Well, I got my first shot at riding a Rincon all day today! I wish I would have had on some red ruby slippers,,,,, there's no ride like the PRAIRIE,,, there's no ride like the PRAIRIE!!!!!!!! Now let me tell ya a little about my day,,, there were 2 500 Scramblers, 2 Rincons, 2 650 Prairies, a Banshee, and a Foreman. We rode our track which was covered with about 2 inches of snow that was quickly removed after we made a few rounds. The track itself is 1.1 miles around, we rode in the woods, we rode the frozen river, climbed hills,across some open fields and so on! One of the Prairies had on Maxxis All Traks, the other Prairie had on the new ATRs, one Rincon had stock tires, the Rincon I was on had the ATRs, and the other wheelers, well, I don't remember what they had! Ok, as the story goes, the Prairie with the All Traks out performed the one with ATRs all day long. The ATRs seemed to bite well on the rear but sucked under the hard turning on the track. The front sidewalls gave too much, maybe could have put in more air but they had 5 to 6 lbs in them. On the ice, well all the tires performed about the same,,, they all spun very well! LOL,,, spun in circles at 37 mph and never left a 6ft circle. WOW was the world spinning when I stopped,,, the Prairie spun at 42 mph! Now to the Rincon ride, I can now say that if I were given a new Rincon I would trade it off or sell it and get a 650 Prairie. I spent all day behind the Prairies, I could not pass them, not enuf power or speed to do so, and no, it wasn't just me,,, I was in front of the other Rincon,,, it did handle well in some of the woods areas but still,,, the Prairies walked away! Then to top it all off,,, I burried it in a snow drift and had to be winched out,,, I could not back out thanks to the reverse rev limiter,,, no over ride???? What the he## was Honda thinking there! Then, one of the Prairies had to rub it in by hitting the same drift, burried his,,, and then backed it out! What a day,,, I did have a blast just riding all day ( from 11 am to 7 pm ) and I'm so tired it hurts to type. To sum up my whole story here,,,, Rincon?????? I don't think so,,,, There no ride like a 650 PRAIRIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Prairiewrench:
Was there really any doubt? The Kawi is the animal of chioce if you want the "MOST FUN ON FOUR WHEELS!!" I absolutely love mine...even plowing the driveway is fun! That power and throttle response makes this machine rock in every aspect of riding! Even with the 5' plow on the front...she gets real lite when you mash the throttle! No it won't wheelie...but it sits you back, and gets VERY lite...AWESOME POWER! Sounded like you had a real good ride!


ROB

 

i went for a ride today with my dad (he took out my grandpas prairie 400) he wanted to switch for a bit so he could check out my new ride (first time he was able to do some real riding since he popped his knee out while pulling a deer no bigger than a dog outta the woods! LOL) i havent rode his 400 in over a month and all i can say is...how could i ever stand to ride that thing! i noticed stuff that i have never noticed before. it seemed alot rougher now that i have gotten used to my 650s smooth ride

 

LOL,, I never really had any doubt which machine was better but I was trying to keep an open mind! The sad part is that not only were the Prairies in front of me while I was on the Rincon, the Scramblers were out there in front too! It just never felt like I had total control. I've never came so close to removing bark from trees as I did today.

 

Thanks for taking the time to type the detailed evaluation after a long day of riding. I have a few questions:

1. Other than the fronts, in what other ways were the All Trak's better than the ATR's?

I think my p650 is an incredible machine. I was considering the Rincon as a second quad so I am interested to hear more about how it rides. I realize the p650 is much faster. I wanted the Rincon because I was hoping the IRS would provide a more plush and softer ride over bumps than the p650. That's really the only reason.

2. Would you please comment on ALL the ride characteristics of the Rincon compared to the p650?

Thanks.

 

Well, I guess as far as ride goes, The Rincon does have a nice forgiving ride. The front shocks could be a little stiffer for cornering and jumping. It came off jumps and not everytime but sometimes, depending on the jump, it would bottom out in front. When I would get up any speed and then try to make the sharp turns in the snow covered woods it would have a tendacy to start to slide the front rather than turn and sometimes I would try to hit the brakes lightly coming into the turns and again I would be sliding. Going over fallen logs was nice, drive right over them rather than bounce over them. We rode hard and fast most of the day but at the end of the day we slowed up and were down to the 2 Rincons and one Prairie. Us two on the Rincons were very worn out and just putted around in the woods, that is when I really noticed that the Rincon did move around pretty comfortablely. The Rincon I was on has the ATR's on ITP C series aluminum rims. This makes it wider than stock and I had to rub my way between some trees. The guy with the Rincon that had all stock tires just got it Friday night and we rode all day Sat., after we had rode for about a hour we stopped to chat. The first thing he said is that he is ordering new tires on Monday! I just laughed cause I knew that was coming. He is getting the Maxxis All Traks because of the more aggressive tread pattern on the front tires and he rode both Prairies and just liked the feel of the All Traks better.
Ok,, Likes about the Rincon,, turns tight around trees and such if you are at low speeds, it has a soft ride over fallen trees, bumps and other rough terrains, good fuel mileage(filled once and rode all day, filled the Prairie twice.) Wow, this is tough,,, hard to come up with things I liked!

Dislikes, too soft in the front suspention for cornering and jumps, no reverse overide, engine is noisy and low on power compared to the Prairie, shifts itself too soon when riding in auto, when riding in 4 wheel drive it wore me out trying to get it to go where I wanted it to go, it was tough to control in 2 or 4 wheel drive at fast speeds through the woods when turning or brakeing, don't like all that plastic out front, I was afraid to mow over the small trees for fear of busting the plastic, a brush gaurd would cure that tho.

I'm sure I will think of both more likes and dislikes later and I will add them as I think about it more!

Overall, if you want the plush ride, it would be ok but for overall performance I would still have to stick with a 650 Prairie!

I don't want to downplay the ATRs here bacause we have only got to ride them on frozen ground, we had a day when it was hot enuf to get the top inch or so of groung muddy on top but still like ice under it. The rears do bite good in most conditions we have been in but the tread pattern in front is tight and seems to slide rather that bite when turning but when it does bite the sidewalls give. I was looking at the wheeler close and noticed the rear tire has rubbed the gas tank cover so I guess they are giving some too. I'm waiting till we get to run them in the spring and summer to make any real opinions. I'm also gonna try more air pressure. We ran one set of All Traks for over 800 miles and they still have good tread on them, these are the same tires that Mike Penland uses on his for racing. The ATRs do make the landings off the bigger jumps softer tho. I will keep you all posted as we run the ATRs more.

The best thing I can tell you about both the Rincon and the ATRs is to find a friend who has already spent the money to buy them and see if you can ride his machine for at least an hour and put them through the tests and make your own opinion because we will all have differing opinions, and after all, if you purchase either of them, you are the one who has to live with um.

 

Thanks for the detailed ride report. It was very helpful.

 

my ATR's do best with 4 psi in the front, and 5 psi in the rear. That's warm temp not cold, if it's a warm day and you start off with this pressure you'll end up with 6 front 7 rear , I ride for a few miles to warm them up then during the first rest stop I check the pressure, usually letting them down a pound or so each, then ride the rest of the day, I have not rode in really ice or snow terrain but had the chance last weekend to ride here where it was 60 that day and on dirt they can't be beat for ride quality and handling, the steering is so quick you have to be careful, traction is really too good sometimes and they do not roll, also there is alot of logging here and for those that have rode a logging road made by a skidder or dozer after a rain, it is sloppy wet mud about 3 inches deep and slick beyond words, they get traction on this type of terrain better than any tire I've owned. The all-tracks i'm sure are good tires, as they must handle great, but for me, It would be hard to convince me that they ride any better than the ATR's. sound's like they are real close in performance. but keep in mine the All-Tracks are 2-PLY rated and the ATR'S are 6-PLY rated, that is waht sold me on them along with the ride quality.......

 

If the Rincon is that bad then why did you write a whole story about it just to say that the Kawasucky was better. It's so obvious that you and every other Kawasaki and Polaris fan care so much more about the Rincon and Team Red than anything else. You based your whole story on the Rincon--even in a negative way. Give yourself a pat on the back.

 

Opps!! Remember, all you Kawi or any other brand riders: diehard Honda guys are soooooo sensitive!! The Rincon's a great machine but don't dare point out any of its shortcomings, cause some guys are soooooo sensitive!! Remember, Honda could have put a solid rear axle, a belt drive, and an $8000 price tag on the Rincon, and the Honda guys would still scream "Honda rules"!! In fact, they would say "a belt? What a great idea Honda has come up with this time".

Thanks PrairieWrench, for your ride opinions.