The 420 does buck me some in the whoops, but not as bad as the 350 will. But, keep in mind that the 420's suspension isn't broken in yet, so it may improve with time.
Honda's suspension settings are obviously meant to give a compromise between a sport ute/work quad ride. They give you a descent ride on the unloaded quad, but they are still stiff enough that the suspension won't squat when you put a load on the racks. Would be real nice to have adjustable shocks though, so the ride could taylor things to their own personal conditions.
The transmission on the 420 doesn't seem to be as "notchey" as the 350. And, you don't have to lift or push the shift lever so far to get to the next gear.
One thing I also noticed, is that 1st gear on the 420 doesn't seem to be as low as on the 350. I think maybe Honda was trying to "sporty" the 420 up a little, and lose a little of that "work" quad flavor.

 

huh, so it does have true EFI idle control- EFI bumping the idle up when cold can also suck when you need to throw it in gear for an emergancy where one cannot wait for it to warm up.

 

I got me a 420 ES today in camo. I didn't get quite the deal I was hoping for, but my hopes were very high. I ended up paying $5800 out the door for it. Apparently these camo ones are a bit hard to get ahold of right now. My dealership said they're getting only 2 for the whole year though I'm not sure if I believe that. Anyway I'm happy. I haven't had a chance to ride it yet since it is dark and rainy out now, but should be able to give some inpressions after the weekend.

I put a picture of it in my profile.

 

Ok, I had pulled the aftermarket tires and rims off the 350 and put them on the 420. Well.....IT DIDN'T LIKE THEM! These are 25" ITP Holeshot ATR's on ITP Magnum rims (the predecessor to the c-series rims). It was fine in 2wd, but when I switched to 4wd the front end would FIGHT me. It had the feeling that you get when you ride a quad that has lockers on the front......like it was constantly trying to rip the handlebars from my hands all the time. Put the stock tires back on, and it goes away.

This just points out how carefull you have to be when you mess with the front end geometry of a quad! The tire/rim combination makes the front end something like 4" wider, which is great for stability (!), but when that messes with other handling characteristics it isn't worth the tradeoff. Got to say, the 350 really loves the ATR's, so go figure?????

 

Did you replace all four wheels and tires, if you have mixed sizes than what was stock(or not an even upgrade from stock(front and back) ) it will cause handling and wear issues on a 4x4

 

O course I replaced all four, duh!

I have been running the ATR's on my 00 Rancher for many years and they have been superb! It's just that there must be some differences between the two machines that makes the 420 not like them.......

One thing I thought of though is that the front differential isn't broken in yet, and is actually acting like it is locked???? Maybe it will loosen up in time?????

 

I'm glad you like the new 420. I have just over 550 miles on mine and I like it better everytime I get on it. Here on the farm I go through about 3600' of elevation change each time I ride the Rancher. The EFI has worked flawlessly and has given me instant starts even at -8 degrees F. I only have a high idle for a few seconds after start up and it's never a problem as far as shifting or taking off in a hurry. It can definitely be shifted 2wd/4wd on the fly even though the manual says to stop first. As long as you aren't putting a load on it and all the wheels are running the same speed, 2wd/4wd is quick and easy on the fly.
It's funny that you think the 420 has a higher 1st gear than the 350. I thought the exact opposite. It feels at least as low if not lower to me. It's definitely low enough to get the job done. The ride is in a totally different league than the old Rancher. Like you say, the settings are much softer but still stiff enough to do heavy work. I don't envy the prices you guys have to pay out on the left coast though. That's a lot of $$$ for a Rancher.

Rancher 420 Pics

 

scratch-Hey, wages are higher out here anyway, so it all comes out in the wash.......a $500,000 house is a shack around here! A few acres of land down the street went for $8 million a while back. The farmer who held on to his land all these years is now sitting pretty.

JRM-It would not be a problem at all to jump on and go with the idle at startup. It's not that it's all that high, it is just higher than I like for an ice cold engine. With a carburated quad, I start it up and then immediately idle it down as low as possible (without stalling it), to give it time for the oil to warm up......just can't do that with the EFI.

One thing surprised me. I have been doing hill climbs to break it in. So far I had always left it in 4wd. Today I did them in 2wd, and wow the little quad literally shot right up the hills! Almost felt like a sport quad. I didn't realize that having it in 4wd was just holding me back.........

 

you may have said so already, but does it feel heavy to ride? i guess heft is evidently noticed when loading and unloading. honestly, at first i really wasnt intersted in this quad but i havent heard anything bad about it yet and they arent all that expensive around here....im still debating if i want this or a 700 GYTR raptor...saw one the other day and a guy rides one up and down the road...its impresive.. especially if it will handle better than the older 660...

i dont have allot of exp with 4x4 atvs but in brief comparison with the time i have spent on them, ive always preferred to ride hills with a sport machine.

 

I can't speak for the wages but I know what you mean about the rest. I live in one of those $500,000 shacks and land is going for $800,000/$1,000,000 per acre around here. I've been sitting on this land for many years too so I guess you could say that I'm one of the ones who is "sitting pretty". I'd still hate to pay $6,000 for a $5,000 quad though, regardless of my wages. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]