Hi, I am trying to figure out which one of these to purchase for my girlfriend. First time rider. Most of the riding will be on trails and in fields. Any opinions/suggestions would be appreciated.

 

The Suzuki is a little faster, and the Honda has a better suspension (and the 06 Honda got a bunch of updates). Have heard that the Suzuki doesn't shift as smoothly.

In the magazines, the Honda wins the shootouts, but only by a hair if that makes any difference to you.

 

Thanks for the info recon, when you say the suzuki is a bit faster...are we talking like 5mph or so? Isn't the top speed on both less than 50mph or do they both push 50 plus?

P.S how does your 400EX compare to your 400z? I just got a 400ex and my buddy has a 400z and we both can't wait to go riding to compare the 2.

 

I would ride my younger bros 250ex for the sport feel while i rode my 350 before i got my z and it was fun. top speed of about 85km/hr but that is with 22" dirt devil tires. never had any major problems with it, overall awesome starter/intermeidiate quad.

 

I just got the new Z250 on Christmas and I like it it's faster than my Dinli of course .But I love it.

 

I'd go with the honda. I used to have a 99 honda recon(which is what the 250ex is based on), and my brother has a 2003 honda 250ex. Both were super reliable quads (much much more reliable than my warrior is), both were really fun to ride too. One of the things I don't like about the z250 is the shift linkage, it's got so many pivot points that shifting will feel notchy, and eventually the linkages will start to wear out and give the shifter a lot of free play. I have the same problem with my warrior's shifter, and that only has 2 or 3 pivot points compared to the 7 or so on the z250.