I think these magazines should quit holding these crappy "Atv of the Year" contests. Then they could just go ahead and give teir remaining trophies to Honda like they were going to anyway. Seriously, how did the Rubicon beat out the Raptor or the Sportsman H.O.? It didn't even beat the H. O. in its own class. I just believe these contests are rigged to sell more Hondas.
I can't wait for this tranny to be a problem.
They probably won't mention it though. I know three guys who have 450ESs. They all have problems with the shifter one of 'ems LCD odometer even runs backwards and I haven't heard a thing about it.

 

If you read the article closer it wasn't up against the Raptor , just other 4x4's. It will go against the Raptor for overall ATV of the year in the June issue. And it did beat out the H.O. in 4x4 related categories, not all of them but most of them, which was enough to give it the title of 4x4 of the year.

 

I remember reading the article(ATV connection) and they gave the Rubicon the win over the Raptor.

 

Yea, som epeople are talking about the ATV action article which tests all the open class 4x4 automatics, and others are talking about the ATV Connection article where they award Quad of the Year ststus to the quad they think will have the biggest impact on the overall ATV market.
I don't think many people will argue that the Rubicon wasn't a contender for "Quad of the Year". When the top selling ATV manufacturer finally builds an automatic, and it is a complete departure from what the rest of the industry uses for their trannies, it's hard to ignore. Even if the Rubicon flops and there are tons of problems with it I still would consider it the most signifigant quad of the year.

 

I didn't say the Rubicon went against the Raptor, I implied that I think the Raptor just should have taken the vote. In the October issue of Dirtwheels the Rubicon came in under the Sportsman H.O. with the Magnum and the Quadmaster bringing up the rear.

 

You don't think the 5 valve, two carb single piston isn't cutting edge.

 

There's no doubt that the Raptor is a fine quad, and likely the best sport quad currently available. However, it was 1985, I think that Yamaha first came out with a 5 valve per cylinder motor in the FZ750, and Honda had a dual carb single in the mid 80's as well, on their XR 400 and 600.
So, "cutting edge"? I don't think so.

 

OK there is definitely a mix up here, the article I am refering to is from the February 2001 issue of 4-Wheel ATV Action. It put the Rubicon, Sportsman H.O., Grizzly, Artic Cat, and Quadmaster fully automatics against each other in an array of 4x4 tests. Such as:

displacement - Grizzly
transmission - Rubicon
grunting (45 ft. weighted drag race) - Rubicon
all day cruiser - Rubicon
power (drag race on cement) - Polaris
real world trail riding - Rubicon
suspension - Polaris
turning - Rubicon
hills (rutted) - Polaris
hills (smoother) - Rubicon
rocks - Polaris

There were many more categories where a clear winner was not really pointed out ie. maintenance,differentials, brakes, and some where the second place finisher was almost as good as the winner there is really too much of that stuff to list.
At the end of the article the magazine states "That leaves us with the undisputed unanimous choice winner- the Honda Rubicon 500. It does many things better than any other quad and it does nothing poorly. the ruby is an amazingly well balanced machine and the transmission/powerplant package sets new standards."

 

OK there is definitely a mix up here, the article I am refering to is from the February 2001 issue of 4-Wheel ATV Action. It put the Rubicon, Sportsman H.O., Grizzly, Artic Cat, and Quadmaster fully automatics against each other in an array of 4x4 tests. Such as:

displacement - Grizzly
transmission - Rubicon
grunting (45 ft. weighted drag race) - Rubicon
all day cruiser - Rubicon
power (drag race on cement) - Polaris
real world trail riding - Rubicon
suspension - Polaris
turning - Rubicon
hills (rutted) - Polaris
hills (smoother) - Rubicon
rocks - Polaris

There were many more categories where a clear winner was not really pointed out ie. maintenance,differentials, brakes, and some where the second place finisher was almost as good as the winner there is really too much of that stuff to list.
At the end of the article the magazine states "That leaves us with the undisputed unanimous choice winner- the Honda Rubicon 500. It does many things better than any other quad and it does nothing poorly. the ruby is an amazingly well balanced machine and the transmission/powerplant package sets new standards."
Hope this clears up this stuff a little.

 

THe problem is that a few months aga DIrt WHeels did a test in which they gave the overall win to the Polaris. This is just what I had picked up from this forum, so I can't quote the article or anything on why they gave the win to Polaris, I just know that all the POlaris people were kicking up a huge stink the other day when the ATV Action Feb. issue came out.
I think Honda has definatly raised the bar with the Rubicon, and it will turn out to be an amazing quad. It will be interesting to see what the others (espacially Yamaha) will do in response. For that matter, it will be really interesting to see the new Kawi 650. By all accounts it's going to give the Honda a run for it's money!