Honda Rancher or Polaris Sportsman?

[quackadikt]

Nothing but love for Hondas from me. BUT, I've had a Susuki KingQuad 500 with EPS for the last 5 years and have been all over the Gila & Lincoln NF, and lots of BLM land. I love the thing. It might leave me stranded in a couple of weeks on my turkey hunt for saying this, but it hasn't had one single problem, and is a pretty comfy ride to boot.

[CaptainDave]

Honda has a cult following and some people quote the line verbatim even if they never owned one. With that said, much of that following is due to years of providing very reliable machines.

Honda no question gets the reliability nod. However, if ride quality, better ergonomics, technology, etc., are important to you, better look at some other brands. Sure, Honda has moved forward with things like independent rear suspension, power steering, etc. Well, Yamaha and Polaris had these options years before Honda.

Personally, I'd go look a Yamaha. They also get decent nods on reliability, but also are more current on features and often have a slightly lower price point than Honda. At the end of the day, all of the major brands are reliable if ridden and maintained properly.

[BigDraw]

Got a 2000 Polaris sportsman 700. Only an alternator in 18 years. I am sold

Same here, I have 2 sportsman and have had no problems

[tigerscowboy]

I'm HONDA all day.

[OldRiverRat]

have a honda rancher i bought new in 2004 best machine ive ever owned in terms of reliability. I've owned 3 wheelers, 4 wheelers, boats/outboards in almost every color since i was about 10, i wouldn't even think twice about buying any other brand atv. nothing but batteries in 14 years and a very occasional oil change, everything else stock and i work the he&& out of it on the farm. you may find a better ride, although i'm not really sure what that means as i've never really been concerned about independent suspension or power steering on a 4 wheeler so all that doesn't really matter to me not to mention the cost that comes along with it. I just want something that starts every time i get on it and gets me from point a to b without fail and the rancher has always done that. I ran polaris back when i was guiding, strong machines but always something wrong with them and parts were expensive.

[RascalArms]

I love my '03 Rancher and there's not a lot of places it won't go in 4wd. That being said, I'm getting old...may look into selling it before long to get a side by side. Oh...and I would love to have power steering.

[justintyme8303]

Ive owned both and will never own another straight axle bike. IRS for sure no matter what i buy.

I would be interested to hear what all issues people have personally had with their sportsmans.

[savin yours]

We got a brand new rancher back in ‘03, the only thing we’ve had to do is new battery(once) and fix the carb(float stuck). In fact, I just go a new Mule Pro last week and me and the wife discussed selling the rancher.....not happening. We probly won’t use it much at all, but it’s in GREAT shape! Honda, period!


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[MQ32Shooter]

Got an 89 Recon and mid 80’s Rancher. The Recon I got new. The Rancher was used about 14 years ago. Neither one has ever been in the shop. How does that happen??

[sideways]

You can buy a new 2017 rancher irs for $6299 plus ttl


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[savin yours]

You can buy a new 2017 rancher irs for $6299 plus ttl


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Where’s that? Great price


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[sideways]

Cycle Shack north Conroe TX


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[alec73065]

I’ve only had Honda’s since my big red in the 80’s. Tried Polaris a couple of years ago, bought two brand new sportsman for my kids and they both broke down the first weekend I owned them. Over a year they were in the shop more than I had them. After 12 months the dealer took them back and I got two Honda’s. Those Polaris had less than 30 miles on them after a year and our family normally would trail ride over 50 miles in a weekend in northern Minnesota . My Honda’s in the same year had over a thousand miles put on them. I think I towed those Polaris most of those miles.

[Csjonespilot]

I have owned several Polaris Atvs and Rangers. I have been increasingly disappointed in the customer service from Polaris on recalls and reoccurring issues. I bought a 2014 Foreman with manual transmission. I love it for work and play. I have another friend in the forestry industry that has proven it is the most reliable when trying to make a living with them.

[Pineywoods Paul]

I own one of each.

Honda is the superior vehicle.