Polaris vs. Honda?
 

i am trying to ge my first four wheeler and almost got a polaris sportsman 800...but a mechanic my grandpa knows said that polaris is a bad atv compared to honda. so now my dad is very skeptical of getting a polaris. which is better in your opinion?

People who ride Polaris love Polaris. People who ride Honda love Honda. Test ride them both and decide for yourself.

Also, do a search in these forums and you will find no shortage of opinions. These matters have been covered extensively.

Honda does get the nod for reliability over Polaris but at the expense of features, all too often. Honda's Rincon, their flagship, doesn't even have preload adjustable shocks in the rear and doesn't have a full locking differential in the front. Every other maker has these simple features. Polaris has outstanding on board storage options, the industries most comfortable ride, and great ground clearance. Honda's main claim to fame is reliability. That's not to say they have never had problems. If you maintain any of the modern mainstream (not Chinese) quads you will have a great time, period. There are also a lot of people who want the Honda automatic over the CVT transmissions. Personally, I've never burned out a belt. It's how you use it. If you put a modern CVT transmission in low range when going slow, through mud, through snow, steep rocky climbs, etc. you probably won't ever burn out a belt. You'd be more likely to dig four holes in the ground if you can't go forward or pull whatever you're trying to move. I had this happen when I was trying to pull a Ford Mustang out soft sand on an incline. They couldn't back up. I dug four holes in the ground trying to get them out. The same quad, I had at that time (Polaris Sportsman X2) pulled an industrial sized wood chipper up a wet grass hillside that our trucks couldn't pull because of traction issues. Hooked it up to the quad and went up with no problem at all. That was with a 500cc engine.

My next point is, as Wilson said, to try them out. Honda is a pretty sporty ride in corners. They have less wheel travel than the others and are a bit lower to the ground. Polaris does alright too. Also, unless there are no local dealers where you live, take a look at the, Yamaha Grizzly, or the Suzuki King Quad. Also good quads. I don't know much if anything about Arctic Cats.

well i have driven a 2005 yamaha big bear 400, 2004 honda rancher AT 400, 2010 honda rancher 420, 2006 honda foreman, and a 2001 polaris sportsman...all of which were good rides to me personally.

i did some looking around today at two local dealers and looked over the honda rincon, honda foreman, and honda rubicon. i also looked at the polaris sportsman, a suzuki kingquad, and a can am outlander just to see how far apart the prices were on the newer models.

i have had alot of bias people telling me which one i should get (whether it be honda or polaris) and honestly im torn between the two because in my opinion, both are great machines. dad wants a honda i think just because of people saying that the polaris has problems, and i cant really argue that i want a polaris because well its his money.

If it's his money, you may have to defer to him one way or another. A gift quad is better than one you have to pay for!

haha yeah...and well your supposed to honor your father and mother! and yeah a gift quad is definitely better!

Sounds like a honda is in your future. ;)

If you're getting a new one, just about any brand is safe. If it's used, you're at the mercy of how well the previous owner took care of it.

If the honda does wind up in the shop, try not to tell him you told him so. :p

haha ok i will! tanks for the advice :)

looks like i might possibly get a 2012 honda rincon 680! not sure yet, but the price is pretty good. its never been used and is at a local dealer...so hopefully he will say yes!

that's kinda like saying "the water in the atlantic ocean is wetter than the water in the pacific ocean :rolleyes:



x2 @ wilson

nothing against your father, but he's ill informed by his mechanic.
the atv game changed big time in 2005- people who havent been in the atv scene since the 80's or 90's really have antiquated opinions.

every atv is going to have issues- no one brand has more issues than any other. It's the classic "chevy vs. ford" bias your father is getting from his mechanic- and it's BS.
I've owned two fairly new honda rincons and both had tranny issues. I've also owned a couple polaris atv's and they were not problem free either (one of my polaris's actually could defy gravity! I couldn't keep the wheels on the ground no matter what :o )

honda might have an "o-ring issue" in the tranny, polaris might have an "oil in the air box" issue, can-am might have a "dps " issue, suzuki might have an "ecm & charging" issue, kawasaki might have a "jetting" issue.... :blahblah:

polaris makes one of the nicest atv's on the market today - tons of features and refined ergo's. the rincon 680 is also a nice atv, but both have very different features, strong points and weak points. don't let your dads mechanic sway you, and your research on the subject. This topic has been discussed a thousand times in these forums.

like wilson mentioned, research both in these forums and try to get some seat time on both before making any purchase.

yeah i have spent many hours trail riding on both machines, and to be honest...i like the way both of them ride. but i just wanted to see what the opinions on here were about each atv because im sure yalll know more about them than i do.