I am selling my Kodiak, I am torn between a rancher or a Rubicon. my friend has a rancher 4x4 es and I love that thing it is quick and agile ( for a 4x4 ) and I have rode the Ruby briefly and liked it very much too. how but some input from Honda owners, polaris owners can save it, I don't want one

 

I have a 450es and Rubicon,all I can say is I love my Ruby.It is so smooth and responsive,the auto hydro tranny is so versatile.I can't comment on the Rancher but from what I've heard it's a great quad also.If I had to pick between my 450 & Ruby I would take the Ruby every time.The hondamatic tranny is hard to beat.

 

I have a new Rubicon the power and transmission are fantastic. At times I use the manual shift and at times I use the auto shift the wonderful thing is you can choose which one to use. Also you can choose in auto(high) maximum torque or maximum horsepower which is very nice for different situations. In Low range you can choose auto(max.torque setting is automatically chosen) or Manual shift. I can't say enough good about the ride to do it justice. I would say go with the Rubicon you won't be disapointed.

 

On a ride I swapped bikes and rode a friends Rancher 4x4ES for 10 miles, I like the rancher for tight woods that requires quick responce as the rancher can wind around rocks and such easyer than my rubi can....I like the rubicon everywhere else though, Its almost the same desision I had when I was compairing my Toyota 4x4 to my old F-350 size wise

 

sounds like the ruby is quite a machine. I love the looks of it buit is it as nibble and quick as the Rancher? can power slide the rancher like a two wheel drive , not that I do it that often but somtimes it's nice to cut loose on it, does the ruby have the throttle response the Rancher has?

 

Well I have both. I can honestly say that if we could trade the Rancher for anohter Rubicon we would do it in a heartbeat. The power difference in the two is unbeleivable. There are some performance mods that will be out soon and they are VERY impressive.

 

I to like TexMudder have both a Rancher and Rubicon. I love the Rancher and it can hold it's own. However the Rubicon simply is a better bike in EVERY way that I have seen. There is really no area the Rancher competes with the Rubicon, except it's lighter and a bit easier to grab and throw around The Rubicon has tons of power compared to the Rancher and is fairly nimble and able to be thrown around for a 500cc machine. Ride both and it really just depends on what your going to use it for. Good luck, you can't go wrong with either one.

Later,
Scott

 

I also had both and there is no way I could go back to the rancher after putting 3000km on the two of them in the same type of riding that I do.

 

I would get the Rubicon. The more power the better!