I need help I cant decicde I plan on purchaseing in the next 3 weeks.
HELP!!!!!!

Honda did'nt have the Rubicon in '99 so I gave up and bought the Sp 500---My first Polaris. I read these columns and decided to try one despite some of the horror stories about reliability. With about 900 trouble free miles I am pretty happy. If the Ruby had been out I would never have thrown a leg over the Polaris. Now that I have ridden one I would suggest you ride both of them. I wasn't aware that the Rubicon had even made the showroom floor. You can usually get the Polaris for around $6400 around here. I have heard that the Rubicon will be over $7000. Who knows yet, It may be a bargain at that.

Gardner 10

The Polaris ride is second to none,I have a 98SP500 with no problems that I didnt cause while doing somthing I shouldnt have. The Rubicon will probaly be a good quad but hard to come by for a while because of supply and demand. You could not go wrong either way.

I can't wait to see the Rubicon cmpared to another bike but the will come with time and how it will compare will be just guessing.By looking at the obvious the Sportsman will have a plusher riding suspension and will handle better because it can be put in 2wd and pull harder because of it's true 4wd and will cost less.These comparison are are a fact of physics anything else such as top speed and whatever would only be a guess.

All things considered ...I would go with Polaris..the rubicon is unproven..and currently not avalible.This is from a loyal 450es Honda rider!!
Good luck and have fun!!

I would wait & test drive them both. Polaris is going to give you a better price than the Honda. The Rubicon will be in limited supply for a while, this means the dealers are going to get MSRP & maybe a little more.

I drove the SP500 it was a nice ride but the handle bars were too tall for me. If you are a tall guy it probally won't bother you.

in the next three weeks????? you have no choice..the sp500. i'd picl that one even though i don't like the CVT or any other belt driven tranny. llike the others have stated the new honda is unproven as of yet.

Here is some food for thought... My buddy has been in business about 20 years and owns a motorcycle repair shop. His comment on Polaris vs
Honda was interesting as it was directed more to the manufacturer's level of service to dealers and service shops. He has worked on Polaris atv's and needed to order a part by part i.d. number from the Polaris fiche card. However the part did not appear on the fiche card so he had to call a factory Polaris rep. to get help. Then the same thing happened with a Honda m/c he was working on and had to call the Honda factory rep for help. Two days later in his mail he gets a new set of revised fiche cards from Honda for the Honda he was working on. I asked him if he called Polaris to get a revised set of fiche cards and the rep said call again if you have any problem.
Go figure. Honda worked to make it RIGHT. Polaris puts a band-aid on the problem.

I have owned both Honda and Yamaha m/c's and currently own a Yamaha 00' Big Bear 4x4. My opinion is Honda and Yamaha manufacturers are first class all the way.

There is no comparison Longstreet the Polaris can't compare to Honda quality. I ride with a polaris regularly and have towed him home more than once. They are a nice looking and working bike but the quality is just not at the same level i dont care what people say. They say the Rubicon is unproven but the Polaris has proven unreliable I'd take my chance with the Honda any day :) Flame away Polaris Zealots.

polaris Proven unreliable? Sure, they have had there share of bad models, but there not all that bad. If they were all bad, my 85 Trail boss woudln't still be running. No 4 wheeler is invinceable, they all have there problems. honda's break too guys, dont' deny it. i've heard of honda's that have been in the shop ALOT too. The polaris has a superior ride, superior 4x4. The honda is alot of promise, with a fancy transmission. No one has any idea how this hydro will hold up, i'd go with the polaris.