My family and I bought my father a new Kodiak for xmas this year and as I have a oo Kodiak I was sure he would like it but still did alot of looking around. As he has an older 200 Fourtrax that has been an excellent machine I had to look hard at the Honda's. The Rancher seemed like the best machine from Honda for his needs and I almost bought one because some friends have them and love them and I knew dad was a past Honda man.Anyway, I went with the Yamaha and what a great move it was. I went riding last night with 8 other 4x4's and I was the only Yamaha in the bunch.All the rest were Rancher's with 1 450es and a 300 Foreman. Of course they all were busting on me as I had the only different machine. The comment "should have bought a Honda" came up often but that did not last for long. We have about 10-12 inches of snow here with thawed ground underneath which made for some good 4x4 terrain. The very first hill we came to the lead Rancher had to make four attemps till he made it. Of the 3 other ones in front of me none made it the first time. I hammered to Kodiak up it with very little trouble then pulled over to help manhandle the rest of the Honda's up.This happened often throghout the evening with the mud holes and hills. When we came closer to my neck of the woods and I was leading I thought I would show them more of what the Yamaha would do.The trail I chose is very tight and twisty with numerous stream crossings with short but steep banks. On some of the turns I cut it hard with my Kodiak knowing the others could not turn that sharp and had to back up while I waited. At one good steep bank I bounced right up it,not easily but on my first attempt, while not one other 4x4 could make it without help. To make them not feel so bad I told them my 62 year old dad had some trouble earlier in the week at that spot on his new Kodiak and had to make 2 attempts but needed no help at all. Then to really rub it in when we hit a no winter maintenance road and could open them up I had to work my way to the front and leave them in the swirling snow looking at my tail light.At our first refreshment stop at the beginning of the ride all I heard was how all these Honda's were going to have to be dragging the lone Yamaha around and no one even took a look at my Kodiak. At the second stop they all stood around the Kodiak asking all kinds of questions about it. I don't think there is a bad Wheeler out there as they all have great things to offer and you are going to have fun on any one of them but for my needs I know the Kodiak is hard to beat. The Rancher is an outstanding machine that I'm sure I would be happy to own but after last night with some good hard riding I know it is a close second to the Yamaha Kodiak.

 

Good story.
I wonder how your Kodiak would stack up against a Wolverine? Ever tried?

 

Think the bear claws have anything to do with getting up the hills easy? I know the kodiak's are nice machines though.

 

The Kodiak will kill the Wolverine. Im not knocking Wolverines but I have rode with them. If the Wolverine has the road to get its speed up then it will pass the Kodiak but on every single trail I ride on you just cant get up to speed. The Kodiak is quicker than the Wolverine and therefore it will stay ahead on trails "riders being of equal skill".

I know what you mean Stormy. The first time I went riding it was nothing but Hondas. I could outperform them just like you could. Trouble with these guys is that they are seasoned pros. The knew how to get me. They took me to a pond "the one in my pics" and went in. I had to follow or listen to their B.S. all day. Well on the second trip through I got the belt wet enough to slip and I got and ear full all day. Thats ok though,.... I have since then put a snorkel and the other mods in my signature on and they cant hang with the Kodiak now. If the Kodiak can breath it will go!! I hope to have some new pics up tomorrow when I get the film developed. It has pics of the K&N adapter I made and the air intake snorkel I made. Again Im not knocking the Wolverine or and Hondas just stating facts I have seen for myself. Later.

 

I have a really hard time believing that a "Kodiak will kill a Wolverine".
I ride with a Rubicon and we've done about every sort of comparison you can think of. Off the line the Ruby leaves me in it's dust, but roll ons from trail speed (3rd gear) they are dead even, and I can even get a slight advantage.
Trail riding, no other 4x4 is going to leave a Wolverine behind.
Off the trail, it will depend on the conditions. Sometimes the Rubicon will have a clear advantage and other times the Wolverine will.

I don't what the trails are like in you area, but I have to say that if you're leaving your buddy on a Wolverine noticably behind, he really needs to learn what the little leavers for his right thumb and left foot are made for.

 

Like I said in the other post, against this Wolverine the Kodiak is quicker. The Kodiaks do have a lot more low end power than a Wolverine. Maybe this results in quicker times to the corner and then quicker times out. I forgot to mention one thing earlier that I just remembered, the Wolverine had 25" Bearclaws on. But, I had 27" Mudbugs and the other Kodiak had 27" Vamps.

 

The wolverine is faster if both are stock. I know because my friend can pull away from me on the top.

 

Not the one I rode against. ATVs are all different. Some will be faster than other of the same make and model.