Haven't had any of the problems that you outline above. Runs 41mph on a rough dirt road (by GPS) with 26x9.5x12 ITP 589 M/S's, ITP C-series rims and the red spring in the driven pulley. Belt never squealed from day one, never ran hot in any of the mud holes or log pulling I've been doing in the last 3 weeks.
He needs to do himself a favor and not fall into that trap of "It's good because it's a Honda/Kawasaki/Yamaha." dogma. That's what causes lemmings to leap to their death, following the "in crowd". He needs to get what he feels comfortable with. I sat on the Honda's and in the same size range they feel to small to me... almost like my wife's 250 Bayou.

 

do you mean the same chevy trucks that you need to keep spare tranny;s and alternaters on hand at all times. in the last hour i have counted 30 posts with belt problems on kawys. thats only belt problems. add in all the other stuff like chokes on 650's, overheating 360's etc. and it spells unreliability. if i was looking for a quad and read all this crap i would buy a horse instead.

 

Quick search using the search feature for the phrase overheating showed Honda's in that list also... guess that makes them unreliable eh? He's talking about the 360, not the 650. Like comparing the Rubicon to those pitiful little ranchers/foremans. You can find problems with any manufacture... but a closed mind can't/won't see/acknowledge that.

 

my open mind and 20 years as an auto tech has taught me everything i need to know

 

uh-huh... guess you know everything huh?
There's a saying about folks who make the statement you just made... basically it involves staying far away from them becuase their mind is closed because they "know it all" and they have nothing new to learn. I have met/worked with them in my 14 year career as an LEO and in the 7 years in the IT field.
I'm constantly learning and will be till the day I die. Those that have been taught "everything they need to know" opinions' are taken for what they are worth and usually discarded.

I have several friends who have had nothing but headaches with their Foremans.. the 3 with the Ranchers have fewer problems than the Foremans do, but they have had problems. Does that mean that I won't recommend Honda products... nope, they fit the bill for some people. I could have gotten the Honda's at dealer cost, unlike with the Kawasaki... but the Honda's didn't fit the bill for what I needed.

 

For my next purchase I would go with the Rancher 4x4 shift model not the ES and not the Kawasaki 360 but I will keep my KDX200.

toytech my 1986 S10 still has its original trannie and alternator

 

Do yourself a big favour and buy whichever one you like the best! The problem with asking this kind of question on a forum is that you hear that hondas are the best from the guys that have hondas and you hear that Kawis are the best from the guys that have kawis. Its just peoples opinions! Anything built in this day and age isn't going to be bullit proof. The factories have too many robots assembling these things and not enough hands-on people. Either one of thes machines is going to be better than your polaris was. With all that said the biggest problem that we've had with 360s is that there isn't any problems. Not good for the shop!

 

ToyTech: so what is it that you drive....Seems like everybody else on these forums are pretty proud of what they drive so they post what they've got.....I'm proud of the too quads I have and you know what both are kawi's well one is a kawisuzuki LOL but none the less both are green. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] and have never once been out down by and Honda on either.

Back to the real subject here just like the other guy said go and set on both bikes and see which one you like the best. Honda's are reliable but then again so are kawasaki's.

 

I'm real sorry if I insult anyone, but a friend of mine was looking to buy a 4x4 and I told him to buy a prairie 360. I have never regreted telling him that more.... He got it, and thinks it's the best thing ever, it sucks... It's slower than a rancher 350. It does go good in the sticky stuff. I am a die hard Kawasaki rider and I would not own one.

 

I will agree that they are NOT the fastest runner in the pack... but I didn't buy mine to go fast (hell, I got a motorcycle for that). I bought it to go good in the mud, especially the black bottom gumbo that is out at the Trinity River bottoms in the Coffield prison farm area. I haven't had any problems with getting stuck yet! (where's that danged piece of wood!!!!)