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| Honda Ribicon Review - Honda - ATVs - Can-Am Headquarters ...Aurora Wheelers ATV Forum | ||||||||||||||||
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outlandish AWF Admin 
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From Catfish at QuadSquad: Here is my honest review of the Honda Rubicon for all of you that have never driven, owned, or are thinking of buying. A review that will point out all of the good and bad parts of the Rubicon. The Rubicon is a mixed breed quad that works as well in the field pulling plows, or rear seeders as it does on the trails. The Rubicon is powered by a 499cc 4 valve push rod designed motor, while the push rod part of the motor is not as high tech as those quads with over head cams, it does a great job of providing power while keeping the weight low and it gives a safe footed non tippy feel to the quad. The Tranny is an engine driven hydrostatic transmission that delivers a seemingly shiftless flow of constant power, and enough low end power that it will impress the hardest of atv critics around. Both the motor and tranny share the same oil to operate , the hydrostatic transmission of the Rubicon has no belts to wear or slip, which IMO is a big plus. The Rubicon offers several different modes of operation to choose from. The rider can shift manually in ESP mode or the rider can choose auto mode. and let me tell you, I have yet to shift faster and smarter in ESP mode then the Honda's computer can do in auto. Both AUTO and ESP have their use's on the Rubicon. For working in the field using the plow, or pull behind seeder I prefer the ESP mode as I am able to keep a constant speed instead of having to fight the throttle all day long. For trails I like to leave it in the D1 auto mode and just cruise along with out having to worry about shifting. ESP is also nice for hill climbs and descent while leaving the Ruby in 1st gear low I'm able to crawl up very steep hills with ease and creep back down with very little or no braking at all, Some quads advertise engine braking but the Rubicon has to be driven down a steep hill to fully realize the engine braking performance of the Rubicon. The Rubicon has IMO the best engine braking of all quads on the market today. Speaking of brakes let's talk about the Rubicon brakes. The Rubicon use's Hydraulic drums in the front and a mechanical drum in the rear. Drum brakes are fine if your not riding in the mud and water 95% of the time. While the seals may be tripled eventually water-mud and grime will work it's way inside and will create havoc on your brakes if ridden in the mud and water all the time, Other wise they should perform great and give years of trouble free service. For those that love the mud and love the Rubicon High Lifter now offers a Disc Brake conversion kit for many of the Honda model's and the Rubicon is one of the model's that can be converted. If you are not a mud rider the brakes work and will perform as they should with proper care. IMO Honda should have installed disc brakes all the way around. Steering, being a full time 4 wheel limited slip drive quad I have to say that the Rubicon is one of the lightest steering full time 4 wheel drive's out there , when compaired to similar limited slip differential quads. The Rubicon has the "you point it , it will go attitude" 4x4 system, The Rubicon comes with a limited slip front differential which in laymen's terms means it tries to transfer power to the tire with the most traction, while it does a good job while all 4 tires are on the ground there may come a time when one front tire will be in the the air spinning and the other on the ground will do nothing. For serious mud riding or rock crawling I would suggest a Detroit Gearless Locker from HighLifter, if your not into mud and rocks and you keep your tires on the ground the 4x4 system works great. Being that the Rubicon is a Full Time 4 wheel drive quad, the steering is not as light as a quad with two wheel drive, having said that, Warn Ind, has come out with a wonderful after market kit called the Warn 424 which enables the Rubicon and many other full time 4 wheel drive quads the ability to switch from 4 wheel to 2 wheel drive at will. The warn 424 is a very nice feature to add to the Rubicon as it will lighten the already light steering as well as allowing for both front and rear brakes to be operated separately. It brings a new level to the Rubicon by allowing the quad to have both 2 wheel drive and 4 wheel drive at the will of the rider. Suspension = The rubicon has double A-arms in the front while the rear is a solid axle both front and rear have twin non adjustable shock's. While the Rubicon is a non IRS quad the ride is surprisingly smooth. The fixed spring and damping setting's offer a wide range of use in all conditions. By no means will the Rubicon have the soft Cadillac ride of a quad with IRS it does have a great ride for a solid rear axle. The seat the part of any quad that get's used the most , the Rubicon has one of the hardest seats that I have ever sat MBOB ( my big ol butt) on, a gel seat will greatly increase the joy factor of the ride. The Rubicon needs a softer seat!!! Fenders = The Rubicon has some of the best fenders that I have ever seen, with full wrap around the tire protection that not only keeps the mud off of the rider but also keeps the rocks , pebbles , sand off the rider that the tires can kick up. Tires = the Rubicon comes with Dirt Hooks which are a good 2 ply tire , while not a mud tire they do well under normal riding and working condtions. Over all rating = if 10 was the best and 0 the worse, I would have to give the Rubicon a strong 8.5 , The Rubicon could be a 10 if Honda would add disc brakes all the way around and give it a softer seat, Those two things are what is stopping it from being a 10 Although I gave it an 8.5 I am 100% satisfied with what the Rubicon can and does do. The most attractive part of the Rubicon that set's it apart from other solid rear axle quads is the Tranny, with a seemingly never ending amount of grunt power and the ability to choose from auto to esp brings a new level to the ATV world. Thanks catfish Great, honest review catfish!........outlandish
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