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After 25 years of ATV experience I have decided to write a review. I have always owned honda atv's with a few polaris models in the mix. Although I liked the 500 sportsman(96), I found it nickle and dimed me and required more attention than my 2001 rubicon and my 07 rincon.
The rubicon had 8500km on it when sold and had original brakes and tires. It was amazing for reliability and it's combination work and trail capabilities.
My Rincon is a very comfortable trail machine that handles extremely well in tight conditions. The downside of this machine is the three speed auto tranny feels like it needs a fourth gear and some kind of engine break. This bike is borderline dangerous when descending steep rocky terrain.
If these transmission issues were addressed by honda this would be one amazing bike.
In closing I would like to stress the most important features to me that no reviews seem to touch on. First, reliability is the bomb I take my honda on a run, hose it off and it's ready for next time. Second, longevity, look through sales flyers and record the bikes with over 10k and 90% or more will be hondas. Over 20k will all be hondas with a few over 30k. Third, Why does no-one want to talk about fuel consunption?
Polaris sportsman 500 25mpg
Honda rubicon 500 27mpg
Honda rincon 680 29mpg
These were my last 3 and suspect the rincon might be the best yet as the others improved with milage and I currently have 2k on mine. We'll see!