Off Roading This is a first for me

Picked up a 2016 Honda FourTrax Rancher 4X4 DTC yesterday. It's not the biggest out there but it will do everything I need and then some and yes this is my very first four wheeler. Whenever I needed a four wheeler I was always borrowing and having one for my trips to Colorado was always a plus. I hesitated on a purchase because I didn't want one sitting idle between trips until I discovered there are atv parks near Fort Worth. Now, I will have a reason to get out of the house on the weekends and be able to explore the trails in Colorado.

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Congrats on your purchase. I hope you have many years of enjoyment with it.

I'm not the one to talk to about idle time between uses. Mine is 10 years old this year. Approx 175 miles total on the machine now. All plowing snow around the house with it. I don't believe it has ever been on a trail.

 

Hey Scott, Congratulations, that's way cool. I've been thing of getting one. Just don't know how I'd tow it and the 5er at the same time. george

 

Congrats and good choice! Hondas are dead reliable machines, and the last of the ATV's to use a real transmission instead of a belt. The dual clutch transmissions rarely fail, I've personally seen machines with over 30k miles with nothing but routine maintenance. My Rincon is nowhere near that mark but it's got over 5k trouble free miles on it. It's been a good machine.*

 

This Saturday I am headed back to South Fork CO to put the machine through its paces. I have three days and two nights of camping planned on the Alpine Loop. A group of us are leaving from the Rio Grande reservoir headed to Silverton and back. I have a rack bag for the front, cooler and gas can on the rear plus my AR-10 and a .45 just in case. Also have a one person tent, 20 degree sleeping bag and a bed mat for under the bag. Found a really neat portable grill called the Volcano, it can use wood, charcoal or gas. Should be a great time. I had the machine in for the so called first service, oil and filter plus an all over inspection and everything is good to go. Pictures will be posted soon.

 

The Alpine Loop is a beautiful trip, lots of side roads to explore too and much easier to do so in a quad. It's been about 20 years since I did that trip so please do post some pics and have fun!

 

Like that machine. I have an older one. Wish I were at South Fork, we have spent several vacations at Fun Valley RV/Campground. One bit of advice, you can prevent a lot of future problems with the Honda or any ATV if you can get ethanol free gasoline for it. If not then at least use a stabilizer. The ethanol will dissolve all the rubber parts in the fuel system. Have fun. bg

 

X2 on ethanol free gas.
- Ed

 

By the time it was all said and done 8200 was financed, sticker was 7100. I extended the factory warranty an additional three years and added six service visits plus 1000 down. Honda offered me 2.99% for 36 mo.my bank beat it and gave me 1.75% for the same term. The Rancher is considered Honda's mid size atv, only thing I don't have is power steering. It is four wheel drive and I do have the dual control transmission ( DCT ), you can let it auto shift or shift through the gears with an automatic clutch. You can still get a foot shifter if you want to lower the cost a little bit. From what I have read Honda is the only one out there that offers a transmission instead of belt driven cvt's. The engine and transmission do share the same sump as well, almost four gallons of 10W-30, they put 10w-40 in mine with the first service.

 

Does your manual call for 10w40? I would have thought it called for the 10w30. GN4 10w40 is what was originally recommended in my Rincon but then Honda came out with the GN4 10w30. The 10w40 is a synthetic blend while the 10w30 is a full synthetic. The full synthetic is supposed to improve cold shift performance with the DCT as well as the thinner viscosity when up to temp. I plow with my Rincon in the winter and did notice a difference when I switched to the 10w30.

Not that there is anything wrong with the 10w40, I know a guy that has 40k+ miles on his Rincon and has used nothing but 10w40, but he lives in a hot climate. I think the 10w30 is better suited in cold weather. It is also more expensive which is probably why your dealer used the 10w40.

 

Manual calls for 10w-30 and I did inquire about the different weight when I had the O2 sensor changed out. I was told it's good to go.

 

I don't remember the number exactly but , I put about 25 miles on the machine today. I ventured onto the Bachelor Loop out side of Creede plus a side trail that was called Rat Creek 505 is the number. Rat Creek starts off the loop and travels up to around 12k feet then drops back toward Equity Mine. Only problem was after 8 miles I could not go any further, both trails leading down the other side of the mountain were closed due to snow so I had to go back the way I came. I do like having a transmission, the machines with cvt's need a lot of throttle to get moving and to me seem louder. The Honda just drop it into drive and off you go, no need to hammer the throttle. Fuel economy seems to be pretty good and the four wheel system worked great, got me out of a couple tight spots. One thing I have noticed is that sometimes you have to give it more throttle to get an up shift or down shift which wasn't really an issue just something to get used to.

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Thanks for the pics...keep 'em coming.

 

Beautiful Pictures!!!

I was invited for a ride yesterday and I had no idea that my son was looking for the biggest mudhole he could find to test out his new tires and lift kit.......I was sand bagged for sure....


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Took a trip to Engineers Pass yesterday.

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Still a lot of snow on Engineers Pass

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I've been mildly interested in them before... Now I want a machine like that!
Nice pics.

 

I purchased a brand shiny new Honda Foreman "S" in 2000. Put a rear seat kit on it and had a blast riding with the wife. Then land got posted and free time got scarce so I sold it in 2005.

Fast Forward to last summer. My son purchased a used Can Am Commander 1000 and finally talked me into taking it for a ride. I went just about 20 feet at full throttle and was immediately hooked on that thing.

Bought a slightly used Can Am Commander 800XT about a month after I rode his. Haven't looked back.

So with that being said you may want to consider a side by side, a 100 mile ride on 4 wheeler versus a 100 mile ride on a side by side with power steering is a night and day difference. A lot easier on the ol' body.

Stay under 60" in width and you can go on any trail that a 4 wheeler uses. that at least is the case in the State Of Maine. Any wider and you will have gate and bridge issues.

Just food for thought if you are getting the itch.....you might want to check out each style..

 

For more than one person or cruising purposes a side by side starts making more sense. Quads are hard to beat in terms of versatility (not to mention FUN factor). They will also go alot of places a side by side can not think about going. I've had my boys on quads since they were 4 (now 11 and 12) and we've had more fun together than is even measurable.

Aside from that, when I get the chance to get out with my buds I grew up on the track with we get the chance to act stupid like we did in our glory days. We traded doubles and table tops and whoops for big hill climbs and fast trails. Life is all about compromises when ya start havin kids
I've driven friends side by sides enough to know no doubt someday I'll at least own a side by side but at the moment the full sized UTV's are just too big and too wide for what I like to do. It just comes down to personal preference.


800cc Vtwin, 2x4/4x4 on the fly, tri mode power steering, flexx handle bars, bead lock wheels, Fox Podium 3 way shocks with remote resevoirs, cammed, chipped, piped, upgraded throttlebody, aftermarket primary clutch with a tweaked secondary for optimum back shifts.

She's just a big bag of fun :-laf

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That sounds awesome!
I am thinking about getting a couple of utility quads. its just my wife and I. We'd be taking them down to Mexico and using them at our place there. Down there people use them to drive around town. Easier to get around the narrow streets and park. Then there's hundreds of miles of dirt road/trail access in the hills around our town. Plus we could use them to access remote beaches when we are at our property near Vallarta.