muddin is out. and it is a clutch type. you will have to use the clutch and shift gears with your foot.


try and test ride as many as you can to see what you want. if you ever plan on hauling anything like deer or hay or what ever then the AT is built for that. the AT can be rather sporty in 2x4 mode you can have alot of fun, then 4x4 for going places.....

ride them to see what fits you the best.
you wouldn't buy a car with out test driving it would you. thay and do the same for this.

just my two cents

HR

 

First, learning a clutch isn't that hard. Frustrating for the first day or two maybe, but not hard. Second, you only really need 4x for the mud, or if you intend to work with the quad. If I was to buy a ute though, it would have to drive all 4 wheels. If you are going to trail ride mostly, do some real light mudding, and have no desire to pull a trailer, push a plow, etc. then go for a sport model(and yes, the 250EX is to small for you.) The best riding quads are going to have IRS(independent rear suspension) but those are not the sportiest. If you go sport, the 400ex is a great choice, but you should know that Suzukis' Z400 is at least slightly better in just about all areas, and pretty reliable to boot. I guess the first thing you need to answer is sport or ute, and then you will get better suggestions.

 

Thanks for your quick response. Yea, I would like to test drive some but most of the dealers up here aren't set up for test drives(no land). And how would I test drive a 400ex without knowledge of how to use a clutch? Yeah at first I thought the Racher At would be great but I read on these forums about how people were having problems with the transmissions in them. That kinda scared me away from them. I would not be using this 4 wheeler for any work related things so maybe a sport model is the way to go. I was seariously considering the z400 but read about the zink corrosion problem. any ideas?

 

I pretty much went through the same situation. I ended up going with the rancher 350 es. It is an awesome little machine. I also have experience with a 500 Foreman Rubicon and it as well is a great ATV. If you are leary of the ESP a model with just manual shift and automatic clutch would be perfect. For the most part I have never seen a post about a major mechanical problem with either quad that wasn't an ES. For sportiness you could add the Warn 424 to the rancher which gets great reviews. Then again mine is still full time 4x4 and it is great fun the way it is!! Good luck on your purchase.

 

If you go with the ute look at the suzuki eiger (400), you can get it auto or auto clutch/manual shift, it is pretty zippy and will do 57mph, once you start mudding you will want more and more. The z-400 is also awsome and is quick in stock form. Just my $.02.

 

You will not regret buying a 4wd model, but you may regret not buying one. All the Utilities have auto clutches, you just let off the gas a little and either push a button to shift (on the ES models) or push/lift the foot lever. There is no clutch handle to bother with on the utilities. If I was buying one Utilitie, I would have bought the Honda Foreman 4x4 ES. I didn't since my wife wanted a quad as well and I wanted to pay cash, so two Rancher 4x4 ES models was what I could afford. I'm extrememly happy with both Ranchers. They cruise down the road at 40-45 mph, which is plenty fast on such a quick steering vehicle for me.

If you look on Honda's website, they will list dealers that have test drives available, not many though. There are none that offer this in my area.

 

"He also said the suspension on a utility would be a lot better"........have your cousin tested for drug use! Even the best utility suspension is pathetic compared to a 400EX, which is really only a mid level machine! (Now if you are saying "better" is hauling 100 pounds around on the racks, that's a different story, but the riding you described wasn't work quad stuff anyway.)

My rule is: "Never to ride a utility ANYWHERE I can ride a sport quad". To me, a utility is a last resort, to be ridden ONLY when there's two feet of snow, or the rocks are to big, or the streams are really swollen. Sport quads just ride so much better, why ride with an Albatross around you neck, if you don't have to!

Even the best utes are way HEAVY, and far more clumsy (read dangerous!) than a sport. What you need to decide is if you absolutely need 4wd. If so, limit your choices to the smaller, ligher, more agile machines. Don't let anybody talk you into buying a 700 pound lard a$$ tank! The Yamaha Wolverine aspires to be a "hybrid" 4wd sport machine. It goes a long way, but not far enough in my opinion (way to heavy, and it has a foo foo automatic transmission).

The Rancher line is missing from Honda's list of 07 models!!! Historically, that means that the lineup will be getting a major makeover. What I am hoping for, is that they will turn the Ranchers into lightweight 4wd hybrid machines to compete with the Wolverine.........

If you decide you need 4wd, wait around and see what the 07 Ranchers have to offer!

 

Why are you always putting down the real work machines in the industry? Every post you make, it says "those lard a** machines" or "clumsy of camber machine". Shut up. I dont hear anyone who has these "lard a** machines" complaining about them. So they must be happy with them. And the post was focused on Honda anyway, so why start trash talking quads that arent even included?

 

a little self conscious there V2?

yes, he usually does push what he likes and cries about technology and anything that takes a different technique, but it's just as annoying as a poster that usually can't shut up about their favorite brand being the best at everything....

alexallen, try as many as you can first. look at used ones and try them. You should be able to get an idea of which type you should go for (ute or sport). then you can worry about what model of whatever brand. first things first, decide ute/sport - then size - then specifics