Honda ATVs

[sako79]

Is thinking about buying a brand new a t v. Narrowed it down to honda or yamaha but i'm a honda guy so I prefer honda. I haven't had one smile foreman 400. That machine was bulletproof I put eighteen thousand kilometers on that since I bought that brand new and only change brakes and oil. I sold it for $3000 5 years ago. I wish I kept it. For those of you that have bought a newer one recently how the reliability these days. Trying to decide between the rubicon foreman or rancher. . For those of you that have a rubicon Does it fit in your 6.5foot pickup box with the tailgate closed. They say it is 86" long and the forman and rancher are around 82".

[Bustercluck]

I don’t think you can go wrong with Honda or Yamaha if your goal is reliability. I’ve had my foreman for about ten years and had the same experience as you, just change the oil and drive it. Last year I did a once over on it and changed all of the fluids and put a new battery in it. Ive spoken with a few guys who had the bigger Honda’s and had problems with the transmission. I didn’t ask for details so take that for what it’s worth.

I bought my wife a 450 kodiak last year and haven’t had any problems with it. I like it for her because she doesn’t have to worry about shifting or bugger all, just put it in low or hi and drive. The plastic foot wells are already beat up on it and in worse shape than my ten year old Honda that’s been abused far worse. Suspension on the kodiak beats the Honda by a country mile, but there is ten years between them.

The 2 year old Canam ds250 matches maintenance to riding time hour for hour… well not that bad, but it’s had the most problems.

If I was buying a new machine for myself than I’d happily buy another foreman 500, but I’ll probably end up getting a 700 grizzly in a few years. I’m towing a tub trailer everywhere I go these days and could use a bigger machine.

[thompie505]

I just got a Honda Rancher last year, it’s a 2016 though. It’s got the DCT auto transmission and IRS. I love it so far, last season on our Nov hunt there was lots of snow, when climbing the hills and spinning it’d downshift and rev pretty high. Just takes getting used too, and learning how to drive it in auto. Obviously if you put it in ESP you can control it or buy a foot shift. I also found the transmission shifts at low RPM slightly noisy. However, when booting around it shifted perfectly. The IRS helps the ride comfort for sure. Not a ton of storage but just a solid machine. Like the others have said, I don’t think you can go wrong with either Yamaha or Honda, you’ll get more power with the Yamaha but I find the 420 is plenty for hunting/getting where you need to go. Plus I’m the 15 inches of snow the smaller 420’s we’re better off than the 700’s in camp.

[srupp]

hmmm have had 4 Hondas over the years...latest one is 3 years old....
has EVERYTHING..irs....low speed ...high speed...efi...automatic or shift by lever..

had only one issue turned it off IN GEAR AT A FULL stop the instrument cluster went --------...literaly a dashed line...couldnt get it into NEUTRAL to start..cycled it off again with key..turned key..it started..no surprise to Honda mechanic...later next year did it again solved it same way.I believe mine is HONDA 500 Rubicon...it has a camo pattern 1 of only 500 delivered to Canada that year..dealer pulled some strings from my long term Honda dealings..
runs great..decent milage smoooooooooooooth...hauls an entire moose...errrr 2 moose quarters and me...lol its currently getting its yearly service @ Honda..
steven

[ACE]

​Belt drive or gear drive . . . . which do you prefer?

[Downtown]

Never owned a Yamaha.

If I would buy another ATV, well I never had a Honda let me down and that's all what counts for me !

Cheers

[REMINGTON JIM]

​Belt drive or gear drive . . . . which do you prefer?

BELT drive ! RJ

[ACE]

BELT drive ! RJ

. . . .

[srupp]

HMMMMMM never ever ...ever...never... a belt drive...35 years of Hondas has spoiled me..why get a belt drive and practice walking out/home...if it aint broke dont fix it

if you have to fix it..probably a belt drive..RJ..

cheers
Steven

[REMINGTON JIM]

HMMMMMM never ever ...ever...never... a belt drive...35 years of Hondas has spoiled me..why get a belt drive and practice walking out/home...if it aint broke dont fix it

if you have to fix it..probably a belt drive..RJ..

cheers
Steven

Ha! Ha ! You know as much about quads as you know about vehicles SFA! Lol RJ