Best ATV Quality = Yamaha?

In our case at least, I would say this is true. In the last five years our family of four has owned:

3 Polaris ATVs: -- Sportsman 500HO; Scrambler 500 4x4; Scrambler 50
3 Bombardier ATVs -- Three different DS650s
3 Kawasaki ATVs -- Prairie 650; two different KFX700 V-Force's
6 Honda ATVs -- Two different TRX 90's; 250EX; 300EX; 400EX; Rincon 650
8 Yamaha ATVs -- Wolverine 350; Kodiak 400 4x4; Kodiak 450; three different Grizzly 660s; Raptor 660; YFZ 450

Out of these ATVs the fewest problems have been with the Yamaha ATVs, with a sum total of one problem out of all eight Yamaha's. I broke a front axle CV joint on one of the Grizzlys when I got it badly wedged against a rock wall in a canyon bottom, and tried to throttle out instead of winching out.

The second most reliable brand has been Bombardier, with only one engine fan failing, and chain rollers needing replaced on a regular basis.

Kawasaki has also been a very reliable brand, but belt maintenance on the Prairie 650, and one of the V-Forces blowing oil past the valves from the rear cylinder keep this brand out of the top spot.

Our Polaris ATVs had a few problems, particularly the Scrambler 50, which had non-existent brakes, never ran right, and was so flimsy that my then 4 year old son would routinely bend tie rods, etc. We had problems with front hubs sticking on the Sportsman 500 HO, and we had to replace the entire clutch assembly on both the Scrambler 500 and the Sportsman 500 HO, due to somehow warping the clutch assembly.

Honda has been our worst brand for reliability, with the 250EX locking up the top end of its engine after we had owned it for a year, and needing a complete engine and transmission rebuild. Our 400EX was a good ATV, but it used a half quart of oil on each and every ride. Our Rincon also had problems, with bad CV boots, a broken CV joint, and a torque converter that started engaging improperly, so you had to hold the brakes hard to keep it from creeping. This also made it about impossible to shift into and out of gear without it grinding and banging. And just about everything rattled loose on the Rincon. The battery fell out, the fender fasteners fell out, the fuel petcock fell off, the door to the storage compartment fell off, you name it. The Rincon spent more time in the Honda repair shop (ten weeks in all) than it did out on the trail, and it has been the single worst ATV we have ever owned.

I am not convinced that Honda ATVs are more reliable than other brands, ... I am convinced that most Honda owners just putt around though, so they do not break stuff like the people that buy higher performance ATVs. Not all, but most Honda owners bought their Honda ATV because they wanted it to last, and not because they wanted the fastest ATV out there. So if you buy an ATV with the intention of making it last a long time, and not with the intention of riding it as fast and hard as you can, chances are you are going to ride it more sensibly, and it will, in fact, last longer. We have not seen any greater reliability with Honda ATVs in our case though.

 

My yamahas, even the ones i used to own always had more problems than my hondas. honda is without a doubt more reliable in every aspect than yamaha. they can take way more abuse than most quads on the market. Im sorry i cant give much credit to yamaha, ive read WAY too many posts about craptors and yfz's and grizzly's boiling gas, blah blah blah.

 

I hear Bombardier is a good brand (foreign), but there's no Bombardier dealership in a 100 mile radius around where I live. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

Suzuki ATV preformance looks worse then Yamaha and Honda. And their ATVs are kinda... ugly. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-frown.gif[/img]

As for Polaris, there are over 5 dealerships around here and I've seen their ATVs. They honestly look/feel like they'd fall apart on a rough ride.

Yamaha's Raptor 660R looks live THE fastest ATV out there. (Maybe too fast.)

What about Yamaha's 450 vs. Honda's 450? How do they compare?

 

While I loved my warrior to death and still do, the day I bought it off a guy, I had problems with it. The valves needed adjusted day 1! Then the nut came loose off the top of the valve and fell down in the motor and was caught in the camshaft and timing gear..causing them to break apart. Then my axle bearings went bad. Then my Front Wheel Bearings went bad, then my Swingarm bearings went bad. Then my Stator went bad. It was a never ending process. And I could tell the guy I bought it off of never changed any bearings or anything. I always had to worry about it every time I would go out on long rides. It semed like a never ending process!!!!

My 250r, however, has been COMPLETELY different. I have not had to change a single thing on it and it keeps running very good.

I have to give Yamaha a little credit tho on my Beartracker. My brother, his friends, and I put that quad thro hell and back and it always ran. However, I think the stator may have gone bad in it and it no longer gets spark. Once we get it running tho, I'm sure it will last us along time.

Honda seems to be the most reliable so far tho.

 

After all the problems I have had with my raptor and old warrior, my next purchase will not be yamaha. My experience with the honda 400ex and a bunch of guys I ride with that own them convinced me the 450R will be my next quad. I have had two bullet proof LT80's for 5 years and they havent given me any problems, at least with the LT80 I think suzuki makes a great mini. JMO

 

Honda is without a doubt the most reliable. Allthough I will hand it to yamaha for having the ***** to introduce a new race quad and keeping the banshee and blaster alive despite rules, pollution and stuff. The only yamaha ive come acrooss with problems was the raptor, other than that ive only heard talk about yfzs throwings rods threw cases, or sticky gears. Zuki back in the 80s had sick bikes but also the reliability wasnt up to par. Kawasaki, what can i say? Bombardiers have proven engines.

 

The Suzuki and Honda have always constructed very proven quads and both of them dont fail to deliver i like suzuki more because they made one of the best quads out there the Z400, Honda its like craftsman very reliable.

Bombardier Makes one of the best engines out there but their disadvantage is lack of dealerships and hard to find parts. Kawasaki survives by throwing out the V-Force and a good quad at that.

Yamaha well if you buy one dont expect it to not have problems I own a warrior and its a great bike just like the whole line of yamahs but they are vounarable to problems as like any other bike but yamaha takes the cake.

 

I have had a few yamaha's and now I have a honda and i can say that the Honda parts seem to be so well thought out and look like there made to last. One example I can think of right now is that on my banshee's swingarm it was a pain to ajust the chain and could make the axle crooked if not done right. On the 400ex I can ajust the chain in seconds and the swingarm is alluminum and have clean looks. The honda's airfilter clamps right onto the airbox and with the Banshee I had to get a Pro Flow adaptor kit so the air fliter wouldn't fall off. Then looking over the whole bike you can see how well placed out and secured all of the parts are on the Honda. For quality my vote definatly goes for Honda.