Hey everyone,
It's been awhile and I haven't really had anything important to post...so I've stayed on the sidelines lately. That is, until now.

Long story short, I ended up getting a 2007 rancher. I had two other quads, a recon and 250ex......traded the 250ex towards the rancher 420.

For the past 2 seasons I've used the recon to plow my driveway....quite a challenge when we get really nailed with a snow storm. Don't get me wrong, I am still impressed with the recon's ability to handle most of mother nature's fury. I just had v-bar chains on back with one tube sand on the rack....did fairly well. But, my wife has taken a liking to riding and feels comfortable on the recon....hence my reluctance to keep working the little quad so hard in the winter. I'd like it to last for her sake.

So, I decided to trade the toy for a toy/tool.....that's where the rancher 420 comes in.

Here are my thoughts after a couple weeks of riding/working:
Very torquey....if that's a real word. Nice power delivery, and yes it's friggin' fast if I get the odd chance to really crank her up. The 4 wheel-drive is a new thing to me....so far I've used it a few times on steep hills, excellent engine braking. I'm still getting used to the bigger footprint, but I've learned to compensate on sharper turns and on tight trails. Back to the power aspect of this quad. The EFI is a huge advantage....not just for the obvious winter mornings, but for consistent throttle response....it's rather eye opening. Yeah, I've only owned the two tiny 229cc honda quads, so my experience is limited. But, I've tried my friend's Kawasaki Prarie 650 and KFX700 (both of which are crazy with power)....so I have some minimal background with bigger quads. I'm still very impressed with the 420, having tried much bigger rides....it's a great all-around sport-utility quad in my opinion. I hope this helps anyone who is thinking about the 420 rancher....and yes it kills the old 350 rancher and 400at versions if you were wondering.

I'll leave you all with this:
A local kid who rides with me wanted to see how the rancher would fair next to his 2002 Kodiak 400 automatic (not sure if it's 400 or 450)....this was on a dirt road by the way. I was still rather tentative with jamming the throttle, so I eased into each gear and took my time.....let's just say that the rancher killed the kodiak's top speed by several mph. It's a ballsy, fast, rugged, easy to use quad...period.

-sean

 

Welcome to the club mclaysa!

 

I love mine too! how many hours you got on it now?

 

Hmmm...let me see.

I've probably only put 6-9 hours on it so far, maybe less. Valve adjustment to come soon, possibly this weekend. Already changed the fluids/filter.

-sean

 

ive been reading about this valve adjustment. what are the pro and cons of doing it and how do you do it?

i forgot to mention, i have the 420 too. about 60 hrs on it.

 

Here are links to a couple of old threads on the valve adjustment for the Honda Rancher 420. In this first one you'll find the pages in the service manual covering this procedure, which I scanned and posted online for someone back in June.
Rancher 420 Valve Ajustment

This second link has more discussion on adjusting the valves:
Honda 420 Valve Adjustment - Tough Job?!

 

The valve adjustment is part of the 20 check up. Hopefully you did that. The dealer checks all of the fluids does an oil change adjust the brakes ect... I did mine at 17 hours as the oil change light had come on.

 

no i have not. does it need to be done? ill look at it over the weekend. it wont hurt anything by not doing it will it?


oh and thanks[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Yeah you should check valve clearances ASAP. Although I'm not a mechanic by any stretch, my understanding of the reason is as follows:

Even though everything was set at the factory, minute changes within the engine have taken place throughout the break-in period. Mostly this is due to vibration and temperature fluctuations (the latter being most important). I would assume that the components of your engine have to go through several rounds of expansion and contraction before they are properly seated.

And because the 420 is EFI, the engine is made to run on tighter tolerances....thus small changes in valve clearance could drastically affect engine performance.

Just my thoughts on the subject....if I'm way off base on this, someone feel free to set me straight, thanks.
-sean

 

two guys at work have bought the 420's and can only say good things about them.
I look at them and see the little flimsy plastic guards on the front cv's and I picture myself changing cv boots if I owned a 420.
I would put a better skid plate on them too
Other then that they look great to me and I might have one in the fleet before I know it!!