I am making a career out of studying the best features of the Kodiak 450 and the Rincon 680. My objectives are old fart comfort and ease of getting through gnarly, rocky, some water, very little mud, will skip the very steep hills, type of terrain. And if this ute works out OK in the dunes, I may be able to get rid of the beloved but underutilized Banshee. Oh ya, also some minor light duty farm and fire wood work. Probably lots of very short runs where may not even get warmed up like to the barn and back.
With regard to reliability, there are some liabilities of each. You have the Rincons upgraded but possibly worrysome, complicated, and expensive 3 speed auto. And you have the Kodiak Ultramatic automatic which is probably the most reliable of all belt drive autos if you can avoid water above the belt snorkle. So in the dry I would rate these a push. But in the water give the benefit to the Rincon because it is totally sealed. So reliability is close but Rinny wins.
My most important requirement is trail riding comfort. Much has been said about the fantastic independent suspension of Rincon but the 4 shocks are not preload adjustable. Less has been said about Kodiak comfort but I like the adjustable shocks especially when traveling light. This is item where I could use some advice. I would tend to give win to Rincon but adjustable shocks with IRS on Kodiak require that comfort winner be a tie.
Ease in getting through gnarly terrain looks like a clear win for the Kodiak being 3.8 in narrower and equipped with low range and diff lock. Only question seems to be the Rincon being wider and more stable on side hills and maybe less prone to down hill wheels sagging enough to loose stability and roll over. I will still give the clear win in gnarly terrain to the Kodiak.
I would call things a tie in light duty farm work. The more powerful Rincon is balanced out by the low range in the Kodiak. I would guess that short trips with lots of starts and stops is no harder on either one.
For occaisional dune riding, I would still have at least one sport quad anyway, give the win to the Rincon due to power and stability.
Overall this is very difficult decision for me having never ridden either and with no opportunity to ride either in the future. The possible benefits of Rincon fuel injection will make the extra purchase price seem fair compared to Kodiak. I suppose some of you may think I am comparing apples and oranges. And being new to the utility segment this could be true but I still need to decide. I would appreciate any thoughts.

 

You have all the info you need........flip a coin.

 

You really are not comparing apples to apples. You should explore the Grizzly vs. the Rincon, and then flip your coin.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

If I was choosing between those two quads I would go with the Rincon no question.

Of course if I had my choice forget both and I'd buy a Bombardier Outlander 800.

 

I second that one, the 800 Outty is THE quad. I wish I could come up with the $9k. I will be happy with the 400 for 3k less.

 

I have a Brute 750 and a Outty 800 and 700 King Quad but if I wanted a utility just for work and play I would get the 700 King Quad! If you want to have fun and ride fast get the Outty i have owned a Grizzly before and its a ok quad at all things it does just not good at any of them I ride with a guy that has a 450 Kodiak and its a nice machine but it just seems to small to me

 

I guess I am confused as well as to why compare a Honda 680EFI Rincon to a 450 Kodiac. They are not similar in power, performance, or price. If price were not important then the HONDA is by far the better quad. It cost allot more then even the Grizz 660. However I would still pick the HONDA over the grizz as well. As far utility work the gear trans in the honda would be your best choice. Yamaha does have the best belt drive of all belt drive quads and if I were going to use a belt drive machine for working I would say the Yamaha is a safer trans than say Polaris, Suki , or Kawi. The honda is probably the lowest maintinace big bore sport ute out right now.

 

My logic or lack of is all driven by a bad lower back that is getting progressively worse. Seems like the Rincon is the only Honda with a smooth ride. Either Grizz or Kodiak should be smooth enough but since I do not need 700cc class power and since the Kodiak looked even better in rough terrain, I have been looking there. I am skeptical of anything not made by the big two and maybe I need to get over this and look around. After all, one of my favorite and most reliable dirt bikes of all time was a 1980 CanAm MX6 made by Bombardier/Rotax. Thanks all.

 

I understand, your fealings, my back can't take the sport quads anymore either, thats why I built my 800 bigbore Twin peaks, I love playing around at the dunes and more specific the Sand Drags and Its no fun finishing last or more important eating sand all the way down the strip. So I built a machine that could ride smooth and blow the figurative doors off the little sporties. That said the Gizz I had never seemed all the smooth, The springs are very stiff to prevent body roll, I swear my prairie rides smoother than the Grizz I had. If you want a smooth ride but are not looking for all the power the big bores offer, I have to say I have been very, very pleased with the comfort of my Bomb 800, IMO it rides every bit as smooth as the Polaris 800 I had last year. I would say right now the 2 top quads I see on the market in the 650-700 class is the Honda 680EFI and the new Bomb 650 Outlander. Both the honda and the bomb ride very smoth and handel very well. The bomb will likely feel a little sportier do to the design of the rear suspension. If the 650 bomb is still to much power then the Bomb 400 might be a good one to look at. I have never been on a outlander 400 but it has been said by many experts that it seems to feel more like a 500cc machine than a 400.

Here are some list prices incase you need them
Kodiak 450 base model $ 6299.00
Grizzly 660 base model $ 7199.00
Outlander 400 base model $ 6199.00
Honda 680 Rincon base mdl$7799.00
Outlander 650 base model $ 7899.00
Outlander 800 base model $ 8599.00

I know the Outlanders never seem to get much in the way of discounts you might be able to get a deal on a 05 400
The best deal I have found on the Honda is 6799.00 here
As far as the Yamaha's go there are deals out there but I am not sure about how much you could expect to get off the price.

 

[quote]
Originally posted by: cc1999
As far utility work the gear trans in the honda would be your best choice. Yamaha does have the best belt drive of all belt drive quads and if I were going to use a belt drive machine for working I would say the Yamaha is a safer trans than say Polaris, Suki , or Kawi. [quote]


You dont know much about belt drives......the suzuki and Yamaha belt drives work the same way.....both have a wet clutch and a belt that is always tight.
And the Grizz with low range is a far better worker then the Rinny.
And if your Grizz had a rough stiff ride you must of had your springs set on 5 and at least 7 psi in your tires.
The grizz has a smooth ride.