Hi, I own a 2000 yamaha big bear and recently had to make some minor repairs due to a small accident with a tree. One of my friends also had to make a similar repair but he rides a honda rancher. I looked up several parts on the OEM microfiche parts finder and have found that replacement parts for yamaha are much more costly than those for honda, why is this?

 

This has been a fact since 1997 when Honda really started using parts that were built in the US and some models were assembled in the US.

Have you priced plastic for the 400EX? You can get ALL the plastic and the COMPLETE seat assembly for under $400.00! I ran across this when the yellow bikes came in 2000. I had a customer with a '99 wanting to go yellow, black seat and all. I had to make a call to Honda to verify the price!
Same thing goes for the "Patriot Red" used on the later model TRX300 utility machines. It is at least 75% cheaper than the "Passion Red" used on the older models! I always recommended someone wanting new plastic to just go with the new color, and then just having the tank painted to match. Hell, even after paying to have the tank painted, you still save a couple hundred dollars.

The parts for the 300EX are still high because most of the parts are still imported, as are some other models.

Most of all the engine parts in Hondas are still made and assembled in Japan as are SOME of the chassis componets but still no other manufacturer [overall] has prices cheaper than the Hondas.

Somewhat hard to figure out why Polaris parts are so damn high. Maybe they just think that since others charge high prices, that they will just do the same. I don't even keep up with Polaris, so who knows where their parts come from anyways.

KNOWSALOT