I ride in mostly mud and lots of it would someone with experience with both tell me wihch one is better

 

Themudman,
Not much experience but I would pick the rancher. My neighbor has the 2 wheel drive, shift model and has abused it I think since almost day one. I think that rancher lives in the mud and never comes out. He has had no problems except he had an early model and something about the front end was recalled and fixed.
Chet

 

Hey whats up? I have a rancher es 4x4 and it will easly out performe the big bear in the woods and the mud! I was amazed how well the rancher got through the mud with stock tires! And it definetley kick the big bears butt in the woods. The rancher will also go pretty good speed wise, I got mine going 53!
hope thay helps.

 

Hey man thats pretty good getting that Rancher ES up to 53mph. I ran the guts out of my friends 2000 model, an on the longest straight i hit 48mph

 

There is not a question of reliability here,both are good.There was a test some time ago between the big bear,rancher and the magnum 325.The big bear won hands down in the drag race and more importantly the torque battle.The new bear handles great.it also offers a switch bewteen 2wd/4wd which the rancher does not.I had a 1988 big bear which was totally abused and it never let me down.Go ride them and see for yourself.
2000 kodiak
1998 wolverine
1988 big bear[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

well youre in a yamaha forums and 3 people have already said rancher, and hered the 4th, convincing enough?

 

I havent ridden the Big Bear but I have ridden a Rancher ES 4x4. Power felt good, it might have been better if I didnt have my 300EX to compare it to. But otherwise it felt pretty powerful. Suspension was again good, it jumped level on the little jumps I took it on. I did some technical stuff, but nothing my 300EX couldnt do. They were basically big hills that were rock infested. My 300EX could top the hill faster just by gassing it, but it did spin out more, and the Rancher just went straight up. I'm sorry, I know this isnt between the 300EX and Rancher, but thats all I have to compare it to. There wasnt much steering effort. And seemed easier than the Prairie 400 I have ridden. I also did a little test on the front drive system. I would go over a rock with one tire and would leave the other in the air, and I saw that it did indeed work like it is supposed to. I think that is about all.

 

I would go with the Big Bear. They have a bigger motor, more power, and better brakes. The 2wd/4wd drives makes the Big Bear more fun for sliding around and the ease of steering is great. It is very reliable and for the price is tough to beat.

I think if you want the ES then the Rancher is pretty cool as well.

The only way to know for sure it to take a ride on each at the dealer and go from their. Everyone is just giving opinions and the only person who has to care is the one that rides it all the time. Try for yourself and make a decision on what seemed best to you.

 

If you want a bike for mud go with the Big Bear, there is just more power. If you are considering doing somespirited trail riding as well you might consider the Rancher, its lighter, smaller, and more nimble and probably has a more sporty suspension when compared to the Big Bear. As far a being faster accelerating you might have to give that to the Big Bear. The Rancher has some low end torque but falls short in the upper region of the power band, at least it did when I rode it. When I raced my Wolverine aginst it, it was no contest, I just rode away from it, I ended up like 75yds ahead of it.
The suspnsion felt up to par to me, it might not be able to be rdden as aggressive as my Wolverine but it was prety good. It also has 5 way preload adjust so you can make the suspnsion stiffer.

 

<< I would go with the Big Bear. They have a bigger motor >>



If I'm correct, the big bear is a 350, and the rancher motors range from 350 to 450?