gregsims, do I really need to comment on your slowness....I guess this is what kids do to you.

 

I guess what I meant to say was I will pass the info on to my friend so he can look at his ride it to see if he has the same problem.
When my buddy was asking about buying quads I took him to the local Polaris dealer, I thought he was hooked, but one of the guys we work with sold him on the "belts failing all the time" thing. I told him honestly all of the players in the market make good products, some perform better in different areas. I think he was a little nervious about it and then saw the Rubi, liked the concept of the trannie and bought it. I think after our ride last Sunday, he was no longer concerned about the belts on polaris'. He was commenting the whole time when we were done on the ground clearence, suspension travel, power (400 2 stroke),and the riding position being higher on my Sportsman. I felt pretty good after hearing his comments and knowing how well I liked my ride better. I could not find any major complaints on the Rubi, just small stuff. I did not like the reduced clearence becuase of the mud flap extension under the front of the floor boards. Or the plastic grill guard, it does not look like it will hold up to sticks in the woods. I also am not sold on the engine braking, I like to coast once in a while, not slam my knees into the handle bars every time I let off.
Ingoldx1
95' Sportsman for me
99' Trail Boss for the wife (?)

 

Don't rag too much on Greg...I was about to post the same question. We are all slow today I guess.

 

Xplor, greg is a riding buddy of mine....just taking a jab at him.

 

Yea...you guys are the ones that go in like 5 feet of mud down there if I remember right??

Now thats the life! Nothing like mud...

 

What is a 400 Sportsman look like? I,m guessing it a 400 Xplorer with the pod on top of the handle bars.

 

Engine braking is nice on a utility machine. Load it down, or hitch a trailer, and you save a lot of brake pad wear. For trail riding I can take it or leave it. I think once used to it, it would be fine. For farm work, I would recommend it.
I feel the same way about my Honda as you do about the Rubi. No glaring faults with it, just little nagging things. Like it is too low & hangs up too easily. Plus it needs better suspension. While you are at it, it would be nice if it had a little more power/pep. I guess when added all together, it is why I prefer my Polaris. My father, on the other hand, never goes over 30MPH to outrun the limited suspension, nor does he try to hop over logs, so to him the extra height and suspension just make my Xplorer taller than it needs to be. It is just a matter of which machine better matches your uses and riding style.

 

As far as engine brake is concerned, I wouldn't see much need for it on flat land. But in extreme mountains you will quickly see the benefit of engine braking as a safety issue, especially in the front wheels when going down hill.

 

The engine braking has its pros and cons... it sucks that you can never coast. You are either accelerating or braking. My ideal Polaris would have a little switch like the 4x4 switch that lit up "EBS ON" like it does with "AWD" on the 4x4 switch. Of course, my ideal Polaris would also really be in AWD when selected, rather than waiting for the rear wheels to spin, but that is a whole other post .

 

After owning the Xplorer 250 without EBS and my Sportsman with EBS , i can say it is a very nice addition to my machine, i find no faults with EBS. We have relatively hilly terrain with lots steep hill to go down, so it helps me in my riding style.