Advice On a Used Quad

My Rubicon has 440 hours on it and has had 0 issues whatsoever. I'm not exactly nice to it either.

My dad's Sportsman has half the hours and he's had a ton of trouble with it.

My FILs Rancher has umpteen bazillion hours on it had had to replace one half shaft on the front a few years ago.

 

I'll agree on the rancher. Stupid reliable. Shaft driven, underpowered 350cc workhorse that can't hurt itself. In this case, underpowered ftw lol. At least the beater I had was like that....for a gazillion hours.

 

Looks mint for a 99!
Any cooling issues or is it all Internet horror story nonsense?
Most big bore kits regardless of make model or power sport people mufungle lol.

 

Thats my whole point with Honda, they mostly are all underpowered in their class. Boring to ride( mostly not all comparativelyin Their class)poor fit and finish in the past few years.

The Rubicons and especially foremans (ES)had major charging and shifting issues. Everyone I know with one can't hop on and ride cuz the battery dies lol.

 

Boring to ride and underpowerd is relative. I used to ride with a guy who had a Recon 250 utility quad. He could smoke most of the guys we rode with who were on 400 and 450cc sport quads because he was a much better rider.

I've got a buddy who travels the east side of the country racing in the GNCC series on a CRF 450 bike. He recently bought a CRF 250 and found he's actually faster. Pure power and speed in a straight line only matters at the hole shot. Once things get technical skill is much more important than the bike/quad.

 

The sport quads are so close and so good in most aspects you can't go wrong on any of them.
The text you quoted was referring to utility 4x4s......
Jump on a utility (which I was referring) 4x4 and the Hondas are turds. I haven't ridden the newer honda irs but the fact that they just a few years ago introed irs shows how lacking they are. The new ones are now just coming with diff lock?!?

The low range or lack thereof lack of ground clearance(solid axle).
When buried in mud or pulling heavy stuff or both, the foremans inefficiencies are obvious and sometimes painful.
Even just trail riding the foremans get smoked by just about every other comparable 4x4.

If they start and don't have a dead battery most people would be 100℅ happy with a foreman (and any other 4x4), they will meander around just as good as anything.

 

The OP is asking about sport quads, one that's almost a 20 year old design specifically, so that's what I kept in mind when replying.

I haven't been on any newer utility quads. Most people I know who have them are still using 15 year old Foremans, Big Bears, Bayou's, and whatever Suzuki made in the late 90's. They've all been beat, rolled, and generally abused and all still run great. I can't imagine that independent rear suspension really makes then "work" better. And in the working world a live solid axle is still king, just go look under any F350 or Silverado 3500.

 

I don't know what pickup trucks have to do with anything but..
The irs certainly does make them work better. That again is why honda finally bit the bullet and switched. Once you've ridden both you will never want another solid axle. Some people say it's not as sporty feeling, but i think they are just referring to the sport quad feeling (light rear easy sliding )of a solid rear axle.
I actually have gotten quite used to several off center off camber jumps that I ride out on one rear wheel. And grin Everytime!
The rear irs makes a huge difference in traction, I know when I'm pulling 3-4klbs with the grizzly I want both rear tires on the ground articulating over rocks logs and ruts. Which it does very well.
Getting high centered on the solid rear gets old real fast too.

 

Solid axle give you a higher tongue rating. It applies to trucks just as it would to ATV's. Honda switched because everyone else switched. Everyone else switched because they realized people weren't working with their quads anymore. They were trail riding with a cooler of beer strapped on the back. IRS shakes up beer less than a solid axle. (OK, I have no scientific data to prove that's the reason other than my own observations of rednecks and bonfires).

Using an ATV to work is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Now UTV's are all the rage on the farm. They seem to be taking a large chunk of the recreation market as well.

 

I like the solid axle on my Honda over the Polaris. Feels more stable.

What are you pulling that weighs 4k over rocks, logs, and ruts? That's a tall order....even for a 3/4 ton pickup....would have to fill an 8' bed even with the top of the cab with firewood.

 

I've got a 500 ho sportsman with IRS, and an old 91 300 4x4 solid axle bayou.

The bayou is a beast. I'll load it up and not care, unlike the sportsman. The solid axle is better for towing. I put a then nearly new same year bayou 300 4x4 through hell on a farm back in the day.

 

I was flabbergasted when I saw honduhs little pickup having a very similar payload to other half ton trucks...solid vs irs.
Irs can weigh more and cost more to produce, the Kodiaks had solid axles vs the grizzly (more expensive).

 

Logs? Log arch? Redneck? Tire chains winch and a John Deere mower that's also chained helping to pull up a muddy rocky hill? Fabbing a custom hitch because the factory ball hitch shatter the first 10 feet of the haul?
I bent the main beam on my arch I forget it's yield strength its like 8-10k but a dynamic load obviously did it.
30 inch butt 26 at the top 20+ft red oaks?

 

UTV is great for hauling loads because its larger compared to ATV.