Oh boy! At first, I had my mind set an a 250EX. Then I see this thing called a Recon. It's got racks I could use for hauling out my trophy 10-point buck, (yeah right dude!). And it's a little bit cheaper then the 250EX. Just one question though. My buddies who I will ride with have a Polaris 500,700 and a Arctic Cat 300. Will the Recon be able to keep up with these guys? I hear it goes through the mud pretty good. And overall is a great machine. Other then that, I think my mind is set on the Recon.

 

I was out all day Saturday with a bunch of Honda 4X4's and they never got stuck all day(I was pushing all day...stupid sport bike hahaha). When I was heading home in the dark I saw a person waiving. I stopped and it was a woman....we were in the middle of nowhere! She said she had her bike stuck down a trail and didn't know where she was. I went down to see her 2002 sportsman 400 burried in the snow. The winch wouldn't budge it at all. we dug it out and it got stuck about 3 more times before I took over and finally got it out. End result is that is the heaviest, most useless, gutless piece of garbage I have ever driven. I have a 230 Quadsport with a 250X motor and I have to drive harder but I go better than that polaris did. Honda's cheapest bike is 10 times the machine a polaris is...stick to snowmobiles!

 

the recon is a great all round quad........

but if you hunt alot
you may want to look at the rancher........
just a little bigger and its a 4x4

 

It really depends on where you ride. If you ride ride in the woods you might just be ahead of your buddies. The Recon is light, agile, tight turning radius and fits places your buddies might not.(I've driven under logs that larger quads wouldn't fit under.) In the woods the top speed doesn't matter because there usually aren't straight stretches long enough to use the top speed. The top speed of the Recon might be comparable to the Artic Cat 300 because of the Cats heavy weight. So it should be alright on the open roads. Just think, when your buddies break down you could go for tools with your Recon. Just kidding. (but not really)
It might be a good idea to look at the Rancher then you would be less likely to trade up in a year.
They consider the Recon to be a starter quad. I'm considering the new Rancher 400.

 

There has been so much written here on the forums about the Recon I would suggest using the search feature.

Just go up to the tab bar where it says customize and over to the right about in the middle is the search button. I went to that section and typed in just the word Recon and all types of threads come up.

Chet

 

I have an 01 that was my first quad. My wife and I have a small farm in Ontario and i use it for hauling wood ,sand garbage literally anything i need it can do. Just up the road is a 2000 acre reforestration area that Ilove to ride in. Basicly I think that the recon is probally the best in its class. The recent , Feb copy , of Dirt Wheels did a shootout with the recon, Rally and Ozark. They placed the recon 2nd behind the Ozark. For me however I was swayed by Hondas reliability.Hopefully your 85 still runs well. A good friend reminded me "how many 18 ear old Suzukis do you still ride?"

 

i like the idea of getting a rancher especially if your gonna be hauling anything. rachers are really nice, bigger and 4x4 and can keep up a lot better. my friend has a rancher and its the sweetest ride i love those things this thread has got me thinking about getting a honda. lol

 

Test of 1999 Recon on ATV Connection

 

I've put many hours on a Recon (Inlaws Quad), and we bought my wife an Ozark. The Ozark does everything just a little better. Little more power, little better handling, little better suspension and so on.

With that said, I honestly can't sit her and tell you that you wouldn't be happy with the Recon. Tough as nails little Quad. As far as reliability goes, I can't think of one single Quad that has a better reputation for ruggedness. You will definately have fun on it. Good luck.

One last thing, the 2003's are coming in the Honda yellow, with Black accents. Very Cool.

 

Sold my Ozark, kept the Recon. Overall the Ozark is a better quad. But I just couldn't part with my smooth shifting, old reliable Hondu! You can't go wrong with the Recon. There is just an intangible feeling of solidness on the Recon that no other quad in it's class gives me, and I've owned or spent seat time on all of them!