Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska ATV question

For my bear baiting and prospecting I bought a Honda Rancher. Great mileage, I can lift it with a bad back, plenty of power, super low first gear for pulling, I have a cart for hauling firewood. I love it. Great dependable macjhine.

A friend bought one of the BIG BOYS and he is getting 7 mpg on the rig........21 miles to the tank. Yuck!

Jhack:

Do you find that the lack of suspension on the Rokon is a problem? Also, is the fact that you have to stop to shift into another gear a performance stopper? I have been intrigued by the Rokon for years, I just with they would refine it a little [a little suspension] and a clutch system for shifting on the go.

Jordan

That was supposed to read "I wish they would refine it..."

Jordan

BW, you can remove the tank with a single bolt and then roll the wheel until the fuel pours into the tank. Or better you by a 7 dollar hand held pump from the marina and just drop the hose into both and pump it in.

Rob, the suspension is no issue for me as I don't drive fast. The seat has a motorcycle shock and it really works well. Combine that with the 2 pounds of air in my radial tires and it's just fine. Suspension causes other issues on a two wheel vehicle. For starters a lot more weight. then you have near impossible handling characteristics with weight on the carry rack. This is a fairly light machine at 200 pounds. It's easy to wrestle out of bad spots, at least for me.

There is no shifting when you drive. It's a fully automatic transmission Think of it like an automobile transmission with drive low 1, and Low 2. Pick the one you need and go with it. If the conditions change stop and adjust. I hardley ever use the low range it's a freakin tank in that gear. But it is sweet with your feet out for climbing steep hills and crossing boulder fields on a side hill. No 4 Wheeler ever made can cross those side hills! In the low range it just revs and slowly goes up and over what ever is in your way. In this gear if you pull the front tire to a tree it will roll right up the tree and flip over backward if you let it!

The mid range can climb a fairly steep hill with a top speed of about 22mph and is where I'm at much of the time. The third gear has very limited pulling or climbing power but will cruise nicely down logging roads to about 30mph. I have never really felt the need to shift while driving it. I know that my hunting partner has a 4X4 ATV and he is frequently in the worng gear and must shift after some obstical is hit or in the way. The rokon with the automatic never has that happen. The real disadvantage to the Rokon transmission is that the engine must be revved to have compression braking. If coasting down hill when the engine RPM drops and the clucth opens your effectively in neutral. You need the hit the throttle to engage the clutch which then slows you down. Kinda strange to hit the gas to slow down.

The one thing I wish all ATV's would copy from the rokon is the brake light. When trail riding behind another ATV you cannot tell when the driver hits the brakes. Rokons have brake lights for much safer riding in a group or with another rider.

The Rokon is not a motorcycle, it does not feel like a motorcycle, or operate like one. Its a 2wd moto-tractor. It takes a while to get the feel for it but once you travel the backcountry with one it's grows on you. Plus its really nice on game trails where it's only a single track wide.

I recently had my Seat rebuilt with top of the line really dense foam. That was the best investment. It's like a new suspended machine with that seat. The shock option is important too.

I was debating the same thing this spring. What I ended up with was a Honda 400 Rancher GPScape. It now has just over 2,000 miles of tundra time from the goose hunting this spring and fall. Will be changing out the 23" tires for some 27" just for the extra ground clearance needed for some places that I hunted this spring.

1300$ and they'll get you any where you need to go down there... so we're told <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

For $1500 you can get a Honda 70 and 3 bottles (local price) of Smirnoff's if you dicker....if you don't, she might get pissed and it could cost you some stitches......

'Scuse me guys but other than the Kawasaki Mule I haven't seen any meniton of the Kawasaki ATVs. What does the gallery think of them?

Both my boys have ATVs and I like the Kawa a lot better than the Yamaha.

You all probably use them a lot more severly than we would.

BCR

Steelhead,

Given the parameters of your needs, any small machine will do. The restof the guys are talking about river crossings, and bogg and pulling huge moose. That is not what you stated. If you are mostly driving on gravel roads, you don't even NEED a 4X4. Yes, stay small, and go used. You don't even need independent suspension on roads.

I have a 2000 500 Sportsman that has seen its share of pulling moose across the clear cuts in Northern Ontario, as well as pushing snow with a 5 foot blade. I have the same belt on it it came with. If the belt is getting wet, the water is as deep as the gas tank, or you need to replace the gasket around the belt cover.

And the guy pulling the cow moose, what I do is go around the neck like that, and then wrap a turn around the nose with a half hitch, and tie off to the ball hitch about 2 feet from the moose's nose. It has the effect of controlling the head, and it "lifts the nose to get it out of the way. Antlers are a waste of time on a head. Cut 'em off and carry 'em out if you just have to have them. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Sounds like a good way to tie one off...It was a fork horn but you gotta look close to seem them. I didn't know until I had it in the cross hairs!!! Don't pull off the front bumper either...went over to brother Dave's to plow his drive way and burried it as well as shredded his new lawn after a lap around the house to wake him up at noon. He returned the favor and ripped my bumper off with the Dodge. Now I have the Warn Bumper!!!

Boggy Creek Ranger, Reread my response. I've got Kawis as well. and they are great. Most of them are good. Anyone that knows 4 wheelers can criticize something on them all so it's alot taking into consideration what you want and need. Brakes are something most people don't talk about because after the first ones wear out you won't have the same performance again, and some are better and some are worse but thats the issue, ESPECIALLY if you are in the mud alot.

Isn't that the truth!

I've got an older Polaris and like many things about it but if I were buying this year the Yamaha Kodiak 450 would be the first one I would look at. When I bought mine 7 yrs. ago it was a chioce between a 300 4x4 and a 400 and if I had to do it over again I would have picked the 300. It was lighter, lower, had adequate power, and reasonable ground clearance. I've become convinced after riding mine for the last 8 hunting seasons that you don't need a big machine to get the job done and in really nasty places a smaller machine is easier to manage. Not to mention they also cost less then the bigger machines.

I've talked with 3 people who have machines 700cc and over and 2 of them wished now that they had purchased smaller machines for various reasons: too heavy, high fuel consumption, small fuel capacity, too tall, too much power, etc....

Good luck in your hunt!
2Seventy

I believe that could be a real possibility. 4-wheelin' is addicting. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

We had 2 Polaris 300 4x4's when we lived in Kodiak. They were quirky for sure. The belt only slipped on me once in a water crossing. I got out, and it started working again. The 3 chains were a pain to keep lubed and tightened.

But the combo of 2 stroke power, lightweight, and 4wd was hard to beat. We'd hit snow that was hard packed on top, and soft on bottom, and that Polaris would fly across, while my buddies Big Bear would break through and bog down.

My other buddies Honda didn't have the same ground clearance either. I borrowed it once, and kept hitting things in the middle of the trail. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

That said, I'd probably not buy another Polaris.

I went with the honda 300 4wd 8 years ago and have no regrets. my has seen some very hard use and I have not broken anything yet. once I replaced the factory tires, it became a different machine. I only went one size bigger but it made all of the difference in the world. just hit the starter and she goes. what impresses me with the hondas as compared to all of the others is the size of the tubing on the frame and racks. it is heavy duty and meant to last. after 8 years, mine is as good as new, faded a bit but that's it. I use it to hunt and maintain the farm and it does a little bit of everything. as far as size, I like the 300 but if I were pulling a really big trailer or plow, I would go bigger.

2seventy, You're right that 450 has got to be the best in it's class. Several of my friends have that one.

Even though I got the 400 Rancher I also bought a 2,500 lb. winch. If the machine does not have the power, at least the winch will. If I am stuck and need the winch, I probably should not have been there in the first place.

I also carry a 2 foot axe, bowsaw, 100' of 1/2" rope and a small 6' logging chain.

I have a 2001 Polaris Sportsman 400. It is shaft drive to front and back so no belt problems.
There is a built in design flaw that other new machines probably have too. The ignition is electronic, the battery charging system uses an alternator and a rectifier. It will not run without a battery because the electronic ignition cannot function with the ripple out of the rectifier. I discovered this when my first battery failed at about 4 years of age. My first reacation was "oh, well I'll use the pull starter". It would start but would only idle It wouldn't move. Luckily I was in my own drive way when this happened.

Nowadays I carry a 40,000 micro farad 50 volt capacitor with me. If the battery fails I can jury rig the capacitor in parallel with the battery to provide a ripple filter. The machine will then start and run well with a failed battery.
Since all batteries fail sooner or later it might be a good idea to test your machine by disconnnecting the battery and using the manual starter and see if it'll run.

Honda Rubicon
500cc automatic with low range and electric shift select, drive shaft full time fwd, rated at 600lbs tow, warn winch, upgraded to 589 tires (tractor tread type), goes through mud, snow, climbs, not bad fuel consumption. Has spark plug heater for cold weather starts. Plenty of rack space.

Well built.

I really like the Prairies. I have the 700 and I'm quite pleased. I prefer the soild rear axle over the new stuff. Personally I lean towards having power on tap even if I don't think I'll use it but I'm a HP junkie. If I were looking at less motor I'd look at the 360. I don't care for the Brute at all. It has plenty of power but handles poorly and is tippy unless you get some wider wheels. When I buy my next atv fuel injection will be a must, I hope Kawasaki comes out with it in a prairie model, hopefully something like a 800 <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />