I am looking at buying an 4 wheeler for the new year. Plan to use it for deer hunting an trail riding in the mountains of NM and CO. Ive been looking at Hondas and Yamahas. Anyone have any experiences good or bad. Probably looking between 400 and 600cc.

Get a Yamaha Grizzly 700. One of the most smoothest and easy driving out there and very reliable too.

If you want speedy 4x4s go look at Can-Am.

Honda with foot shift or automatic...not a fan of the electronic thumb shift(battery problems and it keeps your hands pretty tied up)

Yamaha or Honda---- the 2 best choices on the market.

Love my 2007 Honda Foreman 500. Plenty powerful and has been very reliable.

Grew up with Hondas. The MOST reliable in my opinion hands down. I have a 450 with electric shift, but would prefer foot shift personally, just less to go wrong. But I'm old school!
Have heard good and bad of all brands, but few issues with a Honda. There are some nice options on all brands, so tough choice tho. Have two Hondas in the garage now and wouldn't trade them.

Honda. They have been good to me over the years. The only drawback is they are not American.

Grew up with Honda as well ... +1

Another vote for Honda.....can't go wrong with them.....

Thank guess Ill go ride some hondas and pick one out.

Both good. I have a yamaha and have never had an issue. Pick one with the best suspension and clearance and ride. Over 400 is plenty powerful for most applications.

Do yourself a favor and go check out a Kawasaki Brute Force after you've looked at everything else. You'll see the difference and buy one if you're serious about getting a quality ATV.

Rincon 680 hands down

Two Honda in the garage, both are 2004 foremans with over 4000 miles. Simple maintnance and they will run forevever. Check out the Honda Rincon, the GF said I could buy ne if mine ever quit, hmmm to bad it's never let me down.

Drive belt issues and poor gas mileage are only two things I don't like about a Brute Force.

I've got 2 Arctic Cat 650 H1 sitting at the house.

And their made right here in the great USA.

If I were getting one tomorrow, it would be a Honda Recon or Fourman.

Well, I grew up with Hondas too, but switched to Polaris for my latest one. The ride and handling on the Polaris far surpasses the Honda. Honda was the leader in this industry for over ten years but got lazy and quickly fell behind. They are playing catch up now and may again soon be the leader.
Do yourself a favor and test drive a Polaris so you can make your own comparison. I will say that whatever you get, make sure it is fuel injected. Switching out carberator jets when going to the mountains can be a hassle.

I have been riding Polaris ATV's since 1993 and don't think they can be beat!! I currently have a 800 Sportsman and a 500 Sportsman.

Whatever brand you buy, 500 is all the power that you really need, but DEFINITELY get a 4x4 if you plan on using it out west, especially in the snow!!!

HONDA… hands down… It’s not American unfortunately however it seems these days that only makes it more dependable…. HONDA on time every time…

My opinion is to stick to a Honda.I have a 2004 450 Foreman, and it has been put to the test. Do not get an electric shift or a belt drive in any brand.

To all the experts here who believe the Honda's are not American made, let me say, WRONG!.

Most all of the Honda ATV's are made at Honda's plant in Marysville, Ohio.

As for the best ATV. It's the one you like the best. Some of the different features your looking at that separates each quad would be disc brakes, fuel injection, power steering, independent rear suspension, and automatic or manual.

I would say that if your riding in higher altitudes, fuel injection is a plus. Most prefer disc brakes to drum. Power steering can be nice if you ride for long periods of time or have oversize mud tires on the front. The independent rear suspension can also make for a more comfortable ride, but if you have oversize mud tires, who cares how comfortable the ride is? As for auto or manual, most all the larger engines are automatic. That is to say anything larger than a 500 cc. If you insist on a manual, your really limited to a 500 or smaller. I will say that Honda makes the only auto's that are not belt driven. All other makes have belt driven automatics. This can be a good thing or bad thing. It all depends on how you ride. Some makes have better belt drive systems than others, and you may end up having to change belts from time to time.

+1

Go take them for a test spin and see which one you like. They all kind of ride different. I had a yamaha and never had an issue one with it. Guys on my old lease had polaris and they seemed to have more power and handle better. One downfall though is the camo pattern turns purple on some of the older models. (I heard they fixed that now, but I would check to make sure)

The guy I bought mine from gets a new "used" inventory every month from the auction. He buys 10-20 ATV's a month. Said he pretty much only deals with yamaha and honda b/c they don't have the "problems" that the others have? Not sure of everything he is talking about, but he has much more knowledge on these things than most.

Good luck... and let us know how you decide to go.

I've got a Polaris 800 with tracks and wheels that has been nothing but problems. Broken axle being the largest complaint but many other minor problems. It will go anywhere but always needs something done to it.

Had a Yamaha 125 for my daughter. It was new and was in constant need of tune ups and was cold blooded to say the least. It didn't have EFI but still...a pain.

I bought a used Arctic Cat 550 EFI about a two years ago and it has run like a dream (unless it is in waist deep mud) so I traded up on the Yamaha for X-Mas and got a new Arctic Cat 550EFI holdover for my daughter.

Just my experiences...but the Arctic Cat has seemed to be the easiest, most reliable of all...

have only had experience with Honda's. The ones we have had have been good enough that there was no reason to ever consider anything else. The last ones we bought, a 2003 450ES Foreman and a 2003 Rincon have been flawless