You are right WIscrambler- I in fact had a 300ex that got a flat almost every time I went out. Next time we ride I could be the one with a breakdown, but this was the luck of the draw on this particular ride. My point about the 4x4 thing was that 10 wheel drive is worthless if the machine breaks down,(I was being cynical in my post). For you Polaris owners that never have a problem, that's great! I would love to see that all 2001 Polaris owners have no problems or at least no more than you see in other manufacturer's forums. I would love to own a Polaris, but I don't want to work on it all the time or wonder if i'll breakdown out in the middle of B.F.E. When Polaris proves they have improved quality to Honda standards, I will be planting my A$$ on one.

 

Farmr123-Fan motor is bad on the Sportsman, no report on cause of Scrambler's woes. Your point about the Volkswagen/Corvette comparo is well taken, but I hardly think the Rubicon and Sportsman are so far apart that that is an accurate analogy.

 

3TV- I understand your point, and truthfully I am not trying to "scare" anyone away from a Polaris, just reporting the event. And yes if Yamaha has a common problem with this as you state, I think you should report it in the Yamaha forum for others to learn from. My reason for my post was that BOTH Polaris' on our ride broke down, and not due to some outside influence like a rock bending a rim, etc.
Also I agree Honda is very conservative ( see my post in Honda forum about ridiculously low rack load ratings). I also think that they are a great engineering company and they could probably make a Rubicon that would destroy a Polaris (or should I say Fuji) 500 motor, probably even beat the new 650 Kawi. But Honda knows that in the long run people want reliability over short term performance. If everyone were willing to trade reliability for performance, we would all drive Stock cars to work and have the engines rebuilt monthly. Maybe all people in your mindset would line up to buy them, but I would rather drive something that would last 100,000 miles myself. To each his own and we should all be thankful we have the choices that exist in the marketplace today. By the way if you think my post was about trashing the Polaris brand, you did not read the whole post, or you took it out of context.

 

Much to my disappointment, I never have been on a Rubicon yet. As a matter of fact, I only saw one once, at a Honda display at the local farm show, and the salesman wouldn't let anyone drive it because it was alredy 'sold' and wanted the new owner to have a truly new machine. It seems out here they either can't get one in or if they do, it is sold before it gets here. No one I know personally has one, the best I can do is I know a guy who has a cousin who has one on order. I have heard very good things about them, though.

The VW/Vette comparison was in relation to the Foreman my neighbor has. If the Rubicon is as good a performer as I hear, this may turn more into a Ford/Chevy type thing - more brand preference than actual performance difference.

 

Hey this is all kinda stupid. I have a scrambler 500 and a ruby. If I am going on an all day ride across different terrain I will pack my Honda. If I am going to play around for a few hours in snow sand or what have you I will take my scrambler. If I am going to lend a machine to a new rider he will be riding the Honda. Now we could go into all the differences, but you guys already know them. A good example is engine braking. The Honda beats all comers. My brother would not even ride my scrambler because the free wheelin nature of it scared him to death. Other guys think it is loads of fun, what can you say.

Won't be long tell I have a Kaw 650. I really doubt any machine now offered will even come close. Bet my brother would still rather ride the Ruby.................

 

I bet my grandmother would feel much better driving the Rubicon than the Scrambler also.

 

Hey Tim 1 thanks for the intelligent reply. I make a point and you take a shot. I got both bikes. I ride both bikes. I think I can honestly talk about their merets. Yes I will agree, You take a new rider and they will learn fast on the Honda. So what is your come back. Hit me good boy.

 

I have to say in my case the wheeler that has proved itself most dependable in my book has been my friends artic cat 454, some how that thing always ends up hauling somebody home... Out of the people I ride with he's pulled my new blaster, my old blaster, my old 350l 4x4 polaris, my old banshee, my friends 2000 sportsman, my friends artic cat 300, my friends 97 lakota, an 86 subaru so far the only machines that I ride with that havent broke down were a 2000 trailblazer and his artic cat 454, I think its all luck of the draw, or bad luck... or lack of maintainance...

 

I had alot of problems out of my 99 500cc Sportsman,most were the purchasing dealers fault to correctly repair the problems.I took the quad to another dealership and never had another problem.

Now my 00 Xplorer,in over 1200 miles has seen more nasty terrain than most ATVs,and even though I have replaced brakes [3 times] and a chain and sprockets,there's not a 4x4 Honda out there I like enough to trade it for!Honda just dont have the ride and comfort that the Polaris ATVs do,nor do I like their 4x4 systems as much either,
Bill

 

One reason is snow! This past weekend we were able to blaze trails on our 4x4 & the 2wd machines had to follow. Snow riding is a blast, especially in fresh powder.