Wife and I are looking at getting a 450 size ATV. I've narrowed it down to Honda and Yamaha. Both seem to be very reliable and purpose built. Our main uses for the ATV will be around the property to haul a few thing around(hay, horse feed, etc) and roading the dogs off of it to condition them for field trialing. Probably will get used daily, maybe 1 hour+/- per day.

I'm looking for feedback on either of these brands, problems, things to avoid.

Thanks

 

Dad has a yamaha kodiak, seems like a really good bike. I've been out of the atv market for awhile, but I know the Yamaha uses a cvt trans, I think the honda 450's are either manual shift or electric shift. They don't have the put it in gear and go.....I believe they have it on there bigger bikes 500cc and up. I like the put it in gear and go feature personally.

 

That is a tough decision to make. I have been pro Honda pretty much all my life. Are you talking about the Honda Foreman or Rancher? The Foreman has power steering this year, which is a very nice feature. If you plow snow or haul heavy on the front, it is a life saver. I am not sure about the Yamaha utilities but all of their sport ATV's have greasable suspension joints and I really like that.

To be honest, you could flip a coin and not go wrong with either one.

 

Man thats like comparing a Chevy to a GMC. lol! All i can say is my 85 Honda 250 three wheeler hasn't let me down yet!

 

Tough choice, but for the sake of comparison, I'd pick the Honda over the Yamaha primarily on the motor. I've owned plenty of both brands, but now I am sold on the Arctic Cat. I've owed an 03 500i(Suzuki motor), manual shift for over 4 years, and it has never missed a beat. I use it for everything around the property, heck, I even use it to pull 7K lb trucks into my building on occasion.

 

I've always gone be the moto......."Ride Red". That being said, along with my two Honda's, I now also have a Yamaha in my garage.

 

Probably what we'd be looking at is either the Yamaha Grizzly 450 Auto 4x4 or the Honda Foreman Auto 4x4.

 

Which is priced better? What kinda deals do they have on financing? I looked at can am recently and they had something like 0% for 6 months...

Another important one is warranty. Who has the best of the 2? When I looked at Can Am they had a 3 year warranty IIRC.

Not saying you should buy a can am by any means... I was just telling you a couple things that can sway someone like me.

 

As said above they're both great machines.
My blood bleeds blue tho (Yamaha).
I've owned a '87 Bigbear 350 4x4 - Good machine, rebuilt it in '01
A '02 Yamaha Kodiak 400CC automatic 4x2/2x4 option.
No negatives to it besides if you got it sunk in water up over the hood the belts would slip.
And currently have a YFZ-450 looking to get rid of.

Only thing I would look for when purchasing a fourwheeler would be disk brakes the whole way around, and transmission setups.

 

Ive owned Hondas for years but because of a problem I had with the local honda dealer I bought a Arctic Cat 650 this time.
Its a GREAT machine and will keep buying them and supporting a Americian company instead of a Japanese company.
I use mine for work and use it hard and its every bit as good as the Hondas Ive owned .

 

If you are going to use it for just chores, then honda, the yamy has better ride and susp. for doing trails and in the bush. the honda design is getting pretty dated, I have 1 yamaha the wifes, and I have a 500 polaras, for in the bush and trail riding, plus I plow with it all winter, the 400 - 500 clas are great as there still small enough to pick thru trails, my brotherinlaw has the 450 yamy and it has been bullet proof so far, and we ride the bags off these things.

 

I'd go honda if your going that size, I had a foreman 450 and abused the heck out of it, took a long time and lots of sinking in the water before the engine finally gave up on me. I had a big bear 400 and everytime i went riding i'd be working on it during the week so i can ride it again. My friends ride suzukis and they all tear up, couldn't give me one of those things. That being said for the size you want i'd go the foreman, thats what i used to ride and thats what my dad has now and its a great bike. When i get one I'm gonna get the can-am outlander 800 .

 

Get a foreman 500. we have two new 07's. They are great bikes

 

There is no comparison. i WAS a diehard honda fan of ATV's but they have fallen behind. The only way to go now is Artic Cat. they have the most ground clearance, best travel and a pretty nice price tag. You should really look into these.

 

Looks like I need to go out and look at them again. I agree that Honda's probably have the name and engine reputation but also as mentioned their design seems a bit dated and of course your paying for the Honda name.

I need to find a dealer around me and take a look at the Arctic Cat. A friend of mine had an older one that was a 2000 and it was very hard to start during the winter(go figure). However it was a very tough ATV and for being a 2x4 never once did we ever get it stuck. I guess my main reason for avoiding it was the front rack. Did not look nearly as well built as the Honda or Yamaha and I need to mount a roading bar across the front of it to run the dogs off of. With the dogs pulling on it I don't know if it would hold up.

Does anyone have any experience with the difference between the steering assist? What kind of feedback do you get through the handlebars? Is there a difference in feedback over a non-steer assist ATV?

Reason i'm asking is I broke my left wrist back in October riding a bombadier(sp?) out in Iowa. Going cross the top of a ridge doing about 25 and hit a hole with the ATV, stopping it dead, and the handle bar jacked back and broke my wrist then flipped me over the front. Had this been a Honda/Yamaha/Arctic Cat it would have glided right over the hole. Anyway the wrist is better now but I still dont have 100% flexibility or strength out of it and my wife is worried i'm going to break it again. So if I can reduce feedback and the amount of force needed to turn that handlebar by getting the Honda w/ steering assist I'm all for that.

Thanks for all the opinions and first hand experience its a big help!