I am thinking about buying a pair of atv's for trail riding. I am looking primarily at a Honda rancher, but am open to suggestion. I am not wed to any one brand, and have used a Kawasaki bayou and Yamaha big bear in the past. I was thinking of a fairly simple setup, solid rear axle, toe shift, 4wd. It seems the Hondas are easier to find with the push button shift. Anything I should be aware of? Anything else I should be looking at? Thanks for the help.

I went with the Rancher with the push button shift. I've been very happy with it. If I had it to do over again I would probably get the floor shift model though.

The push button shift model really needs a cup holder!

I have a 2001 Rancher with ES. Bought it new and never had a problem with the machine. It is a pretty basic 4-wheeler with no frills except for the ES.

If you're going to be doing mostly trail riding, I'd skip the solid axle and go for IRS.

There is nothing wrong with the Hondas, either of them. I have a foreman and it's a tank. It can do almost everything I want it to.

One of the reasons Honda's last is they're really low HP compared to the others.

Yamaha makes a great trail rider in the Grizzly or the Kodiak and both are FULLY capable of work as well.

I've not had a Can-Am but wouldn't write them off either.

One thing I like about the Honda's is they're pretty easy in the maintenance dept.

Polaris and Can-am require a good bit of maintenance.

I bought a new Rancher in 2011. I love it but not much else to compare to as this is my first. I have upgraded the tires and wheels which made a huge difference in looks, handling, and ability. Mine has ES and no problems in 2000 miles. I got the power steering and would not get one without it.

Polaris has the best ride of all of the atvs mentioned. I've let Yamaha Grizzly, Arctic Cat, Can Am and Honda riders try my Polaris Sportsman and they all said that the Polaris had the best ride, choosing it over their own atv.

As far as maintenance, the Polaris requires no more than the others. The biggest factor is how and where the atv is used. If you pound on any of them, they will all break.

Some people complain that Polaris has too many grease fittings. IMHO, it's easier to grease an atv than change parts on one. YMMV

Thanks. I will look at others as well. I have plenty of time.

I have a 2006 Rancher w/ custom wheels and tires. Warn disconnect to take the front axle out of 4WD. Warn winch. It's been a great little machine.

One thing I've learned with an ES Foreman is you have to have a good battery. Difficulty shifting is the first sign your battery is weakening. It seems like the shift solenoid or whatever they use wants a full 12 volts, not 11.6 or 11.8 that can occur when a battery starts to go south.

Do yourself a favor and forget the shifting models. You can find late model used ATV's for sale at great savings with few miles on them.

Second, I would suggest the independent suspension and third, I would get a King Quad by Suzuki. They are bullet proof and will stay upright on side hills where other machines will want to tip over.

They aren't afraid of water either...

There ain't no question Polaris has the best ride but that's where "best" and Polaris stop.

KQ's are great as well. I had a 700 and I loved it.

I bought a used 2008 Rancher ES in 2010 and have beat the crap out of it in some pretty bad places. My brother has the same machine with manual shift. Neither have had an issue.

I have friends with the Foreman. Same basic machine, just bigger and more powerful. There are times where I wish I had more power, times I'm glad to have a more compact machine to maneuver into tight spots. I made my choice simply because it was the best deal at the time on a used machine. I could be happy with most any of them.

I volunteer with a group that searches for lost, and presumed dead folks. We have guys show up on almost all of the different machines and all of them seem to perform well.

I spent all day Saturday and Sunday along with 7-8 other guys searching a roughly 1 mile square clear cut area in South Carolina. We drove over and through brush most people wouldn't walk through. The low areas were often filled with water. We had one 4X2 that couldn't keep up, but the only time any of the others needed help was when we high centered on stumps we couldn't see in the brush.

What's the knock on Polaris? Reliability or what? I will look at the king quad. It seems like around here is is a better deal to buy new than what dealers and private party are asking for used.

Anything Honda makes is bullet proof. Don't walk away from the polaris garbage......run.

What about the Can Am outlander L series?

If that is the one made by Bombardier, run from that one to. If you choose not to buy the best of breed Honda, at least buy one of the other Japanese ones. (Yamaha, kawi or suzuki).

This^^

Stick to the jap quads, preferably Honda. I've got a 2002 rancher ES, never had a moments trouble out of it.

I will say that if trail riding is your purpose then IRS is nice to have.

My initial inclination was the Japanese models were best, but the Can Am has so many 'features' for the same price I just thought I would look. I have never owned a Honda outside of a generator, but they seem to have the reputation of being longest lived. Does independent rear suspension make a lot of difference. Most of my seat time has been on a Yamaha Big Bear full time 4x4 solid axle. Full time 4x4 sucks for sure.

Honda had “long-lasting” and “reliability” pretty well locked up for a long time with Yamaha hanging right in there. Polaris has always had the “ride” part figured out mores than the rest, but they’ve always been behind the reliability curve on their ATVs; their Sno-gos a whole different deal. Honda took a dive when they flipped the engine 90º to “improve” something. Lots of little things made them fall behind on the reliability aspect. I believe they are getting it back now, and most people who don’t run them a lot will never see a difference. The majority of people in roadless Alaska (most of the state by area) use ATVs for their primary vehicles. Around here, that market has long been cornered by Honda. In the last 10 years however there are more and more other brands. A few people try Polaris from time to time, but they never last. Yamaha and Bombardier have been getting more and more traction and are generally good machines, lasting as well or better than Hondas in many cases.

We currently have a 2011 Yamaha Grizzly 450 EPS with 12,700 miles. The CDI gave up on it, a pretty rare problem but perhaps related to the failure of another electrical component. I presently trying to sort that out.

I had to resurrect the old Eiger/King Quad 400 Suzuki we had previous to the Grizzly. The original Eiger I had rolled out of the boat when it was a month old and had barely 1000 miles on it. I discovered it floating in the ocean and had it out in less than 24 hours. Some of the electrical was toast but the engine, in spite of being fully submerged, had very little water inside. I got it running and drove it off the beach and had good service from it for the next 20,000-30,000 miles, albeit with regular electrical component failures as various parts suffered their prior saltwater bath. Eventually the frame and other mechanical parts began to suffer from salt degradation and it was parked. Meanwhile, the kids ran the new 400 King Quad engine to failure while in its first year while it was still under warrantee. I sent the engine in and got a free $1800 overhaul. A couple years later they did it again. At that point, with just over 12,000 miles on the frame, I parked it and began running Yamaha. Now, with the Yamaha needing electrical expertise, I decided to pull the still-running, well run old ’06 motor and put it in the newer frame. U-joints and some electrical plugs didn’t match perfectly so it required a bit more work than I anticipated, but I have the 10-year old Suzuki pulling as around again. I would agree with Shrapnel that they are pretty decent machines, though not my favorite. They are lighter than some, ride better than most, and have pretty decent engines and well-though-out engineering.

I wouldn’t turn down or sell off a Honda if it was given to me, but it wouldn’t be where I’d look if I was shopping new either.

Thank you for the detailed post, I appreciate it.

Funny you mention that. I like them... a lot. I'm not sure I like them as much as yamaha's though. My buddy is a salesmen at a dealership that sells Can-am and Yamaha. He's pushing the Can-am hard to me and slowly winning me over. They do require more maintenance than Honda or Yamaha, but they're a solid machine with damn good performance.

If you're not looking for a speed demon, take a look at the 450L. It has GREAT reviews, and tromps Honda in nearly all aspects of performance. They've not been around long enough to compare reliability.

HUGE!!! Difference. So does power steering. This site will be FULL of guys telling you, you don't need it. Well, you don't. But once you drive one with it, you won't go back.

Slow speed trails and work is where the PS shines. Same as the IRS.

I will chime in with others that are pro Honda. Very seldom go "trail riding", rather used for hunting and farm chores. First one was a 1986 Big Red three-wheeler then two 300 Ranchers (one was wrecked by hired man), currently a 2002 Foreman. They have all been low maintenance and no major issues.

I prefer the toe shift and solid axle, however when it is time for a new one will get power steering.

I also drive a Ford truck rather than Chevy or Dodge.

You're really not making a wrong choice with the Honda. I'm not sure how it could possibly be the wrong decision....so you at least have the Honda as a fall back if you can't decide