Need some help here....

I currently have a 2012 Honda Foreman foot shift with PS. I am looking to upgrade for a better ride... I like to take long rides on the miles and miles of trails out here in MT and the SRA it beating me up. I don't play in mud or drive at 100mph. I enjoy a spirited ride but nothing crazy. I was looking at the Rincon or the Griz 550. I have never owner any other ATV but Honda so far. I have had 3 Foremans and 1 Rubicon over the yrs but as I get older on long trips the SRA is getting old.

 

The new redesigned Rubicon is IRS for 2015 pulse it gets difflock finally. The down side is the 32hp 499cc Rubicon motor has been dropped and replaced with the less powerful 28hp 475cc Foreman motor.

There is also a IRS 420 Rancher that's been around for a few years.

Here is the new Rubicon specs vs the 550 Grizzly . http://www.atvreviewnetwork.com/enth...=370181&go2=Go

Out of the 680 and 550 I like the 550. They have almost the same power 36hp vs 38hp but the 550 has more Suspension travel, cost less, larger gas tank and has a low range, which is handy if you get into heavy slugging conditions.
Also the Rincon does not get diff lock like the new Foreman and Rubicon I think. http://www.atvreviewnetwork.com/enth...2=415495&go=Go

 

I like the 550 too. I have rode the 700 griz but not the 550 yet. Going to look today at the 550 and take it for a spin. I like that the 550 is little smaller too.

 

Correction. By the links it looks like only the New Foreman gets the AWD locking front drive for now.

 

Not Really the 550 Grizzly and 700 are identical chassis just with different displacement motors.
2013 Yamaha Grizzly 550 FI Auto. 4x4 EPS ATVs
You need to get the 450 Grizzly for the smaller mid size chassis. Its more the size of the 420 Rancher but with all the same options as the full size 550 and 700 Grizzly have.

 

It's a tad smaller than the Foreman is what I was trying to say, sorry. I wonder if there is a way to plush out the ride of the foreman? That way I don't have to start over with a new bike.

 

Is there a adjustable collar on rear shock to soften the ride?
Looks like this, you go down a notch. 1 being softest and 5 stiffest.
But with SRA it is what it is sometimes and no comparison to IRS.

Its like comparing Boogie wheels suspension from the old snowmobiles to the Slide rail system of today.

 

Don't know about all models but the Rincon and Foreman I rode last year in Utah both had non-adjustable shocks. I liked the Foreman better than the Rincon. The Foreman I had for a day had power steering and IRS. I also liked the Foreman's 5 speed over the Rincon's 3 speed automatic. Much better low gearing with the 5 speed than the Rincon's 3 speed. I had the Rincon in 1st gear going down some rutted, rocky 2-track, narrow trails (you get the idea). The Rincon had much less engine braking than the 5 speed Foreman.

That being said, I like the Grizzly 550 a ton better than the Honda's I've been on. Good power, good engine braking system, as good as Honda storage wise, better ground clearance, etc.

 

So is position 5 on the rear shock real stiff or soft?

 

Most of you will know my opinion of Rincons, (it has just returned with the gearbox sounding like a bag of spanners and no drive). We maintain a couple of 550 Yams and they are comfortable but we got one in as a trade in at two years old and it needed a lot of work to make it salable. Centrifugal clutch drum loose on it's rivets, rear CV knocking and silencer (muffler) rotted through, along with other problems. It may be a one off bad bike, but a two year old exhaust should not need replacement.

Has anyone long term experience of the 420AT? That could be a better bet, the old model 420FM is quite lively, being light and fuel injected, and the AT doesn't have that rubbish rear axle.