I'm about to buy another quad and would like to hear some thoughts about the 02' Rancher ES 4X4. I already have a 300 King Quad but am looking for a 2nd quad with alittle more power. Mostly ride trails and use for light work around the house. I have had 2 Honda street bikes and never had a problem. I like the thought of the ES for my girlfriend to ride but is it dependable?? How well does the front dif. work?? Any negative points?? Thanks for any info . jhd

 

jhd,
you'll find the Rancher ES to be a very dependable ATV.I see folks ride both the Foreman ES and Rancher ES quads often.We also have alot of 350 and 450 Honda riders in our ATV association.Honda only raised the price of their ES model ATVs 200 bucks over the floor shift models,and you get full instrumention and full floor boards with the ES models to,quit a bargain.

Bill

 

I really like my Rancher 4x4 ES. The steering is very light for a fulltime 4x4, I nearly passed on the Rancher because it was unable to switch to 2x4. For me, I made the right choice. I love the electric shift, I have had no mech or maintenance issues, I am a stickler for maintenance... but I have not logged enough miles to give an honest appraisal. That issue is why I bought Honda though, I have had very little problem with Honda products and felt the dealers are generally better equipped to handle problems than other bikes I have owned. Course that may be a local issue. So far I could not be more pleased, light steering, good power with transverse engine, basic and solid with a few frills (instrumentation cluster). [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

I own a 2000 rancher 2x4 and i have 1200 miles on it and have never had a problem with it and it has all the power you need.I use mine to plow snow and trail ride.

 

Jhd,
I have an 01 Rancher 4wd ES and have to say it is a great quad. The only drawback is that you cannot select from the 2wd/4wd option like the yamahas. However, you could install an unlocker like I am in the process of doing, and then you will have that option. I also have a Recon for my wife and as much as we love it, she likes the power and the ES of the Rancher (02 Recon's have an ES option). Its funny you mentioned the front diff. I just put mine back together. The reason I took it apart was I read in other more informative forums recently that some Rancher,Foreman, and Rubicon owners were finding that the inner bolts were coming loose inside the diff and blowing the front diff apart. So when I heard this I spent the time with the help of a few Knowledgable people and decided to check mine before it happened to me. It was a fun and excellent experience doing this project might I say, when all was said and done the inner bolts were loctited and tourqued to MFG. specs. So it was just a preventitive measure. Wow, this is getting lengthy. Bottom line, you are buying an excellent quad with the name Honda on it. As far as the front diff problem I mentioned, I guy told me last week that it pertained to the 2000 models. Good luck!

 

I was just reading other posts on the rancher limited slip and they say "its a crook" so it must kinda suck...almost all of them say the have one wheel about a foot in the air spinning and none of its power going to the other wheel...