In dirt wheels it said that wolverines are faster through the first 3 gears but then the rancher pulls it back in. Does any one know which is faster?

 

Ya I do. The Wolverine does 60mph and the Rancher does 50mph so some one explain to me how the Rancher reels it in after 3rd gear?

 

thats easy tim1. honda gave a little bit more money to dirt wheels for that month. don't beleive all you read in the rags...they operate off of add dollars.

p.s. the rancher is not intended to be fast. it is intended to be a well rounded machine. thats why i'm gettin one
cart

 

After spending a hour with a calculator and several long distance phone calls to tell everyone how much money Honda spent on advertising in that issue, I decided to just look in the mag. They didn't run ANY ads. NONE> Where is the qualification of your above statement? I agree that some publications are swayed by ad dollars, but this one would be difficult to prove so.

I own a Rancher, and having run beside the Yam, I can say the Yam is faster, about 2 mph. Honda has a very annoying rev limiter, that is why it stopped. Without it, I am sure I could squeeze another 1 mph out of it..........

You are right though, the Rancher is not built for speed, but it a great ride.....

 

2 mph faster! was that a Yamaha Kodiak or a Yamaha Wolverine.I know a Wolverine will pass by me and I will pass by a Rancher I did not care which one was faster I just do not believe DirtWheel shootouts anymore and I use to enjoy them.The Ranger is not slow 50mph out of a 329cc is the speed most 400cc utilities will do.

 

i did not do extensive research nor browse the rag for any advertisments. bottom line without add dollars the rag would not be in print. honda had to contribute that month or months prior. i now own a rancher and can say it is by no means slow. i have yet to hit the trail with it cause i just picked it up 3/11, and know i have a wicked cold . the very limited seat time i have had on it leads me to belaive that on the trails i will be able to hang with my buddies (grizz, scrambler 500, and big bear 350) easily.
cart

 

They said the Wolverine took the holeshot, after 3rd gear the Rancher started catching up, then that's all they said. They didn't say the Rancher won the drag race, cause they stated after that the Wolverine had a faster top end. So what that means is the Rancher has good midrange power.

 

cartman308,
You are corrct, on the trail who cares about speed. I like both machines. I picked the Rancher too. I just don't think it's fair to label every magazine "swayed" if it may not be true. If anything, I would think they are swayed to Yamaha. After all, All of the Reader Surveys they put in the mags seem to be on only Yamaha products???

 

I have no idea how fast a Wolverine is, but for what its worth, I had my Rancher up to 51 Sunday. That is as fast as a Rancher will go, because the motor was right at the rev limiter. By the way, it was on a frozen lake, with a 20mph wind at my back. The best I got on a paved road was 48mph with no wind.

 

Sounds like the exact same speed as a 450ES. Looks like Honda has them all geared the same.
I have inquired numerous times of people if anybody has a cure for the "Honda rev-limiter" but nobody does (unfortunately).

98 450ES "I love the sound of thumpers in the morning"