Part of the reason the Honda is more money, is because those hydrostatic and torque converter type trannys cost more to make than the belt drive autos. The belt drives arent for everyone, and those that dont like them...buy the hondas. Hondas also come with some extras the others dont, such as carb primers and carb heaters, which if you ride in the cold, are really nice.
If you look at the used 4 wheelers, youll see honda retains more value than others,...so you pay more up front, and when youre done with it, youll get more. Not many people question the reliability of hondas, and they are very easy to resell. Whether its perception or reality....
All you have to do, is read the past posts, and check for tranny trouble on the hondas...and its very few. Mostly its es models, and they are different from the rubi and rincon.
If you want a nice ,comfortable ride, over all else, then the rincon might be for you. The irs is the nicest out there.
If you want a work horse, with a stiffer ride, but will do almost anything, the rubi is tough to beat.
The honda autos will be more expensive to fix, if they break, but they are much less likely to break.

 

Thanks all. I did check out the Rancher AT but alas, I'm looking for something with a bit more oompf. Being an engineer I appreciate the value of component engineering and recognize it's effect on price. I was un-aware that Honda has extra bells and whistles over the competition transmission notwithstanding.

I like the Rincon, however, I think the foreman is a bit more my personality. I don't plan to trail ride too often, mostly putz around on my property, haul deer stands and hopefully deer, and plow my driveway (which by the way is paved and fairly steep). I like the idea of gears for plowing. Nothing against belts. Just want to find the right machine for me. I've got a lot of decision making to do coming up. Thanks for the info...keep it coming.

 

I am the proud owner of an '05 Foreman ES. I got the first one the dealer had seen. I also own an '04.5 500 HO Sportsman. Someone mentioned in an earlier reply that they heard something about an electric automatic on the Foreman ES. Mine has no such thing. It is the same electric shift that Honda has always had, except the shifting seems to be smoother.

If anyone is considering an '05 Foreman, you will not regret it. In my opinion, Honda has outdone themselves on this machine. The fit and finish is incredible. It is built like a tank! And hands down, it is the quietest ute made. You can start from any gear and putt along at 8 to 10 mph and barely hear this thing running. I took a co-worker along on my annual hunting trip to Missouri this year and he rode my Polaris. I always knew he was nearby when I heard the HO over the Foreman.

The new disk brakes work great. I wish they were on the rear also, but that will probably come later.

My only two complaints would have to be seat comfort and ride comfort. There is just no way around the fact that the Sportsman has a smoother ride and more cushy seat. I hope that over some time that the Foreman rear springs will loosen up and relax the ride. But, on the other hand, the Foreman is planted. You can slide that thing all over the place with not a hint of tipping. It is a blast to drive.

Sorry, I'm rambling on about something that wasn't even asked.

 

JayTee,

As you will see on my signature I'm a yamaha fan so a little unbaised compared to the honda owners. IMO the rincon is mostly of a sport model than a Util. That being said you may look at the foreman a little harder before you make up your mind if you are dead set on Honda. The Foreman is a nice unit for doing chores. When I stopped at the Honda dealer the other day to take a look at the 05' rincon. The salesmans main sales pitch to me was it goes 70MHP and it won some baja race in the desert against true sport quads.

I was speaking with a couple guys that work at my local quad/bike/jetski mod shop about my bigbear and tries etc. One of things he mentioned was a Honda Foreman with the right tires is almost unstoppable and they all ride tricked out polaris.

PS) They also had a little old 2x4 rancher there with a little trolly motor on it. I asked what the hell is that for and they said the rancher floats good. They have a 15' deep pond behind thier shop and the guy crosses it on the racher and uses the trolly motor to help propell accross. (This story may be BS no eye witness)

Rincon guys please dont jump me just passing info on what happened to me latly.

 

i don't think Honda is worth the extra money. They are way behind of features and all the other manufacturers are putting out powerful, quality machines for less. I know if it were me i'd get something besides a Honda. In the 450 - 500 class that you describe, i'd say the Sportsman 500 HO and Suzuki Vinson 500 are the top 2 machines, just depends whether you want IRS or SRA.

 

A used Honda? Definitely. A brand new Rubicon? No. You can buy a Suzuki KingQuad for less money than the new Rubicon. While I own one and they are great machines, especially when you add a 4x4-4x2 selector (or did they add one this year?). Rock solid reliable and great workhorses, mudders and climbers.

 

also take a look at the Suzuki Eiger...i like mine and can do anything a praire can...well almost

 

A Rubicon has a MSRP of $7,399. For that you get a 500CC quad with a nice transmission.
Since you are an Engineer as am I, we work within design and cost parameters. Here are a few things you give up to get that transmission when compared to a King Quad.

200CC more engine
Full IRS
Electronic Fuel Injection (that's nice when your running a snow plow)
4 Disc brakes
3 inches of ground clearance
10 hp
higher towing capacity
$200.00 dollars
Locking Front Differential.

You'll have to decide if the Honda name and transmission is worth it. To some people it is, to others it's not.

 

Good points all. I don't have an ATV currently and was about to buy an Eiger when a family emergency came up. I've postponed the purchase until next summer. I know I started the thread with the statement that I wanted a 500 or larger, but I really liked the price/benefit ratio of the eiger. Now that I have another 7 months to save, I figured I'd bump up a notch in CC hence my target of >500cc machines.

Curls, you make valid points. Design is always a trade-off for cost. I work with very complex injection molding tools and constantly have to remind my customers that you pay for quality. That being said, where is the standard set? Quality comes in many forms and we all have to make compromises to get the best bang for our buck. It sounds like most manufacturers make quality products. Some have great tranny's at the expense of maybe a locking diff or bigger engine.

With equal or near so overall quality (read not in the shop much and few problems) is the statement that Honda is as good as Kawasaki is as good as Yamaha is as good a Suzuki etc. true? If so, then I guess I answer my own question in that options for the money spent is entirely up to the buyer. There is no wrong choice. If the statement is false, then we throw quality in the mix of things to consider spending money on. So I guess there is no right answer and no wrong answer either. Gees...and I hated ECON in college. Long live capitalism.

JT

 

JayTee,

You are exactly correct there are no wrong answers to buying a quad. It comes down to personal a choice and how the majority of your riding will occur. That's why we have 8 major quad manufactures. Each one is chasing a little different niche of the OHV market. I have been fortunate in that I have ridden almost every make and model of quad out there. I have settled on the ones I like and the ones I don't. My choices are only valid for me and can't be used to determine another individuals level of satisfaction with their purchase. I own Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, and Suzuki products. Sorry Polaris, Bombardier, Arctic Cat and now John Deer, my garage is only so big.

I strongly feel you could be happy on just about any of the current product lines that offer a 500CC or larger ATV. In my experience modern quads are all of very good quality, you just have to decide on what features you find most appealing to your riding style. I really like the bigger 650cc+ quads. A lot of my riding is on nice dirt roads going from one desert trail to another. On the larger quads I don't feel I am flogging the machine to death while I am running along at 60+ miles per hour.

I love IRS and wont buy another big bore quad with out it. To haul that quad down from speed I want a set of really good brakes. I dislike the single brake lever and the 130 extra pounds on Polaris quads so they are not among my favorites. I do like the King Quad quite a bit except the stupid foot pegs/boards, the brute force is OK, but takes some getting used to. The Rincon is nice but really needs to be updated in the power, brakes and locking front differential departments, and no low range is a major drag in my riding areas. The P700/Twin Peaks is real nice on flat dirt and smooth trails, but we have so many rocks out here I have a ground clearance problem. The Grizzly is really a decent ride, but is starting to lag behind the other manufactures in power production.

You also can make an argument for everyone of the quads I don't like, it's a matter of weighing your riding style/level/area against ATV packages.

Oh, have fun![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]