re: Bought a new atv- junk? UPDATE page 4

If you do end up swithching to another manufacturer, I would highly recommend Suzuki. They offer a similar bike to the one you bought too. The Kingquad 400fs. I, like many people, specifically wanted a foot shift bike because of reliability and its what I grew up with. I've been riding Suzuki quads for 25 years. Never had a drive train problem. Heck, only a few problems of any kind really. I have a 2008 400fs 4x4. Never touched it except for routine maintenance and to change an axle after a CV boot busted from a stick. I'll take a Suzuki over a Honda any day and all day.

quote:

---

Well the rest of the atv world disagrees considering Hondas with manual transmission have been their best selling forever.

---

Polaris might tend to disagree there, seeing as how starting in around 98 their market share began to make leaps and bounds. Honda manual 4 wheelers name make up less than 25% of total ATV sales.

Honda's sales numbers have trended down since the late 90s. Right Bout the time they started outsourcing parts from Thailand and their reliability started trending down.

quote:

---

There was a 17 Kodiak and 16 grizzly in our lease this year and both had issues in the deep mud and water.

---

Both bikes have intake/exhausts that are higher than anything Honda sells. If they got water in their belt housings, they also got water into their engines. At that point, not moving is the least of their worries.

Only a Honda buyer would defend the brand in a thread where the OPs bike was defective day one.

Those numbers for Alum, Iron, and Copper are way out of line which indicates lots of internal engine wear. Demand a better unit that one sucks

Talked to them this morning. Dealer says they are exchanging it for a 2016 rancher, same options except red, still in the crate, not with 260 cold starts. Gotta figure out a way to cover that red up. He also said it wasn't intentional, which I don't believe.
Anyway, I guess they are making it right, as he already had the paperwork to switch finances, etc.

why do you need to cover the red

Have it vinyl wrapped.

Make them change the plastic. Only cost them 4-500 probably....dont get camo, that shite peels off in a few months with zero abuse.

Why would he put a root hog sticker on it when he could put a script A on it? Then it would be an awesome wheeler.

I do see it a lot in units that a store has and they run it from inside to the front and back inside.

Issue is I call it short trip syndrome but there is a technical term for it.
It is where the unit was ran for a short period of time and never allowed to warm up so the moisture builds up in the oil. Oil will come out looking like chocolate milk nice and foamy.

Issue I see is a lot of corrosion on the cylinder wall and seem some small engine freeze up.

It is common and not a good symptom to have. A smart dealer would have checked the oil, found the issue, and changed the oil & filter. That tells me they also did not inspect the unit.

Hey what do I know I repair more small engines (utv's, comoact tractors, mowers) in a month between 4 locations than most dealers repair in 6 months.

We have had Hondas for maybe 20 years now starting with a foreman, then rancher 420 manuals (must be 5 or 6 now) ever since. We run them every single day of the year. Tons of miles, tons of idling , through rice fields, pulling 1500 pounds of crawfish on a trailer, loaded with spray rigs, you name it. have never had any issues. Completely sank a few in drainage canals, change the oil and good to go.

Point is, they're typically good, reliable bikes.