Dubbledee,
How is your new RUbicon? Congrats on the purchase.

I'm still deciding between 04 Rubicon and 04 Sportsman 500. Although I rode a 04 Twin Peaks, which is priced only a little more than the Rubicon. It had a ton of power, more than needed I think (kids will ride this machine someday). It felt more nimble, and I like the 4wd select with locking front diff. But no IRS. And I have no info on Suzuki reliability. ANy comments on the Twin Peaks? The Rubicon was very smooth and quiet, I like the low noise. It was more difficult to turn than the Suzuki. It seemed to have plenty of power.

 

i owned a rubicon 500 no complaints except 2 wheel drive is a nice option.trax locks.tranny very smooth handles great and you have options of fully auto or using gearshift very cool and very smooth.you have a tough decision .the polaris has IRS but honda has the awesome smooth quiet tranny.good luck[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Honda all the way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

If you are going to be doing work, don't get the Rincon. The Rubicon is a worker and a half and is also a fun bike. I agree, the full time 4x4 is a pain, but you can't beat the engine braking from the hondamatic trans. Suzuki is a great bike also, as so isn't Yamaha or Kawasaki. The Twin Peaks is a great bike and don't worry about Suzuki's reliability. They are pretty good. But if it between a Honda or a Polaris, I'm going on the Honda to run away from the Polaris. I bought the Grizz and I am wondering why you are not looking at it?

 

It was nice for 2 hours until my friend managed to roll it across my front yard....now it's in the shop waiting for parts. Not much damage, bent rear rack and bent speedo bracket, but still extremely disappointing - to say the least. He's lucky to be walking considering a 600lb ATV bounced off his back, but he managed to walk away with sore ribs and a big bruise on his a$$ - hope it hurts for awhile.....

So to answer your question, it was nice for about an hour or so....and it's a pretty tough bike considering it was airborn at one point.....[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img]

 

hey backup whats goin on. just thought I'd give ya some info if your still looking. I talked to my local dealers this weekend cause my wifes cousin is getting a quad. we went to the honda dealer and they had us priced at $7900 out the door plus $11 for the title on the 05 rincon with the IRS he said he could probably get his hands on an 04 and save us like $200. we then went to the local polaris dealer where I just purchased both my 2004 700 EFI's, they gave us a price of $5995.85 out the door on the 04' 500 h.o. and $6100 even on a 04' 600. and finally $6565.08 out the door on a 04' 700. these are all complete out the door prices plus $11 title fee. I picked up both my 700 EFI's from the same dealer for $7250 each plus they gave me 2 HJC chromium helmets which were $249 each, 2 scott goggles which were $19.99 and gave me 2 orv tags for the price of 1 (16.25)

my wifes cousin is going to get his tomarrow and only needs to decide wether to get the 600 or the 700 for another $465. he liked the honda rincon but the rincon doesn't have as good as a rear suspension as the polaris models plus has lower ground clearance than the polaris. just something for ya to think about let us know what you decide.

 

Well, I picked up an 04 Rubicon, green with GPS. I got a decent deal at $5800 + tax. The 04 SP500 HO was on sale at $5500 + tax. I love the smooth quiet power of the Honda. Seems to have plenty of power. Still very new, but I like it so far. One thing I can say now is that the GPS system is a nifty toy, but not very useful. It doesn't have a track-back feature, only a directional arrow to a waypoint. SO, you'd have to mark each intersection to get a true trackback, and remember each intersection you marked. Better than nothing, but barely worth the $200 option price, and still requires a handheld GPS.

 

You will love the bike. In low gear you will be able to do anything that anybody elses ATV can do. Don't let people tell you that Honda is outdated, they just know how to build strong ATV's. I'm glad you went with the Rubicon over the Rincon. I don't know what Honda was thinking with the Rincon. Great engine, just not a great combo with the tranny. Sorry to hear that you don't like the GPS all that well, but maybe you will get use to it for trips and then you don't need a hand held one. Don't know. Well I know that if you take care of the Rubicon, you will enjoy it till you give it to your kids, if you have any.