Originally Posted by
Blockcaver
I sold a couple Honda quads.....'02 Rubicon 500 and '08 Rancher 5 years ago and bought a used '13 Yamaha 550 Grizzly. The Yamaha has fuel injection for easy winter starts, a far superior ride with IRS, a much better seat (to my boney butt!), more ground clearance, lock-up so all 4 wheels will turn under power at once, power steering and heated grips. And the automatic clutch that includes a belt drive component for variable speed on the Yamaha works very well, especially for my wife for snow plowing while I'm off in AZ Coues deer hunting!
The only thing the Yamaha Grizzly gives up to my old Hondas are fuel economy is significantly worse and it has a louder muffler.
All that said, I rode a '19 Honda Rubicon for a bit on a caribou hunt in Nunavut. It had corrected most of the short comings of my older Hondas...IRS road well, had a softer more comfortable seat, excellent power steering, etc. It was the foot shift model so it got fine fuel economy. The Inuits like the foot shift model for reliability, and for whatever the reason don't like the Honda Dual Clutch Auto for their uses. On that hunt I mainly drove an "old" Honda Foreman, which beat the snot out of you but was totally reliable despite many years of backcountry hard usage and little care.
If it was me, I'd go test both out and buy the one I got the best deal on that had the features I want...which would include PS, heated grips, IRS, FI and an automatic transmission, whether the Yamaha or Honda style. Both are well built reliable bikes and maintain excellent resale value.