hey guys whats up? im in a little dilemma. i have always been a honda man and after 5 years of excellent use of my 04 foreman 450 4x4 i want something different. i was looking at the new foremans, rancher 420 and the rubicon. i however do like the kawasaki 650 brute forces but i am not familiar with their reliability with the motor and belt drive. i have never had a belt driven atv and i have only owned hondas. they all have been great and reliable machines and well worth the money. so if you brute force and honda guys have anything to say post a messege. i will keep an open mind on everything but i have to admit im honda loyal. so plz all info is great. thanks guyz.

 

Don't be worried about belt trannys. They're a well proven technology now and are much less complex than the Honda transmission. I'd rather replace a burned up belt than dig into a Honda tranny. The Kawasaki will be a much better bargain than a comparable Honda as well.

Are you looking for solid axle or IRS?

 

Agreed dont worry about the belt drives, so long as you use it properly use low range when towing, deep or thick mud, and steep hill climbs the belt will last a very long time and are easy to replace at minimal cost. I have almost 1000 miles on my Brute with not one issue with it yet. My brother has already had some issues with his 650 honda rincon with only500 miles on it.

Now im not knocking hondas because they make great bikes as well, Our normal riding group consists of 5 hondas, 3 artic cats, and my Brute force and only one of them has ever had a problem at all. It just happend to be a honda, it happends.

You really cant go wrong with any of the current "major" manufactures they all have soemthign that will appeal to each person all their own.

 

yeah i agree. all major companies do make good quads. but i did see a 09 suzuki king quad 400 fs for 4400$ today. msrp is 5300. so the price is catching my eye as well on the suzukis. but i do like the kawasakis. i don't know. they seem like they are all good quads. but i am also looking at a solid axel b/c i do work with the machine. the brute kinda seemed a little on the soft side suspension wise which might make a good riding quad. thank u guys for the info though. have a good one.

 

I just bought a Kawi Brute Force 650 2 weeks ago after weeks of research and pricing. I went into it with a very open mind and looked at every machine I had available locally...The Hondas are a very good machine but extremely pricey, then the salesman told me that Honda's pricing was going up 8% at the end of the month. The Arctic Cats and the Can-Ams were a tad to pricey for my wallet and no one was dealing, the same goes for Polaris...Every dealership I went to they were packed with "Buyers"...My final stop was at my local Kawi, Suzuki, Yamaha dealer and they had one heck of a sale going on on their 2008 left overs...I picked my 650 up for 5399.00, marked down from 6899.00.

With what riding I've been able to do with all of our snow I will say it rides like a dream, and handles like it has power steering...I'm extremely pleased with my new Kawi and very happy I got a bigger bike cheaper than any of the smaller competitors.

 

I use to have a brute force 650 but sold it for money but it was reliable and had no belt problums it had 2,125 miles when i sold it so get the brute force you will be happy with it.

 

Hello I am new to the forum...I have ridden a few major brands but have never actually owned an atv until now...I purchased an 06 650 brute force sra with only 190 miles on it for $3,400...I hope I got a good deal...have not really had a chance to try it out because it is not legal yet and because we are still screaming on sleds up here in Maine...anyways....I have always had honda bikes and dirt bikes and was leaning that way for an atv because I have been riding with friends and they are quite dependable...the atv I have always borrowed has been an 03 650 Bombardier traxter with the step thru seat design and on demand 4x4...it has never had any problems and has followed all my buddies thru the deepest roughest stuff....so I was leaning towards the outlanders but like the guy above mentioned they are pricey and the dealership did not want to dicker at all...so I decided to look for used to avoid the payments and having to insure because of a loan....so I found this deal on the Brute force mentioned above...I have read that many of the 05 to 07's have had backfiring problems and valves too tight right from the start, but I imagine the new ones with the efi system has solved that...I will let you know how mine goes soon this Spring...can't wait to hit the mud...mudding in Maine can be serious in the Spring...happy trails all...

 

I have an '03 and an '06 honda rubicon. I do commercial snow removal with both around 100 accounts. So I use these for plowing snow 1 day commercial = 5 years home owner use. After 6 years with the '03 no repairs only replaced the OE battery last week. After 3 years with the '06 nothing replaced yet. I have two rubies so when it came time for a new one i was also looking for something different; not because I don't like the rubicons, because I love them, because I plan to use it differently. I plan to use the new one to plow snow and pull leveling drags (hondas too), but also want more convieniences like power steering and efi for recreational use. After test riding everything in the 500-600 class I chose the new POPO 550 XP EPS it offered the best combo of power, ride, easy install accessories, and kick a$$ styling. Honestly I fell for it just looking at it. This thing is beefy. Due to it's 132#'s of extra heft it plows more snow than the 600# Hondas. The hondas top out a 54 mph while I've had 63 mph out of the POPO. Fuel economy moving snow with the Hondas you can expect 8-10 hours per tank while the more powerful fuel injected Polaris so far is close to 6 hours per full tank. The Hondamactics are the stuff on slow/ constant speed job requirements like spraying herbicide or mowing. The POPO's ground clearance and plow mounting system definately give it an advantage in the snow. I kept the '03 cause it owes me nothing, still looks good, is good mechanically, and I'm thinking of an ATV snow blower for it next year. My wants in my new wheeler were a pod mounted headlight, EFI, power steering, and soft cushy ride. The polaris was the best fit for me. I guess like others have said "it depends what you are going to use it for. Good luck.

 

Wvforeman450 is new revelations whats it going to be?