power,torque,sound, pretty much all around performance= BRUTE force....

also the lockin dif!

 

i have owned 2 kawasakis with the belt drive and before that i was scared of the belt thing too because a buddy of mine had a brand new polaris sportsman 500 and 10 mins after unloading it off his truck for the first time ever he smoked his belt because he got it wet in the creek and i had a wolverine at the time so i had to tow him back to his truck. But i bit the bullet and bought a 2002 prairie 650 and a 06 brute 750 and have not had one wet belt issue and i creek ride most of the time even in water up to my headlights sometimes.

 

I bought my 07 750 new back in 07 and before I had my snorkels on it I have had it up to the top of the seat in water on definately more than one occassion, and I have yet to slip my belt, and i'm not easy on it either and i'm running 27" mud tires as well. I do more racing around on it than anything and at my belt service light check-up, I was told that my belt was well within the specs for the milage on the machine. Also it's never left me stranded in those 3 years either. As for reliability, I had a 220 bayou that I beat the snot out of for 7 years and it never quit. The ride will be a bit stiffer but other than that, I would say you can't go wrong with a BF.

 

Polaris SP700-800? Main weak spot is the plastic cage in front diff.

 

I have no experience with BF since I am new to ATV. I do have two 09 atvs which is the KQ and the Grizzly. However, my cousin have a Honda Foreman and that thing was hard to start since it left the dealer's lot. During the cold months, it would take a few tries to get it to start. He would rock it back and fourth and on the 3rd or 4th try, it would start. When we go on long trail rides, he would complain about body aches as his foreman does not have IRS.

Kevin

 

They all have belt drive systems except for Honda- (Suzuki also uses a clutch to prevent flat spots on the belt, so when you're idling, the belt pulley isn't spinning causing wear on the stationary belt)... however, Honda is so behind in technology with their silly drum brakes & non locking front diff (which has gotten me out of some tough spots). I've had both- The brute force will turn your face white off the line- The real difference is the smooth usable power & torque from the brutes 750 twin cylinder, compared to Honda’s single cylinder. The brute has the tightest steering of any quad I've ever been on. The brute has more ground clearance- plus the rear shocks are positioned far back on the chassis, which puts the weight from another passenger or any cargo right over the axle, which makes it much more stable when climbing & descending hills. This is a no-brainer for me- Brute Force all the way-
Any bike you buy will have issues if you don’t take care of it. Honda & Kawasaki are two big giants in the atv market- they both make reliable machines- but IMHO, the Brute gives you much more for your hard earned dollar.

Don't be too concerned about the belt getting wet & slipping. I've been in plenty of deep water and never had a belt slip yet. If someone's belt is slipping, it's because something’s not tight or assembled properly. Sport-ute's are made to get wet- every one of them. But some people think they are boats, they are not....

 

also- are you talking about the "rincon" or "recon"? There is no Honda "Ricon" as stated in your title.

There's major differenced between the two...

 

No Comparison IMO
Brute Force All The Way!

 

Well I have a 2007 bf nra... it's a great quad when it runs. I had it rebuilt last year at a cost of $2300 and it just went again I think there JUNK!!!!! I will never buy another kawasaki product.. EVER!!! when I first got it I took it out riding and went through some puddles the water splashed up in my air box and went down into my carbs and needless to say the motor went.. brought it back to the dealer and they told me that I SANK IT... I did not there was a flaw in the air box that let the water splash right into the airbox.. so from then on I have had nothing but problems and KAWASAKI was NO HELP AT ALL..... Now I have a worthless pile of a quad. Hope to save someone the problems that I had or am having.. KAWASAKI"S BRUTE FORCE"S ARE JUNK!!!!!!!!!

 

I've swallowed water in my brutes airbox and never had any problems- I've posted pics in my album of my stock brute in mud & water up to the fenders and I never had a problem... are you sure something else didn't cause your motor to melt down. Did you break it in properly to the 100 mile mark? Did you beat on it (hi revs) when it was new? Cause a little water won't ruin an engine- maybe stall it, but not cause $2300 in repairs by any means.