Hello,

I have a site I must access up a 900' slope. The terrain is very rough and rocky, with boulder straddling and loose terrain, as well as very high angles of attack. I have little knowledge of ATV's and went to the Honda shop last week and bought a slightly used 05' Honda Rincon 650. It had the highest ground clearance of the Honda Utility class and 4 wheel independant suspension, with the Hydra-Stat automatic.

After purchasing, I realized the 3 speed ATV is geared pretty high, and offers almost no engine braking at low speeds. This is a problem when on steep slopes. I checked out the Rubicon with the 5 speed transmission and the low range setting, and it was a doll. Worked great on slopes, but one problem- not available with independant rear suspension and 2.5 inches lower ground clearance. It seems Honda does not make a machine that has everything I need.

I am soliciting advice on other makes/ models that offer ALL of these features:

4 Wheel Drive/Braking
Watercooled
Low range setting for automatic transmission or transfercase
Independant 4-wheel suspension
10 inches of ground clearance or more.
Strong charging system for heavy winch use


Please include all positive AND negative aspects of models you are familiar with. ****No brand bashing PLEASE****


Thank You!

 

Keep it small, keep it light, keep it simple...........

I ride nasty technical stuff, but I choose to use the smallest, simplest (don't need a low range because first is a granny gear), lightest machine I can find, and absolutely stay away from the huge, heavy (top heavy) beasts, which are a rollover recipe for disaster. So, the lowly little Honda Rancher is my ride of choice! I ride through rock gardens, and my buddies on their huge big bores always comment how I "make it look so easy". That's because it IS easy, when you are on a compact little machine with a low center of gravity.

The whole market is about selling you a huge SEXY machine, with a huge price tag, and a bunch of "features" that you really don't need. Don't get sucked into it! What works with a big 4X4 truck, is not what necessarily works on a quad, so just leave that mindset behind. There are places like mug bogs, where some of these characteristics are desirable, but climbing a rocky 45 degree hill isn't one of them!

Many have discovered to their horror that the Rincon has no engine braking! Supposedly, the 06 has improved on this, but I haven't met one on the trail yet to ask the owner what the actual truth is. The Rincon is a trail cruiser, not a technical trail machine. You should have asked us, before you made your purchase..........

The absolutely BEST technical trail rider I know, rides an old vintage Honda 300, he bought new back in the 80's! He can go places no huge big bore would dare follow. I aspire to be that good a rider some day.

 

The OLDER Suzuki King Quad is what the doctor ordered..thats 2004 and older...simple, small, 3 transmission ranges, great compression braking, TONS of pulling power, light,,,decent clearance (not sure but I think its about 10")....and relatively cheap...now its an air cooled beast but there is a fan upgrade to help keep it cool...fwiw

I have an 05 KQ and love it but you said no big bores so......I won't recommend it.....

Sorry I had a Brain fart!....I thought I saw a no big bore...must have been smokin dope....dddoooooooope!.....so I take it back...I would whole heartedly recommend the 05-06 King Quad....it is a great climber, has lots of ground clearnace and EFI to make ascents trouble free...no rejetting required...

 

if you have trouble connecting on a servicable older model as recommended by the previous posts, check out an eiger, i have a 05 manual and find it to be very competent when the trails taper down and get a little snug....

 

Kawi 650i, or Suz700KQ! Both of these have IRS and the other features you are looking for. Polaris, AC, and Yamaha have these features also. AC has the best clearance but are to tippy for what you are looking for. Polaris is just to dang heavy. I would have to look real hard at the 700KQ for what you described. I'm not sure just how tippy the Grizz. is. But AC is defiantly to tippy. Although the AC is a monster in the mud . It is also a fat a$$ like the Polaris. I would'nt leave out the Grizz. It may not be so tippy. Myself I would preferr a BF650STA, because of its low center of gravity. For that slope you where describing. But you said you wanted IRS. So that leaves Yama660Grizz, SuzKQ700, or KawiBF650i. This is my 2 cent worth. GOOD LUCK ! ! !

 

AC would be a perfect match for what you want, probably the H1. It has superb low end power, the best ground clearance offered, and they widened the stance a little so its not tippy. I have had mine on some nasty off camber situations, and havny rolled it. People think its tippy because it has the best ground clearance, but they located the 6.5 gallon gas tank in the rear of the quad, and made a wider stance so its not any tippier than the other guys. It has the 4x4 engine break, liquid cooled, a very low range setting, 4wheel independent suspension with 10" of travel, 13" ground clearance, and a good chrging system.

 

IMO get the Outlander, most comfortable ride next to the Rincon but has all the things you need for the type of riding you will be doing. The Rincon is an awsome trail quad, great suspension but as you mentioned, no low gear and the engine braking isn't comparable to the Outlanders/KQ's etc..........I own a Rincon and love it, but if you posted this before your purchase and stated the kind of riding you will be doing I'd have suggested an alternative such as the Outlander. There have been some good suggestions here and I WISH I had found this forum before I ever made my first ATV purchase, would have saved me a LOT of money and time. I started three years ago with purchasing a new beartracker cause it thougt it would be something fun to mess with around the levees around my house and thought the girlfriend might have fun with it, well she didn't care for the shifting and what I thought would be a minor passtime has turned into a full blown obsession, in three years I've had 5 different ATV's and a dirtbike, have now settled down to two atv's and the bike but plan on selling the bike and my Baja this fall for another new Outlander or the Renegade.

 

Me and Raidermike are like a couple of salesmen following each other around trying to push our own product!!! LOL!!!

 

I should have consulted a forum like this before my purchase but I didn't know it existed till this morning.


The Arctic Cat looks very promising. One thing about the Rincon I hate and forgot to mention is that even though it is an automatic, it dies sometimes when giving it gas under load right off of idle, and it nearly sent me down the mountain in a wreck in because of it.

I will go look at the Cats. Maybe they will take my rincon in trade, eh?

 

Yes they will. They gave me 1500 for my 1993 Fourtrax.