Rooster:

To a large extent my comment to Snowjoke that he could “probably get 95% of the performance of Rancher for less than 95% of the price of a Rancher” was predicated on his intended use which he described as “general utility and recreation”.

Within those casual use parameters, where neither machine is being used anywhere near it’s maximum performance limit, the clear performance edge held by the Rancher at “maximum warp” fades considerably when cruising on “Impulse engines” only, “Scotty”.

While there are those of us for whom money is no object, Snowjoke’s post clearly noted the lower price of the Bayou, so I inferred that for him cost was a consideration. And while a cooperative Honda dealer is likely to discount the brand new Rancher a little bit, I believe a cooperative Kawasaki dealer would discount the older Bayou model even more.

As an example of this old model versus new model discount scenario, let me cite my own experience when buying a new quad several years ago. I had narrowed my final selection down to the Honda Foreman 400 and the Kawasaki Bayou 400. At the time, August ’95, the Bayou 400 was a 3-year old model and the Honda Foreman was a brand new model. The Kawasaki dealer was willing to discount the Bayou 400 nearly 9%, while the Honda dealer would barely comedown 4%.

While there is a greater absolute performance difference between the Bayou 300 and the Rancher than there was between the Bayou 400 and the Foreman 400, I tend to think that for those individuals on a tight budget and who have “general utility and recreation” in mind, the Bayou 300 will easily achieve 95% of Rancher performance in the middle of the operational envelope for less than 95% of Rancher price.

There is a $200 list price difference between the Bayou 300 and the Rancher. I believe that difference could grow to as much as $500 with skillful negotiating. The resultant $300 additional savings could mean having a quad with a winch or a plow for the same price as having one without either.

The utility quotient for a quad with a winch or a plow is much, much higher than for one without either regardless of any absolute performance difference between the two quads when no accessories are present.

The true bottom line is just how important is $300 (or less) in your overall financial picture. Snowjoke, if his “handle” is any indicator of the weather where he lives, might just get a whole lot more use from a snowplow equipped Bayou than from a stripped Rancher.

Army Man

P. S. Don’t worry about “picking at what I said”, you didn’t. I have no problem engaging someone who holds a different point of view than I do when they present their facts and their conclusions in a calm and reasoned manner without ad hominem attacks, which you did do very credibly.

Snowjoke will get a clearer picture of the strengths and weaknesses of the quad he is considering buying from posts with differing points of view than he would if everyone held exactly the same opinion.

A.M.

 

Army Man, It sounds to me like you don't know you a** from a hole in the ground. Man I hate yanks!

 

Chet, I'm not sure why you are even responding to this post. This was a good subject, with excelent posts, even though two of the posters had differences in opinion. They seemed to handle it in a mature manner, and I cant see why you cant do the same. And by the way, I am a so called "Yankee" too, and im proud of it, as I am sure you are proud of bieng from the south, so I figure we are in the same boat here. Please dont ruin this topic with bashing and name calling.