This will be my first ATV purchase and I was wondering if anyone else out there owns one and has any tips for me. I checked a lot of them out and I came to the conclusion that this one is good enough to meet my needs, which aren't much. Mostly getting me on the ice and to the deer stand. And some occasional light trail riding. I know there is some problems with the ES, but besides that is there anything?

I'm not a Honda man, meaning I don't know a whole lot about them, but I haven't heard anything bad about them. As long as you don't plan on pulling a big fish house with it, you should be fine. Honda is always a solid choice, and you really can't go wrong with one.

If you don't mind a solid rear axle and don't want an automatic those are good machines. I've driven one a little bit on a test ride but not enough to form a strong opinion. Not a bad little machine overall. They replaced the 350 ranchers in, I think, 07. I'd look at pricing. If it's not out of reach for a foreman or rubicon I'd probably go that route. There's little things about the 420 that I personally don't care too much for like the single rear shock and the 24" tires, but it would work for what you are looking for.

I have read that some people have had issues with the EFI on the 420. I'm not 100% sure if they fixed the issue or not.

The best thing that I can recommend is to find a Honda dealer that will let you test drive one. If the 420 with the EFI isn't smooth as silk, then either look at the Rubicon or if you're set on a 450 class machine, I would strongly recommend a Suzuki 450 Kingquad. I've ridden one and that motor is like a hot knife in butter. Very nice machine and you get IRS, EFI, and a locking front diff.

Don't pay any attention to the MSRP you see for any machine. Many dealers will sell their machines anywhere from $250-750 lower than MSRP, depending on how big of a machine your buying.

Honda is a very solid choice but they haven't made a lot of updates like most of their competitors. They are years behind on their features. Any of the machines in that price category would be good choices. I just think you can get a lot more for your money by looking at other brands. I have seen some very good reviews on the Suzuki 450 King also. Another popular choice is the Yamaha Grizzly 450. Can't go wrong with any of em.

Well I got him to go down $500 from his asking price, I can also get a 08 Polaris Sportsman 500 carb for about the same price. This is harder than I tought.

Looked a the 2007 Rancher 420 FE and the 2007 Rancher 400 AT last summer ended up buying the 2007 Rancher 400 AT. Liked the blue color, auto and ES transmission, 2 X 4 wheel switch, a little bet better style body, and carburetor. We have an 86 Honda fortrax 2 wheel drive, 99 Polaris Sports 335, and 99 Honda Foreman 450 ES all carburetors and we have never had any starting problems in very cold ice fishing or deer hunting weather. The Honda Rancher 400 AT is very easy for my wife to steer in two-wheel drive and when needed the 4 X 4 went through all the same mud holes as my son’s Polaris 700 with larger tires.

Nothing hard about it....Just go try em all and buy the one you like best. You can't go wrong with any of them...Once you get started you might find you will be trail riding a lot more than you thought you would. They are addicting.

Unless they have other models, an '08 SP500 will have EFI. They dropped the carbs a couple years back.

Overall, once you try a few different machines, you'll find there will be something else out there that suits your needs better.

Everyone has a different "Best" machine out there.

Actually in 08 they offer the carb version again to get the msrp down to 5999 to match the first year msrp of the original Sp500 HO.
All of the '07 models are EFI though.

IMO, I don't see a 'best' machine that will do everything, but everyone has different needs and wants for their atv.

I agree, the trail riding is very addicting if you have the money and spare time.

That's good to know. I haven't been following Polaris lately to know exactly what they're offering.

well thanks fellas, I went with the rancher, I just like the way it rides and it's camo, I'm a camo kinda guy. They are delivering it this afternoon.

Congrats on the purchase. Now you'll just have to get some miles on that machine.

Congrats on the new machine. Good solid ride. Let us know how you like it!

Did you get the new ride? how do you like it? how much smaller is it than the foreman. I really like the foreman but I think i like the specs of the rancher with the Fuel injection and liquid cooling.