My 2002 Honda Rancher ES review (also bragging)

[Scienceman]

Hey all. In this section there is alot of questions about oil and other parts, but I want to brag on my fourwheeler.

Make: 2002 Honda Rancher ES
Engine: 350cc
Other: 4x2
Color: Orange (yay)
Milage: 7,000 (bought it with less than 100)
Been fed M1 0w-40 ATV all its life

We got it used in 2003 with less than 100 miles on it form a lady who had just broke up with her boyfriend (it was his, somehow she ended up with it) for cheap. Its just used for fun trail riding in our farm.

There was nothing wrong with it, and things have pretty much stayed that way through all the years.
The only things we have ever had to do to it is
1. Change oil
2. Change tires (and patch a few..)
3. Have the break cable changed (had to do that on our 1995 Fortrax to)
4. Had to change a random bad tie rod.

Likes:
ES manuel transmission makes for easy, push button shifts.
Digital display of time, speed, total miles, odometer, hours, gear your in.
The color. Bright orange.
It still rides great for all the years we have had it (and the miles)
Starts great, and runs like brand new. For a 350cc it has alot of power.

Dislikes:
every once and awhile the push button tranny will freeze, but all you have to do is turn it off and restart. Hardly ever does it tho.

We have 2 more Honda fourwheelers, but this one was/is my very first and favorite. I WILL NOT trade it for a new one. I plan on keeping it untill it falls apart (which is gonna be awhile!!)

We also have a Kasawaki Mule and a 2010 trail wagon but they just don't ride well at all and to me a fourwheeler ride is so much more fun.

I guess you could call this a 7,000 mile review.
If your looking for a cheap used fourwheeler, don't rule one of these out. I honestly think mine will reach 15,000 miles and probably even way more.

 

[Johnny]

Nice review. Where's your farm?

 

[Chris Meutsch]

What is "high-mileage" on a well-maintained ATV?

 

[Scienceman]

Originally Posted By: Johnny
Nice review. Where's your farm?


West Tennessee. Very nice place to be!!!

 

[Scienceman]

Well...like I said, this is my first and favorite fourwheeler, but my parents have a 1995 Fourtrax and after doing the math, it should have every bit of 20,000 miles on it.

Still runs pretty well.

 

[hemitom]

I had i 1986 honda 350 fourman, this model was geared for work it was like a mini tractor. That 350 engine was sweet not one problem with it ever. In the 90's when suzkui came out with the king quad a riding friend bragged about the power,and traction with the limited slip diffs etc etc. Anyways to make a long story short we went head to head, with the fourman it had what they called a super low first gear i pushed him all over the place. Needless to say he was very upset with his pricy new 4x4.

 

[ZJohnson]

Nice lookin 4 wheeler - but i didn't know it was orange! (cause its always covered in "GREEN" cow mud)

 

[boraticus]

Honda is great equipment for reliability. With decent maintenance, you should get many more year of service out of it.

Give us another report in say..... 2028. It would be good to see how well it holds up in the long run.

I had two air cooled Suzuki ATVs that I bought new back in the 80s. One was an '84 LT185. The other was an '87 250 LTF4WD. Both machines saw many years of hard service in everything from dusty gravel roads, mud holes, water crossings, winter operation on ice and snow. Neither one of them ever missed a beat.

The worst I can say about them was that after twenty years of use, they began to seep a bit of oil from the valve cover gasket and the valve seals began to lose their sealing ability when the engine cooled down allowing oil into the combustion chamber. Other than a cloud of smoke on start up the next day, it didn't have an effect on engine operation.

Those were simple, effective and very reliable machines.

I now have two modern liquid cooled 500cc Suzuki powered machines that are much larger and far more complicated. One's an auto that I didn't like for hunting so I bought another machine exactly the same with a manual transmission the next year. I kept the auto because it's good for working around the camp or just riding around but is far too loud for hunting or quiet riding.

I'll take a manual transmission over an auto any day.

All of my ATVs and motorcycles get Shell Rotella T 15W40 conventional unless I'm using them in the winter. Then I switch to a lighter oil in the 5W30 range.

 

[KW]

I had a chance to buy a Rancher 350 from a co-worker last fall but someone beat me to it. A large group of us went riding yesterday and the 350 does very very well. I ended up buying a 2010 Rancher 420 with ES and AUTO shift. Really nice four wheeler but like mention above, it sure has a lot of wizz bang electric do dads on it. It just went over 20 hours on yesterdays ride so now it's time to do the first oil change and valve adjustment.

 

[IndyIan]

My neighbor has the 4x4 version of this ATV and it done pretty well for him for general farm duty. He uses it to bring in the cows everyday and the back rack is a good height to stand on to start driving T-posts...
I've got an '01 kingquad 300 and I do like the low gearing and front diff lock(makes a big difference towing in woods) but I'd like the motor out of the Honda.

 

[boraticus]

"I've got an '01 kingquad 300 and I do like the low gearing and front diff lock(makes a big difference towing in woods) but I'd like the motor out of the Honda."

Take good care of that King quad. It's one of the best all round ATVs ever built. Suzuki nailed with their introduction of that style machine back in 1987. Fantastic machines. Excellent transmission, suspension and a very good engine.

 

[Anthony]

I also have a Rancher ES, a 07 with the 420 EFI.
A very nice Machine for the money.

Just turned 1000 miles on mine.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: boraticus
"I've got an '01 kingquad 300 and I do like the low gearing and front diff lock(makes a big difference towing in woods) but I'd like the motor out of the Honda."

Take good care of that King quad. It's one of the best all round ATVs ever built. Suzuki nailed with their introduction of that style machine back in 1987. Fantastic machines. Excellent transmission, suspension and a very good engine.

I deserve one of these

I ran some 5W40 Castrol syntec this winter, not energy conserving but not motorcycle rated either. After a couple months I started noticing one of the clutches slipping when the machine was cold, seemed to go away when hot though. I switched back to rotella 15W40 now for spring and the slipping is gradually going away and now almost gone unless I pin it within a couple minutes of a cold start. Anyways its now back to hauling 1000lb loads of firewood in 1st gear, superlow, 4wd, front diff locked, up the slope to my house so I guess I didn't hurt it too much!

 

[boraticus]

Have you tried to adjust the clutch?

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: boraticus
Have you tried to adjust the clutch?

No, and actually the shifter clutch is starting to stick again, it doesn't disengage all the way when you shift up or down on the first couple of shifts or after a couple minutes of riding without shifting...
I now start it up and shift into first and hold the shifter up, which should disengage the shifter clutch and rev the engine up until the shifter clutch slips. Otherwise you can shift up and down and the shifter clutch never really disenganges so it must be hard on the gear box...
It seems the shifter clutch is very sensitive to some oil additives? RT15W40 makes it stick and that Castrol Syntec (german spec)5W40 makes it slip...
I should get the service manual for the bike, last time I was at the dealer the service tech dummy couldn't comprehend what the problem is and then went on to say the clutch wasn't adjustable in any case...

 

[boraticus]

Not sure about your particular machine but my brand new '87 had shifting issues from the get go. I brought it in numerous times for shifting problems and was told that I was imagining the problems. Finally, I got the tech to come out on a back road with me to test ride the machine. After a few minutes, the shifting problems started. The problems were caused by the cable that runs from the shifter lever to the transmission. The cable would jam/resist inside the protective sheath. A new cable fixed the problem for the next twenty plus years of ownership.

If your machine has the same cable set up, it could be a contributing factor.

 

[IndyIan]

I will check the cable and linkages under there. I've never submerged them and don't mud bog it so they should be almost like new. They seem to work properly but just with that clutch not wanting to let go quickly even with shifter all the way up or down.