i am into serious trail riding and i want a quad that i know will get me over and through any obstacle. mud will be an issue, i also want one which is preety fast. i already own a sport quad so i want a utility 4x4 with selectable 2x4. i'm thinking about the new honda rincon. how does it handle, how much power, and whaty is its top speed. will it get me through tight areas, and through deep mud and water. thaks for your responses.

 

well you really have a few options:
Arctic Cat 500i
Kawi Prarie 650
Honda Rincon 650
Polaris SP 600/700
Yamaha Grizz 660

I have ridden the grizz and the polaris, and ive seen the rincon and cat in action. No word on the prarie. The grizz is a mudding beast. The torque is amazing, and the ground clearance is great. The rincon is a nice machine, no separate low range though, would be very nice to have. It has lots of power, but feels more like a big trail cruiser than a hardcore 4 wheeling beast. The polaris is nice, lots of torque, but weighs a few metric tons, not a trail machine, better for hard work. The cat is nice, it has hi, low, and super low gearing, thats like 15 forward gears! My uncle has one in wyoming on his ranch. When I go out there and we ride, it just powers through everything. Awesome machine, but a little light on power compared to the others. Guess thats to be expected by losing 100 to 200cc to the other quads.If it were my money and I wanted to be able to go through anything like you I would go with the grizzly. The IRS gives great clearance and excellent mud capability. The only disadvantage to IRS is loss of stability at speed, but the ride is much better. I believe the prarie is the only quad with a straight rear axle.

 

thanks for the imput maddog56. can anybody else please help?

 

there are a few detailed posts here on the rincon, i have not ridden the other quads mentioned so i cant speak to them. i will tell you this. the rincon takes everything i through at it and keeps on coming. the ride is incredible and it handles exceptionally well for a utility (more a sport utility) quad. think it feels a little assie in the high speed (45+) corners/curves but ya can get used to it. the power is great, can pull the front off the ground from a dead stop. well, i could when the tires had some grip to em. have had it up to 62-65mph. it does well in tight areas and turns well in them. dont know about deep mud, there's not much of that around here. has done well in the river crossings so far. deepest i have been through put water over the front (fender and rack) and it chugged on through.


if i had to chose something besides the rincon, i would go with the griz. i am not fond of the belt drive thing but as i understand it, the griz is pretty killer and still weighs in at the 600lbs as the rincon.

 

I love my Rincon. My SP 500HO is better in the nasty mud with low range and the Vamps, but the Rincon is SO much fun to ride!

 

I have a rincon and my dad has a Grizzly so i know how they are head to head. The grizzly is faster than the Rincon, Rincon goes about 64 and Griz about 66, and with the locking differential will probably out-mud it too. The stock tires on both are pretty weak also. Before I rode the Rincon i thought the grizzly was the funest machine to ride ever made. The Rincon is hands down the most fun 4x4 i have ever ridden. It handles awsome and rides great. I also love the transmission. The grizzly's belt drive is too wide by my feet and the intake is too easy to get water in. My friend has a Prarie and the ground clearence is terrible. First day he had it he hit a rock and banged up his front end. I went over the same rock easily. The prarie has awsome power though. If i were you id get the Rincon. Its only weaknesses are its a little less powerfull than the others, and doesnt have a locker, but makes up for them with its awsome handling and sweet transmission. If you're wondering i ride my Rincon in the conditions you mentioned.

 

sounds good.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

maybe i will get this as my next quad.

 

wow, most of the replies have been by me, thats pretty sad, don't you people know anything about the rincon.

 

I bought a Rincon in December and it has been incredible for me. I don't have tons of time on other quads though so I can't give you a wonderful comparison or anything compared to the others. I have been on a Grizzly and enjoyed it's speed, but now that my Rincon has a couple hundred miles on it I am right with the Grizz in the speed department. When I first got it I was kinda sluggish, but it pepped up like a big dog. It handles beautifully in my opinion, but hey, I like everything about it anyways. I have had the one wheel spinning in the air because I got off-cambor, but that has only happened a couple times and I have done some pretty hairy riding. Power is great now that it's broken in, not as wonderful the first 100 miles. You WILL see a huge difference. I thought I had mistakenly gotten on somebody else's ride once I passed the 110 mark. Top speed I've hit going by my speedo was 65. I think that's pretty accurate give or take a mph or two either direction. I've heard of people with GPS getting it right in the same ballpark. Either way, how often are you going to be trucking over 60? Now this is with stock tires, you throw some big knobby's on there I don't know what it would hit. I have been riding through some extremely tight areas and I've ridden a bunch with some recons and ozarks and a bayou and they are going to be able to squirt around things that I can't. I sometimes have to backup and ease it through areas that they shoot right through. Since I'm over twice their power though it is worth the extra bulkiness.......because when they shoot around the corner and fall in a mudhole then I am the one that drags them out. I've had it in water up to the seat and it just keeps chugging. Once you get it past your air intake you are SOL though. I guess it is that way with anything though. That's why you see fellows with the snorkels. I'm not in that stuff that much so i don't think I'll be snorkeling. I did fall in a deep hole in a creek I was crossing and I didn't think I would ever get it out. Everything but the handlebars was submerged at some point and it took two quads to pull me out. I would have given my left nut for a snorkle that day. :-) well, I guess I've rambled on a little bit here, but hey.....I am the ramblinman.

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