we have a 99'sportsman and we are going to trade it in.
we are thinking about trading it in for a rubicon or a sportsman 500 h.o.
which one should I get?

 

Being this is a Honda forum, the majority of replies your going to get will be for the Rubicon, but this is good because SP's suck. Get the rubicon, you wont be disappointed... The transmission is soooo much better.

Ride HARD.

 

The Sportsman is far superior in every aspect. Don't end up with buyer's regret, get the Polaris.

 

No offence, but go to the Polaris dealer, and look at the SP in a technical sense. Then, go to the Honda dealer, and look closly at the Rubicon.. The Rubicon is clearly built "smarter". Dont be fooled and buy a 'rubber band', buy a tank. Go for the Rubicon.

You just cant kill Honda's, i'v tried.

 

What the heck is so much "smarter"about the way the ruby is built?Correct me if I'm wrong but does it not still use drum brakes?You also can't take the thing out of 4x4.I once read on another forum where a guy owned both the ruby and an ho and felt that the ho was BY FAR superior in almost every category.The ruby did have an advantage or two but it has slipped my mind as to what they were.No bashing intended.

 

You will get nothing but bahsing here.

 

Let me see here...The H.O. has more ground clearance,true 4wheel drive(not 3whl like the others),the industries undisputed best ride (suspension),better-more agressive factory tires,more power,faster,larger gas tank,Selectable 2 or 4 wheel drive,and in Canada is $1500.00 less.However it doesn,t have that smooth hydromatic drive.You choose.Good luck with whatever you get!

 

There both nice machines. I think the Polaris's features and functions out weighed the Rubicon. That's why I purchased my Sportsman 500 H.O. For the arguments that Honda's are so reliable. I'll give them that, there a tough machine. But you can't really say the same about the Rubicon yet. It hasn't been on the market for all that long. It's Honda's first attempt at making a water cooled ATV. You can't base the reliability of their motor on there air cooled ones. Only time will tell if they have all of the bugs worked out. Take both ATV for a test drive and see which one you like best.

 

"The Rubicon is built smarter?". You're right. Honda was smart putting a tranny in that can't be worked on. If anything at all goes wrong with it, the whole unit needs replaced. That was smart. They'll probably make a bundle on those replacement units.

 

go with rubicon they are built better.





Honda 250ex