I don't have first hand experience on comparing the two, but my father-in-law did after riding mine.

His bro-in-law has a Rancher AT and he said the Eiger is more comfortable and seemed to have more power compared to the Rancher. He's a big guy (probably 6-4, 230) and said he felt more at home on the Eiger.

 

I have ridden both machines quite a bit. I own an 06 Eiger and have got over 500 miles on it, before that I rode my cousins for about 2 years. The Eiger has more power than 90% of the 400cc utes. It rides great, has good ground clearance, and handles well. Its roomy enough for taller riders. All around I love it. Since 2002 it has been an extremely reliable and great selling machine. Top notch in my eyes.

Now for the Honda. We all know Hondas rep. They are notoriously dependable, and they have probably one of the most loyal followings in the world, period! All that aside, it feels very underpowered and small. As reliable and popular as it may be the short suspension travel and low amount of power makes me shy away from it.

Ive done striaght runs side by side and the Eiger wins every time. Hillclimbs, Eiger again. Long rides, about the same, theyre both very comfortable, but the Eiger has more travel for the nasty stuff. All in all both are a great choice. You cant go wrong either way. Sit on them both, look at all of the controls, and see which one is more convenient for you. Ride them, thats the most important part. If its the one, the 4wheeler will speak for itself and youll know within 10 minutes which one you want.

 

I have a little bit over 2400 KM's on my Eiger and it has never let me down, I have never got to the point where it would not spin its wheels, I will get hung up before it won't spin any more. We just got that snow storm here on saturday and we had almost a foot of snow, I was like SWEEEET that morning took out the Eiger and was gunning through the snow with no slowing down in sight, the mudlites also help, makes it like a freakin snowblower lol, so there is no shortage of power.

We have a gravelpit here (awesome gravel pit) my Eiger will do all the hills that the 2stroke dirtbikes and 2stroke 4wheelers (mainly banshees, and a honda 250r) except one called Banshee hill, so you can expect what that is like (almost straight up), granted it won't do it as fast because 2nd gear will only go so fast and 3rd is to high of a gear (goes about half way and then bogs down, just switch to second and it'll pull itself right up to the top).

Trails, perfect, quite smooth and handles excellent, can whip the machine just like a quad, front tires sit on the spot and rotate as the back end just whips right around.

me and my 2 friends made a table top and they both hit it on their TTR-125/CR-125, and 400EX, and the Eiger lands pretty smooth itself, the table is about 15feet long and almost 3 feet high, I accidently cleared it once and to my suprise it landed pretty decent!

anyway, just thought I'd fill in my experiences with the machine, I love it [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Thanks everyone for your input!

Today I went to my local dealer and was able to ride the 2006 Suzuki Eiger Celebration Edition (Includes a Wench and Front Bumper) Automatic, a 2003 Suzuki Eiger 5-speed w/auto-clutch, and a 2006 Honda Rancher AT.

Everything you guys have said is 100% spot on! The Honda definitly had alot less power, and alot less responsive. (Funny the Honda 400cc is 397cc, and the Suzuki 400cc is only 376cc), I guess it goes to show how much more powerfull Suzuki Engines Are!!

The 400cc utility class is still a little under-powered for me, But should be fine for the wife. (I guess I'm spoiled with my Z400/Yoshimura Setup)


The Eiger DEFINITLY cornered alot easier/faster. The Eiger was much easier to handle/controll than the Honda Rancher AT.


I do have to say the Manual Shift w/auto-clutch is nice, it allows for much better controll, much more use of the RPM range of each gear. I am really not a fan of the CVT's, I have yet to ride a bike with a CVT that can get the power to the ground, they all have a lag to them.

I think we will be going with the Suzuki Eiger for sure!

Thanks,

-ThaChad

 

The Eiger is a great choice. When I bought mine I prowled the mags and web sites for info. I talked to a bunch of owners of Hondas and Polaris machines. Honda was very reliable but very over priced. Polaris had its share of problems and didn't make a good atv IMO in the 300-400 cc class. I bought the Eiger and have had a smile ever since. Buy what fits you and have fun.

 

Did you ask this question on the Honda forum?

The answers you got there would be kinda interesting...

 

Actually Yes. Though I got less answers there, they were all about the same.

Eiger, Eiger, Eiger.

Everyone has agreed that Honda makes a reliable product, but everyone has said that the suzuki is more powerfull.


After test riding them my self, the Honda is less powerfull dispit its larger displacement.

Both are kind of ill responsive (Comparing it to my Z400 which is extremely responsive at every touch of the throttle), But the suzuki is slightly more responsive than the honda.

-ThaChad

 

Yea i have an 05 eiger and i love it. I raced my buddies 5 speed trailboss and i had the lead till fourth gear then he blew by. But his is a sport quad, and us utility men love the mud. Only got mine stuck once....but when i got it stuck you could only see the handle bars. The eiger is for sure on the top of the food chain in the middle class utility atv section. And u cant beat the price

 

I love my Eiger, but I'm a little late to respond, sounds like you already madea choice. And considering Honda guys all say Eiger....well that says a lot abt the Eigers reputation. One of the magazines has rated it the #1 midsize ATV for like the past 4 years.