I was wondering what could be wrong with my rancher... its a 2002 ES 4x4. It used to hit 52 with no problems a month ago... now it only does 48 tops... Could the difference be because i changed out the break-in oil at 100 miles? now im using a motorcycle grade automotive oil, not the honda brand. I dont know what it else it could be?

 

Hey Big,
I 'm not sure what the problem could be, but wanted to let you know that I have a 2K rancher es 4x4 and my top speed has always been around 45-48 mph. I use only the honda oil (moly blend) this last oil change.

 

Big 4x4
did you change anything on the quad, have you been cleaning filter, is the choke sticking on it, weather change? we have a couple of the 350's here. i dont knew how fast they actually run because the speedometers are very unacurate but they will run away from the 450's pretty quick.
Wife claims hers goes about 84 kilometers per hour by her speedo, that is about 52.5 mph at 3000 ft. My speedo is pretty accurate comparing it with gps, and when i follow her there is no way she has been going that fast. Not saying it wont, but hard packed twisty dirt roads are a poor place to do testing.

 

Big 4x4
Just got back from a 5 hr run, cutting trails for sleds in case we get some snow. Drove wifes 350 es 4x4 last 5 miles ,got it up to 73 kilometer per hour , lets see calc says 45.62 mph. 4 to 5 below freezing at 3000 ft elevation with the road being icebladed, (lots of 1 inch deep grooves all over it). Oh yes the driver was a 200 lb porker. wife weighs in at 125 lb. i believe it runs a little lean at this temp. of course i could be wrong.

 

I had about 2.5 to 3 psi in my tires and it topped out at 49 mph with my buddy on the back (combined weight about 325 lbs). I aired the tires up to about 5psi and got another 3 - 4 mph with my buddy on the back again.

 

First of all, i wouldn't bother relying on the speed indicated by your speedometer....in my experience, many of the Rancher speedos are significantly innacurate...for example in my case my speedo was indicating a speed that was 5 km per hour more than what was showing on my GPS...my GPS has been established as accurate...and this was at only 40 km per hour....for you americans thats about a 3 mph error at about 25 mph....using my GPS (and speedos on other bikes) i have established my rancher top speed at 49 mph....i can get a couple of more if i had a runway and a tailwind!