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Bman

To Flip or not to Flip.

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So I've come to the point of fixing up my Foreman to either doll up the cosmetics on the Foreman and Flip the quad. (Was the original plan.)  OR. Boot the Grizzly 600 on down the road and keep the Foreman.  

 

The pros and cons of each as I see them. 

 

Grizzly pros. I've already been all through the quad. Fresh piston and rings too. Brand New tires.   Automatic. Serviced clutch and new belt.  Already has front disc brakes and all brakes are working well.  Also has in and out front diff.   Runs well and is in decent shape. Ground clearance is better as well. 

 

Grizzly cons. Not as reliable as a Honda. Parts aren't so easy to come by for the 600 grizzlies.  Most service parts are easy to get. However replacement drivetrain parts or engine parts like say a top end rebuild kit for example can't be had.  You can get oversize piston and rings but no complete cylinder and all kits.  Engine is cold natured. Possibly the only quad I've owned that actually needs to warm up for a minute before riding. However the carb may not be right.  It's a big quad. And its known for having stability issues due to its increased height and weight.  

 

Honda pros. These a very robust machines. Possibly the toughest. So reliability is in my mind is a mark above the Grizzles. Headlights are a much better design. Digital dash is nice.  The Honda does run better.  Parts are for the most part common and plentiful.  Could need a top end tomorrow and I can get a whole kit from Amazon no problem. Can also find most drivetrain parts readily available.   And in that regard I see it being sustainable further into the future than the grizzly. 

 

Honda cons. Factory drum brakes.  They are awful. Obviously going disc makes things equal, but thats more money. Even fixing the drums aren't cheap.  Electric shift. I Hesitate to List as a con because it honestly is a nice system to me. But it does occasionally act out from what I've read and relies on sensors and ecm to control it. I can see where it would awfully annoying to have it act out in the middle of ride.  There is a bypass kit to eliminate these problems, but again. More money.  All time 4x4. Some consider it a pro some consider It a con. To me it's a con. Being able to switch out of 4x4 is pretty nice. Especially in trails you just don't want to be fighting the 4x4 when you don't need it.  Again this can be remedied but not without either lucking up finding discontinued parts for high prices. Or swapping In the later differential and minor fab work.  Honestly my biggest gripe about the Honda. 

 

Things I consider a toss up. 

 

Power.  Now the grizzly is more powerful, but honestly not by a HUGE difference.  Honda wouldn't have any issue keeping up on trails. Maybe not in a straight line.  

 

Ride.  The grizzly does have the on the fly adjustment for the rear suspension. For soft or harder suspension. However the Honda seems to kinda split that difference nicely. Front end seems similar in ride quality. 

 

Suspension. Both are solid rear axles. Honda is dual shock. Grizzly is single adjustable.   The grizzly is McPherson strut front while the Honda is more traditional double a arm.    Honestly Im not sure which is really better. 

 

Both have full footboards. Honda is plastic and the grizzly is all steel. Or aluminum depending on year. Grizzly looks to have better skid plates.  

 

So what it comes down to is the grizzly has alot of options the Honda would have to have added to it. But the Honda is much cheaper, more reliable, and easier to obtain parts. And can have the options added with time. 

 

I know this is a Honda forum and theirs likely bias towards Hondas haha but what do you guys think? Spend the money and double down on the Foreman and make it what I want. Or flip the quad and keep the grizzly. 

 

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Long term, keep the Honda, make it like you want it.  Honda parts are cheaper, easier to work on, and more readily available.

 

Yes, it will cost you some money to upgrade the 450, but in the end you'll have what you want, and it will be much easier to keep going a long time in the future.

 

Another big plus you didn't mention.....Hondas don't have belts, so there is no belt to wear out.

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13 minutes ago, jeepwm69 said:

Long term, keep the Honda, make it like you want it.  Honda parts are cheaper, easier to work on, and more readily available.

 

Yes, it will cost you some money to upgrade the 450, but in the end you'll have what you want, and it will be much easier to keep going a long time in the future.

 

Another big plus you didn't mention.....Hondas don't have belts, so there is no belt to wear out.

 

 

Well I was originally on the same boat about belts. But honestly I've never had to replace one for anything other than age. I'd also rather be replacing a belt than cracking open a engine to do clutches.  However belt slip is very annoying. Where as good ole gears just keeps going. 

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3 minutes ago, Bman said:

 

 

Well I was originally on the same boat about belts. But honestly I've never had to replace one for anything other than age. I'd also rather be replacing a belt than cracking open a engine to do clutches.  However belt slip is very annoying. Where as good ole gears just keeps going. 

 I haven't ever had to replace an ATV clutch.  That usually only comes with abuse or using the wrong oil.

 

If you had an 01-04 Rubicon, 400 Rancher, or one of the "iffy"er Hondas, I might see differently, but the 450's are among the best....

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Yeah I've done two. First was incorrect oil on a Yamaha and the second was actually a foreman 400.  Though that thing was rode hard and put up wet and sunk who knows how many times.   

 

The electric shift kinda spooks me. My papaw had an S and an ES that he bought new for his wife. And he left that ES in the building cause he said that thing never acted right and water would screw up the shifting.  So far this one works great after fixing the fuse socket. And it's actually very nice to ride.   But I haven't had it down in water. 

 

I used to hate automatics as I always thought the belts would just get wet in water and you'd be SOL. But I rode a Polaris for awhile and found out that's not as common as I thought.  Heck I had it down in a creek for over an hr straight once. Water plenty high. And it never offered to slip once. And I know the clutch cover had cracks in it. 

 

I'd keep them both but I know I'd pick a favorite eventually and the other would just sit around collecting dust.  

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38 minutes ago, Bman said:

Yeah I've done two. First was incorrect oil on a Yamaha and the second was actually a foreman 400.  Though that thing was rode hard and put up wet and sunk who knows how many times.   

 

The electric shift kinda spooks me. My papaw had an S and an ES that he bought new for his wife. And he left that ES in the building cause he said that thing never acted right and water would screw up the shifting.  So far this one works great after fixing the fuse socket. And it's actually very nice to ride.   But I haven't had it down in water. 

 

I used to hate automatics as I always thought the belts would just get wet in water and you'd be SOL. But I rode a Polaris for awhile and found out that's not as common as I thought.  Heck I had it down in a creek for over an hr straight once. Water plenty high. And it never offered to slip once. And I know the clutch cover had cracks in it. 

 

I'd keep them both but I know I'd pick a favorite eventually and the other would just sit around collecting dust.  

 

Well get both is always the correct answer.  Maybe hang onto both of them for a bit and see which one you find yourself on more.

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Well a new possiblity has come up.  May be looking at a trade to a 2008 rancher 420. With boot on my end but not sure how much he's thinking yet. 

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I would keep the foreman.  That’s just me.

 

I have rebuilt several 420s. They are fun machines to ride but they have crappy rear ends, crappy transmissions, and will not hold up anywhere near as well as a 450

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1 hour ago, jeepwm69 said:

I would keep the foreman.  That’s just me.

 

I have rebuilt several 420s. They are fun machines to ride but they have crappy rear ends, crappy transmissions, and will not hold up anywhere near as well as a 450

That's true but they fixed the 4th gear problem somewhere around 2009? Then in 2014 it went to a much stronger base......same as the 500 Foreman

 

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Thanks for the heads up. I'll stay away from it then.  I was interested in the Fuel injection and the selectable 4wd. But if it's just gonna break down on me all the time I'll pass on it. Guy said he wanted 800$ on top of the Foreman

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26 minutes ago, Misterclean said:

That's true but they fixed the 4th gear problem somewhere around 2009? Then in 2014 it went to a much stronger base......same as the 500 Foreman

 

I’ve had to replace the crank in every 420 I’ve been into.

 

4th gear on the early models

 

Crappy 300 esqe rear ends 

 

Crappy fuel pumps

 

Lots of sensors 

 

The newer ones might have some improvements but they’re on a Foreman frame so why not just get the Foreman at that point?

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2 hours ago, jeepwm69 said:

I’ve had to replace the crank in every 420 I’ve been into.

 

4th gear on the early models

 

Crappy 300 esqe rear ends 

 

Crappy fuel pumps

 

Lots of sensors 

 

The newer ones might have some improvements but they’re on a Foreman frame so why not just get the Foreman at that point?

I've owned four 2008, 2009, 2014, 2017. Never had one problem. I just have the 14 and 18 today. Replaced the tie rod end on the 14 about a year ago. ps....mine were all 2wd manual shift LOL

 

Edited by Misterclean

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21 minutes ago, Misterclean said:

I've owned four 2008, 2009, 2014, 2017. Never had one problem. I just have the 14 and 18 today. Replaced the tie rod end on the 14 about a year ago. ps....mine were all 2wd manual shift LOL

 

Well you need to put big tires on them, pop wheelies, and use them as boats like the rest of us!  Then you could have some problems!

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I have two 2011 Grizzly 350 2WD and a 03 Kodiak 400 at work. 

Pro:

very simple machine; carriers, fenders seem easy to source compared to Honda. single left hand shifter lever, F, N, R. simple four light dash panel.


Con: I don’t like the parking brake lever. The rear brakes are terrible. Fuel tank is really high up on the frame. Easy to break stuff on this thing. Batteries are very narrow and hard to source (had to buy Moose).

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16 hours ago, jeepwm69 said:

Well you need to put big tires on them, pop wheelies, and use them as boats like the rest of us!  Then you could have some problems!

I put over sized tires and wheels from a 500 Foreman on the 2014 for about two years. I took them off just a few weeks ago because the power is much better but a little less plush ride. I have two sons in laws and another young in law's  brother that rode them at full throttle doing drag races, donuts for a few months before I had to ask them to tone it down a little. I drag race it on occasion and cut donuts for my grandson but don't make it a habit.

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