honda totally de-tunes there machines and thats why they last so friggin long. My friend has blown a rod in his grizz twice and my nebor lost a rino moter somehow- prob cause they are tuned "hot" and they are more fragel.
same with the new dirt bike I want to buy, the CRF450X- the more I read about it the more scared I am to treat it like my XR650 and hammer it for hours down the pavement on a 100F day with 6 month old oil--- folks on thumpertalk say thats not wise to due on the uni-cam engine

 

Wow, I guess I might be the lone dissenting voice here on the Rubicon. After driving my 05 Kodiak and having issues I traded for the "reliability" of the Honda. The Rubicon to be exact, and I'll never buy another. Numerous times I found myself underpowered in mud to the point the tires wouldn't spin. This problem coupled with the fact my camo started peeling (unknown to me it was basically a big sticker) led me to get rid of it after only three months. The excuse from the factory for the tranny problem was a faulty sensor that, though being a widespread problem, was never recalled.
I have driven the Foreman and found it to be a nice snappy machine that seemed to have less trouble than the Rubicon. That is one thing (only thing) that I'll give to Honda: they still have a decent sized machine with a manual tranny.
I went from that Rubicon to my current King and would never go back to Honda unless things would change drastically.
I know I'm on a Honda forum, but I hope I didn't ruffle any feathers-lol
Buck

 

did you have the machine in low range when the tires couldnt spin in mud?

 

I tried it in all three modes: Hi, Lo, and ESP. I had never seen anything like it. I actually tried to climb a small hill at one time (not sure of the incline but no higher than 12') and it wouldn't even climb it in ESP in 1st gear. I was astounded. Again, after I got rid of it a friend of mine had the same issue and on two occassions had to have a sensor replaced. The excuse from honda was that by using a power washer this sensor was getting ruined which in turn stopped the tranny from downshifting. Whether that is the truth or not, I'm not sure. All I know is that after putting out alot of money for the Rubicon (including the silly GPScape) I had those two issues in less than three months. Not a good day for Honda in my eyes.
Buck

 

My pops bought a left over rancher last year and I agree it is a decent and capable trail machine. It corners nicely and with the EFI gets great gas mileage. BUT!! Even with all the good there is plenty of bad. Yes I do currently drive a polaris and yes I have blown a belt. It did suck. Luckily it happened on a utility road where I could easily get it loaded onto the trailer. But I would easily pick one blown belt that lasted 6 years over getting stuck at almost every mud hole or deep wheel ruts that my father has endured so far. I am not saying this to bash so much as just point out the fact that every OEM has good and bad features. I do like hondas and the reliablity they offer. If our riding area was just trails and no mud I would not hesitate to buy a honda. Most likely a rincon but to describe where we ride, it is basicly non stop skidsteer ruts from beginning to end and I am sorry to say, 3 wheel drive just don't cut it.

 

I doubt that you're going to ruffle any feathers.

 

huh, sounds like your rubicon was stuck in 3rd gear or limp mode as when I pulled doubble traillers filled with cinder blocks and bags of cement up a ultra steep paved hikeing trail duing a trail maintence day I was able to bark all 4 loose on pavement in 4low on my rubicon- got the good old hop hop, then the front end made a pretty nasty noise but when pulling over 1500lbs what can one expect

 

If you didn't change your belt in 6 years I hope you weren't too mad when it broke.

 

No I wasn't mad. Shhhtuff happens.

 

Roger that