I do a lot of steep mountain riding and some casual trail riding. Does any body have an idea of which quad would be best 4 me?


Thanks,
Will

 

i wouldn't want a rincon, single cylinder 650, no front diff lock, and that ridiculous 3 speed transmission. i'd pick several quads over it, and the brute would be at the top of my list. honda used to be the best, and maybe reliability wise they may still have the edge, but other than that they dissappoint me, and IMO are falling behind all the other manufacturers. honda needs to wake up, quit worrying about weight and stuff and build an awesome machine, IRS, 700 or larger twin, hondamatic tranny, in/out 4x4 with diff lock, now that'd be a cool honda, but i doubt it'll happen.

 

FormulaLt1

Add to that wish list a high and low and 4 gears on the tranny and i'd buy it.

 

Brute force for sure are you kidding me?? A Rincon?

 

a brute force prolly has twice the power of the rincon

 

neither one is as fun to ride as the prairie 700. irs quads just feel like they are going to turn over and are not as fun to ride as the prairie. the prairie has won more shootouts than all the big bores combined and has proven itself time and again. i rode with one of each of the rincon and brute force over the weekend on some really tight trails with mud, water, sand, logs, ruts, just all conditions pretty much, and the prairie is just the all around do it all machine. the honda is really not well suited for anything that i can see due to having nearly no brakes or engine braking and the brute force just has way more power than it even needs. and yes, i did drag race the bf. both of us in 4wd i could pull it for about 200 feet then it would slowly reel me in but never passed me before we had to shut down. both my quad and my buddies are new and have less than 15 hours on them and both bone stock. out on the trails the bf has trouble hanging with me because it is so big and bulky and does not handle very good at all. i personally am uncomfortable on it because i am only 5'8 and 195 pounds. the bf would really need a 6 foot plus rider that is fairly strong to ever be able to enjoy it. imo the prairie is just an absolute winner in the big bore class. just my 2 hay pennies.

 

I've owned a Rincon, a Prairie 700, and a Grizzly. The Rincon was the worst of the bunch, and is on par with most other manufacturers 450cc ATVs when it comes to power. In a 300' drag race the Prairie 700 will beat it by at least a hundred feet, and the Brute Force will barely edge out the Prairie, so you tell me how the Rincon stacks up when it comes to power. I also hated the transmission on our Rincon, and would never recommend one to someone else, even if just for that reason.

OL.

 

I would take the BF. I would also look at the P700 or the BF650. You got an awsome low range and a diffi lock. I'm very comfortable on very steep climbs on my 700, haven't drove a 750 yet up steep hills I did have it on the side chambers and didn't mind it but I would rather the 700.

 

I had been researching the big bore market for quite some time after selling my previous quad. A '92 Suzuki King Quad which in its own right was one of the best, if not the best in its day. I did a lot of searching, reading, riding and talking before being sold on an '03 650 Kawasaki Prairie originally. I only kept the bike for 2 days before re-selling it back to the dealer. Basically I was already used to an Independent rear end quad coming from the King. So I decdided to be paitent and not jump in too quick again and continued looking. I needed IRS I felt because of the very rugged mountain trails and terrian here. I have always been a Honda fan for their quality and service. So now I have opted for the '05 Rincon non-gps model. Basically it has about the same amount of drawbacks as the Prairie 650 did, only in different areas. No one can judge for themselves until they have ridden these bikes in the types of terrians where they will be used. Others' opinions are hard to draw conclusions from. So I decided to try the Rincon because I had read it was more of a trail bike. First off Power/Motor. A big debated issue with the Rincon. When I first got the bike home it felt quick and nible. Not as quick or strong on the bottom as the 650 Prairie though. It did have a bad sputter or hesitation right on the bottom if you hit WOT. So I got the dyno jet kit and installed some different jets and re-adjusted the carb. This did help. The hesititation is gone completely now and the quad has a little more low end. After I did this mod I also installed a K&N High Flow Air filter. Now the Rincon will wheelie if you hit WOT and pull back on the bars pretty good. Power is good and is ample for this bike but is not its strong point or key feature like the Prairie. It's only part of the package. I would also rate this Honda motor above any in terms of reliability and quality. Honda's strong point has always been the longevity and dependability of their engines in pacticular. One thing that kind of eerks me about this engine is the cold natured beast. It is very cold natured and it hasn't even gotten real cold here yet but needs the choke to start usually and then often dies or takes a very ample amount of time to warm up. I would say on a scale of 1 to 10 I would give the Rincon a 7 in Power/Engine. Handling/Ride/Tranny. Probably the Rincon's strongest feature is the suspension and handling ability. Although even that is somewhat hampered by the 3 speed transmission in certain conditions and no low speed engine braking.

The quad handles and turns very easily and with precision. It's easy to break the rearend loose and power slide this quad also. It is a blast to ride this quad on open roads, logging roads, or fire roads. The faster, the better it likes it and you always feel in control. It isn't overly plush either like some have reported the Sportsmans to be. It's more on the sporty side with the IRS ground clearance. Also the quad isn't too big or bulkish feeling on the trails either. Here's the problem. If you are going to be riding the Rincon in very steep or moderatley steep trail conditions you may have trouble. And not just decending or downhilling. The 3 speed's 1st gear is pretty tall and it's too tall for serious trail riding in very rugged and steep conditions. You can not lug or crawl at very slow speed on technical trails with this bike. It is simply not made to go slow with. Up or down. Up you are always giving it more throttle than you should have to and going down is probably worse because there is NO engine braking at slow speed. The quad basically freewheels like it was in neutruel when downhilling.

Yesterday I cut a small chesnut tree down on my property and hooked the Rincon to it with a chain. I dragged it off but barely. It wasn't even that heavy but the Rincon wouldn't turn the tires with any speed. It set there and had to use wot to break the tires loose! My old King Quad 300 would have spun like crazy if you hooked it to a standing ttree! It would spin no problem in first gear hooked to a house!

This Rincon is more like having a quad with a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gear transmission. To me thats how it feels as the first is definitley not low enough for pulling and 4X4 applications like this.

I can pretty much say for sure I will be selling my Rincon. I think in the long run I would have been better to have kept the Prairie 650 and may even trade for the P700 or the Brute.

You live and learn just trying to help others make an informed decision.

 

If you're doing a lot of steep mountain riding, I'd probably go with something like the prairie or Grizzly. The BF is really high and likely pretty unnerving down a steep slope. I personally have a 2005 AC 650. Not sure why anyone would need more power than that unless you're drag racing. The only catch with the utility atvs (at least the ac) is the heavy steering.

BTW...I looked at the BF as well before deciding. Seems like a nice ride except for the height and the seat. Of course, like most people, I wanted it because the engine was the biggest at the time, which is TOTALY unecessary. Now I'm happy with my AC, though I still have to get used to the steering (and perhaps change out the oem tires).