thinking of buying a rubicon - tell me the truth

Welcome brando

Here is my 'Opinion' on the Rubicon

I have an '05 with just over 6100 trouble free
miles and ride in extreme conditions from 25°
to over 115° Mountains & Deserts

Most of what I know about electrical issues
are from running in water without taking the
time to put some electrical grease on the connections.

A buddy of mine has a resort and pulls large
boats and fish houses and has not had any
issues and there about a dozen people that
work his machine and they beat it very well.

Sometimes when problems arise things get
a little carried away...IMO

The thing I really like about the Rubicon is it's
like having three machines in one with the drive line set up,No belts I've never owned a IRS quad
but after riding all day in the desert heat I can
still walk and really like the CTE shocks I just installed.

In closing, I spend more time riding then having
it worked on and to me thats what it's all about !
and it changes as my riding style does not many machines can say that

QUOTE ("brando")

Hey guys. I am buying an atv early next year, and I was leaning heavily toward the Rubicon, but after reading posts on this sight the last few days, I'm having second thoughts about it.

Are these machines really as troublesome as some of these posts make them out to be? Are the transmissions really that fragile?

It seems like almost everyone has had transmission failure of some kind, and it seems that electric problems are pretty common.

So, what I want to know is, what is the real deal with these machines? Did I just focus on the bad posts and not read many of the good posts?

Please help.

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If you are concerned about the reliability of this bike don't give it a second thought. I have a 1100 km's on my bike and it feels the same has the day that I purchased it. Now that isn't such a big deal, however, My brother recommended this bike to me and I just had some seat time on his. His Rubicon is a 2002 and has 14000 km's (8800 miles) and it has been driven by his son, who is nineteen and let me just say he doesn't baby this machine. He showed me some of the thing he does with the bike and lets just say he will not be getting my bike anytime soon.

Anyway, my brother told me that the quad is 100% original except for the tires. Only time in the shop was for oil changes (and that has only happened 4 times sense he had it.). And when I took it for a test drive it still felt tight, like a new bike. Amazine.

My buddy's Grizzly is an 2003 and it has 4000 km's on it. Had some fun when it was new with the diff loc and the IRS. However, now the machine is 4 years old and constant work on the ball joints and coolent system. Always get towed back to camp. He got tired of it and bought a new 700 Yamaha, but just wait in about 4 years or so.

The Rubicon do not have the features of the Grizzly, however, I go everywhere they go and have far less problems. Again, if you planning to keep your bike for a long time and you don't want to be spending lots of money on repairs, Honda is the only way to go. If you want features ( things like diff loc, IRS, EFI) than Grizzly, King Quad or Can Am are a better choices.

My opinion Go with the Rubicon. Its a great system.

QUOTE ("Newt")

I perfer sra to irs because a foreman is a real work horse and an irs is weak and can't tow a load. Give me a sra anytime over a weak irs.

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I agree, a SRA certainly in an important feature on some bikes and for a lot of people this is the only way to go. However, there are a lot of people riding this machines now and everyones needs and wants are different. For me I need a machine that can plow snow do light yard work and be very corfortable on a long trail ride. I don't need, nor do I want, more than 500 cc of power and the Rubicon does nearly everthing that I require in a quad. However, I think that it would be a much better machine if it had IRS.

I don't want a Rincon, cause it does have low gear and just a 3 speed tranny.

I feel that Honda has a very good work machine in the Foreman and I don't think that they should change one thing on that bike. It is the perfect work machine, but to have another work machine in the 500 cc class that is very similar to the foreman in everyway except tranny and Liquid cooled is silly.

With it's auto tranny and the reputation of reliability the Rubicon has if they put IRS on this bike ( and maybe EFI) I would bet that it would be the best selling quad on the market. They would not beable to keep this thing on the showroom floor and the waiting list for a bike like this would be years. Once again, they HAVE a 500 cc work bike. A lot of Honda people are going to Yamaha, suzuki, Can Am ,Polaris and Artic Cat to get the 500cc Trail bike that they want. Most do not want to leave Honda but a lot of these people feel if Honda isn't willing to change than they have to.

The IRS system on the Rincon is second to none and it would work perfactly on the Rubicon.