Which ATV?
Posting Guru
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,067
Likes: 0
From: Fairbanks Alaska
Yes Honda's are pricey but your paying for a machine a class above. Just look at the welds. There much cleaner than their competition. Honda's will just about run forever.
As a guy that works freight, we ship out 5 Honda's for every other brand shipped out to the bush and for every 3 machines of other brands that come back for work at the dealership 1 Honda comes back. And the village people beat the tar out of these things.
Yamaha is a good machine also. But everything else just isn't up to Honda's level of quality and reliabilty.
As a guy that works freight, we ship out 5 Honda's for every other brand shipped out to the bush and for every 3 machines of other brands that come back for work at the dealership 1 Honda comes back. And the village people beat the tar out of these things.
Yamaha is a good machine also. But everything else just isn't up to Honda's level of quality and reliabilty.
Postmaster
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 2,656
Likes: 5
From: shepherd
we have a 98 honda 300 fourtrax 2wd and let me tell ya it has gone through all sorts of mud and water and still gets out. it has the power to do long wheelies on even though it is a heavy bike. very reliable. i have ridden on a couple of race quads too, like the new suzuki Z400 and that is the best one i have ever ridden. very fast and reliable, a 98 honda 300 ex that is a great beginner racer, i have ridden an a polaris scrambler 500 4x4 and it is really fast and still has 4x4
Elder User
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 588
Likes: 0
From: AZ.
I have an older Honda and Suzuki, and just bought a 300 & 500 Arctic Cat. Each has their different advantages and I think any will do a good job for you. I prefer the Suzuki over the Honda for the selection of gearing. It will crawl places the Honda won't go. For me anyway, I'm not into "getting a run at it". I've riddin a Yamaha and wasn't real impressed with it. The 500 Polaris is a gutsy machine but I didn't like the belt drive tranny. The Arctic Cats are the smoothest riding machine I've been on. They haven't been on the market long so not too many guys are familiar with them as the Honda but I hear the dune riders swear by them. They are made in USA and have powder coated frames instead of just paint. The motors are suzuki. They are deffinately worth looking at before you buy. I did and came home with one for me and one for the wife. They need toys too ya' know....
Senior User
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 201
Likes: 0
From: Idaho
Originally posted by chipper
Any reason your not looking at the Bombardier Outlander 400. If you do some research the others don't compare, in my opinion.
Any reason your not looking at the Bombardier Outlander 400. If you do some research the others don't compare, in my opinion.
honda's quads are very reliable, but arent the best. to me, every honda i have ridden(i have ridden alot of 4 wheelers) seems to be less powerfull than any other brand of the same cc. All of honda's utility quads have horrible ground clearance, and have a very stiff steering system, 4x4 or not. Suzuki makes an very good 4-stroke and the Bombardier Rotax engines are really good too. As for the Yamaha, reliability becomes a problem.
Hotshot
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 12,334
Likes: 4,345
From: SW VA
Originally posted by trucksforever
honda's quads are very reliable, but arent the best. to me, every honda i have ridden(i have ridden alot of 4 wheelers) seems to be less powerfull than any other brand of the same cc. All of honda's utility quads have horrible ground clearance, and have a very stiff steering system, 4x4 or not.
honda's quads are very reliable, but arent the best. to me, every honda i have ridden(i have ridden alot of 4 wheelers) seems to be less powerfull than any other brand of the same cc. All of honda's utility quads have horrible ground clearance, and have a very stiff steering system, 4x4 or not.
Horrible ground clearance? I have a good 8" under the rear axle of my Foreman....Mabey not the most, but Honda's are definately not at the bottom of the list in that category.
As for the steering....My Foreman's is lighter than the Z400's, and Raptor's in 2x4 as far as I can tell. Switch into 4x4 and it becomes stiffer...but not by much.
Elder User
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 773
Likes: 0
From: torrington,ct
I have a 87 polaris trailboss 250. I have to say that when it runs it runs great, Ive kept up with a comparable model suzuki 350 with a 5 speed, untill the belt drive ran out of gear. Talk about low end tourqe. You would think its a four stroke, just a little gas and it will get up and over anything. I've pulled a 20 foot flat bed trailer that has to way in at around 800 pounds or so maybe more. I had to stand over the front to keep it down but it pulled it. The belt drive sucks when ya get it wet, and I can't seem keep it running, I dont know if its just that everything is going at once or what but everytime I ride it something else breaks, and I dont even ride that hard(I'm talking just around the yard), so its sat for atleast 6 months now.
FTE Stories
Ford Trucks for Ford Truck Enthusiasts
AEV FXL Super Duty - the Super Duty Raptor Ford Doesn't Make
Brett Foote
Lobo Vs Lobo: Proof the F-150 Lobo Should Be Even Lower!
Michael S. Palmer
Ford's 2001 Explorer Sportsman Concept Looks For a New Home
Verdad Gallardo
10 Best Ford Truck Engines We Miss the Most!
Joe Kucinski
2026 Shelby F-150 Off-Road: Better Than a Raptor R?
Brett Foote
2027 Super Duty Carhartt Package First Look: 12 Things You NEED to Know!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Most Surprising 2026 Ford Truck Features!
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 Ford Trucks Coming to Mecum Indy 2026
Brett Foote
5 Best / 5 Worst Ford Truck Wheels of All Time
Joe Kucinski
Logistics Pro
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 3,955
Likes: 47
From: Mesa
I too have been doing some research on a 400cc class Quad. I have settled down to the Outlander 400, Suzuki Eiger and Arctic Cat 400. I have read nothing but great reviews on the Outlander. The Outlander right now has a 3 yr warranty offer which is hard to beat. The Arctic Cat has a 2 yr warranty and a $69 Warn Winch offer until April. I dismissed the Yamaha Kodiak and Bruin because most people said a low range transmission is a must and The Yamaha's don't have one. The Hondas are out because I want a auto transmission.
Thread Starter
|
Elder User
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 519
Likes: 0
From: New York
ok, yamaha is out thanks to V10man info on trannys, im down to the Arctic Cat and the Suzuki. is the 400 good enough? will it hold its own for the most part? im not really looking to spend more then 5k. would i be safe buying a used '00-'02, or should i just spend the extra and get a brand new quad? most likely buy it at the end of summer, when is the price of quads usually the lowest?
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 1,769
Likes: 7
From: Gretna ,LA.
V10Man, The Kodiak has a hi-lo trans,and is one of the toughest around!We continually abuse one in deep mud and slop and has never had failure, belt slippage.Very ggod quad,if i did not have my heart set on a kawasaki 700 prairie, i would get a 450 Kodiak.
Post Fiend
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,209
Likes: 12
From: Black Hills of SD
It all depends what you want it for. The quality of Honda's is unquestioned. I never liked the way Yamaha's feel and they steer hard. Yamaha's and Polaris both have too high of a center of gravity for me. Also many of the bigger quads are just to darn heavy. I have went places with the old king quad that left the big 600s behind. They side hill better than almost anything too. You may end up trading what you first buy for what you end up learning that you really want. My first new 4x4 was a 400 Kodiak. The first time I took it out my friend with a king quad had to come back and help me horse it over logs that he just rode over. He ran and hid from me everytime we went out unless it was on a gravel road, and I can out ride him any day. I traded it for a Suzuki and never regretted it. That was a few years ago. Today if I was buying a new quad it would definately be a Raptor
Elder User
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 773
Likes: 0
From: torrington,ct
As far as when there worth less. I would say that any 4 wheel drive quad capable of pushing snow would hold its value in the winter better then most and a 2 wheel drive quad unable to push snow will loose the most in the winter(may not be much but; depending on were you live of course) and a 2 wheel drive sport quad would probally be worth a little more in the summer depending on were you live, but a 4 wheel drive utility quad will probally stay about the same.
New User
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 23
Likes: 0
From: West Jordan Utah
Did u look at polaris i have a 2000 sportsmen 500 my neighbor just got a honda rincon we went on a four day trip and i rode his and the sus*****ion is alot nicer on the polaris i think polaris is the way to go but it is really what u need the machine to do