Honda 450 ES ?

[Rainman]

Who owns one? Do you like it? I am trying to decide what to get! It is the only one that I haven't really checked out yet! How does it compare to a yamaha 450 Kodiak or a polaris 400? Sorry for all the Questions!

Rainman

[Guest]

I bought one last fall and so far I like it. If I had it to do over I think I would go with the 450 S ( foot shift ) instead though. The elecric shift gets a bit testy from time time. By that I mean there have been a couple times I had trouble shifting ( The machine would'nt allow me to up shift ). SURELY it's operator failure on my part somehow but had it been a foot shift I'd bet the house there would'nt have been any glitches. Anyways , after a few minutes or so things would be fine and away I'd go.
On the 2 or 3 occasions I had trouble I had just started out for a ride and the machine was'nt completely warmed up yet. Maybe the fact that the choke was still on may have kept the rpms too high so the machine would'nt allow me to shift ? Maybe the machine was'nt totaly broken in yet ? Dunno , only guesses there.
As far as how they compare to other ATVs I can't say. I'm a Honda fan and did'nt even think about another brand. I got 10 + years out of my last Honda and the dealer gave me over half what I paid for it new when I traded it in. NEVER had any problems with the old Honda and I beat the snot out of it. All I ever did was the plug , filter, oil change deal to it.
re: the 450 ES , I really like the 2 to 4 wheel drive option. That works like a champ with the flick of a switch. The instrument panel is pretty cool too.
It's not a speed demon. 45 is about as fast as I've had mine but that's plenty for me. I don't think I need to be dragging a deer out of the woods at that speed. LOL

There is a foot shift option too with the 450. Though you can't rip through the gears with it you can choose one gear to get you back to camp/home whatever should the E shift ever dump out on you totaly or your battery dies. Should the battery die there's a pull start on this machine too. MUCH better than the old dinky kickstarts on some older machines.

Try and find a dealer that will let you test drive one. The one I went with had a track out back where you could try out different machines.

In the end there are many good machines out there. I'm just sold on Honda engines as they are tough as nails.