Home Forums Gear Horses and ATV's Honda or Polaris

local dealer sells both. Lots of experience with dirt bikes but little with ATV. looking at 500 sportsman in polaris and Rubicons in Honda. have heard Hondas (like thier bikes) are bulletproof, not so sure about polaris??? kawaski also.?

comments from owners.

Thanks,

Lefty

A while back, I started a thread on Kawasakis just to find out if others have had as good of luck as I have with mine. The results were 100% positive. There was not a single poster who'd had a problem with one.

Dick

I bought a 450 grizz and like it a lot. The honda or polaris would be a great bike. The Kawi's are good. I would get the polaris if I were chosing between the honda and the polaris. The polaris is more comfortable to ride for long periods of time. I would get what I liked and need for what I would do with it.

I had a rubicon, and it was really nice, but somewhat cold blooded. Not used to have to choke it in 70F weather to start it.

TAL is right about being cold blooded. However when the Honda's start...they run great. Not that they don't start, just takes a bit more.

I would pick the Honda without question. have many friend with polairs'. most are unhappy with them. some like them. If you plan to trail ride a lot the honda may not be for you. I would then look one of the Kawis.

Tom

Having owned a rubicon,and having friends that own the 500 sportsman,the sportsman rides smoother,but requires a great deal more maintenance,and is less reliable.The rubicon is also much lighter in weight and does better in muskeg as a result.

As go ATVs, the choice between Polaris and Honda is simple: Honda. The ride on Honda is in no way so much worse that I'd trade that for the fact that the Honda won't require me to walk. I don't know that one will with the Polaris. I do know that is a statistical fact historically.

I have a 500 Sportsman and a Hawkeye Polaris both great. Friend has 700 Sportsman and 2-90 Sportsmans, again 0-issues, so all these stories don't know. Love mine and I will always buy American. Just my $.02. Honda does make a good product though.

Well, first impressions of the grizzly, much smoother ride, shorter turning with the power steering, fast as heck!!

Keep em comming..still sitting on the fence. I do like the idea of fuel injection that the Polaris has. Late summer and fall the bike will be in Colo at 8000+ rest of the year on the east coast at 750'. I know it really messes up my sons KDX and my Husky. Not a real big deal to change jets, but one more thing to dick around with.

Lefty

One thing I see from the Grizzly central forums is the ability to adjust fuel to air mixtures and things like that and the built in diagnostics that the grizzly has.

My 500 was at 11000 feet this year and purred like a kitten. Fuel injection and independant suspension would be must haves for me. Good luck!

The Grizz has fuel injection too. As do the Suzuki and Artic Cat. All but the AC are better choices than the Polairs.

Between the Polaris and Honda there is no comparison, I would go Honda all the way. I have several friends that own Polaris atv's and are constantly working on them or they are at the dealership. IMO they look cheaply built, way to much plastic for my taste and their rack system is silly. I have been riding atv's since '89 and have owned 3 different Honda's, never had a lick of trouble with any of them and they just go and go. You never said what your using it for so it's hard to recommned one particualr model. I use mine for hunting, trail riding and plowing my driveway.

I bought my 1st ATV in 1989 it was a Honda 300trx 4X4. I bought another about 4 yrs later. It was a Yamaha warrior 350. The warrior was rode to death and sold for scrap while the Honda kept going. New ATV's came out every year, but the Honda kept going. I traded the 300TRX in when the Rincon came out and got about 3/4 of what I paid for the thing back in trade.


I hear so many people talk about Honda. They say I wouldn't buy one because it doesn't have this or it doesn't have that. Maybe it doesn't, but they just keep going and going and going.

I doubt I'll ever switch. If my new one lasts as long as my last one there will be no need to.

Terry

Mr. leftycarbon,
We have owned Polaris machines for the last ten years. No problems. Good on gas, excellent ride and have NEVER left us stranded anywhere.
Before that we owned Hondas. No problems there either.

In all fairness, we do tend to take good care of our toys (work horses) as best we can; regular oil changes, lube jobs, filter changes, etc. While we work them quite hard year round, they are not subjected to abuse in the form of jumping driveways, pulling wheelies, and/or trying to exceed 100 mph.
OUR machines were not designed to do that. We purchased our machines for a variety of tasks (hauling out quartered Moose, Caribou, Grizz, etc; getting into the back country prospecting, fishing expeditions, camping excursions, photo safari, general trail riding (making our own trails where none exist) and plowing the driveway). They have performed all of these tasks very well.
Respectfully recommend you take a trial ride on any/all of the machines you find of interest. Pick the one that fits you and your intended requirements. You will be hard put to go wrong.

One thing we do urge caution on is "Dealer" selection. Make certain they have a reputation for standing behind what they sell. Even if you have to pay a few bucks more, it will be worth every penny, in our opinion.
Best Wishes

In probably over 60k miles of combined riding both three wheelers and fourwheelers,I've seen exactly two people broke down in the field. One was on a brand new polaris,the other was on an old moto 4 yamaha,that looked like it had a million miles on it and still on its first oil change.

Chances are you'll never break down on the trail,if you do proper maintenance.With a polaris that means doing a couple thousand dollars worth of fixing for every 3k of riding.

I don't have to guess at the quality or lack there of with polaris atv's. I've run polaris sleds and atv's and my dealer always has a couple sportsman in the shop being torn down for major repair. They've always got from 1k to 4k on them and its never their first time in for repairs. He sells the [bleep] out of polaris cvt belts also.

I ran into a guy this past summer. He had a polaris with 8500 miles on it.The outside looked like it had 500 miles on it maybe. I commented at its shape.He replied,ya I'm 65 I don't tear [bleep] up anymore and all I ride is logging roads to and from my fishing holes.Even so that SOB has over 3800 in repairs on it.I asked what all he had done to it. He stepped into his 5th wheel and returned with a stack of receipts. Four belts,rear seals,tranny work three times,repairs to both front and rear diffs and some electrical repairs. Yep that must be the polaris quality I've heard about.

The old honda 300 fourtrax,was the pinnacle of durability and reliability.

The current generation of hondas,is nowhere near as bulletproof as the 300 . Time moves on and honda hasn't.

Those 300's hold their value pretty well too. I was kinda' looking for one when I bought my King Quad this spring. Should have bought the Honda and saved 4 grand.

I've got a 300 I'd sell you if you'll pay the freight. Actually, that is all I want for it: the freight. It still runs so well. An new shot of automotive 10W-30 every month or three and she goes. That's the only engine work it's had in ten years. Oh, I think I may have pulled the plug once; not even sure about that. Had to replace the bearings in the rear end once. Oh, and the seat cover crapped after a bear turned the seat into (bear) bite-sized portions.

Those 300s have pulled a lot of Ranchers to their final resting place in the local dump. I wish I had a dime for every mile my old rig has on it. I'm thinking it wouldn't take much more to buy a new one.