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2021 King Quad 750 or 2021 Foreman 520?

17K views 17 replies 13 participants last post by  Bobbywolf 
#1 ·
I'm currently in the market to buy my first ATV and I had my sights set on getting a new 2021 foreman foot-shift with no power steering. I love everything about the foreman and hear nothing but how reliable they are. I've watched buddies sink their Honda then pull the plugs out drain it and ride all day. Other friends with a canam or brute force can't say the same and it turns out to be way more costly. The cons of the foreman are that I've heard a lot of bad things about their automatic trannys so I've decided to get a foot-shift. However, the foreman doesn't have an IRS with the foot-shift and I kind of wanted an automatic to start with. So immediately looking at the king quads I love the auto tranny and the IRS, not to mention the more power they have. I'm in Florida and will be riding with my girl most of the time and basically plan to do a lot of mud/water and trail riding with the bike. I've road a king quad a couple of times and love them but I'm just worried about the reliability and if they have electrical issues. I'm on the fence about deciding which one to get so I figured I'd see if anyone has any input on my situation. I'm kinda leaning towards the king quad but everyone says Hondas the way to go. Thank you in advance!
 
#2 · (Edited by Moderator)
By and large Kingquads are the most reliable machine you can buy, especially later models. I've owned pretty much every model of ATV in the last 20 years and I've generally found Hondas to not live up to their reputation of reliability. As luck would have it I haven't actually personally owned a late model Foreman, though we have a few IRS models from 2017+ in the club. Old Hondas used to be great, the new stuff is laughably crap.

After Polaris models, and then Renegades, the Foremans are the most unreliable. I don't know if your buddies check their oil after dumping their Foremans, but I'd be willing to bet it looks like chicken soup.

They have significant fundamental design flaws, starting with the most notorious of which is the gearbox locking issue that tky mentioned. The guys on the Foremans have to carry a special lever with them for when the gearbox gives out so they can manually reset it. Honda did some software updates at the end of 2018 to address the issues, but a guy I ride a lot with has a 2020 model that has had the update (he checked) and it still locks up. The problem isn't limited to quads, and I've seen Pioneers with the issue too.

I know that you said you're getting a foot shift model, but the problem with fixed rear axles is that the ground clearance is poor and the ride is rough - neither things you want when carrying a passenger. Nothing will annoy your girl more than having to get off and push your Honda out of a bog.

Another design flaw is putting the fuel tank at the top, and the air box under the seat. What sort of mad chimp designer puts the intake at the lowest point? It causes two problems, the first and most obvious is the airboxes always get full of water. And the second is, as any fule kno', petrol is heavier than water which makes them top-heavy.

They're also gutless and couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding. They're more expensive (at least over here) than Kingquads too. And they're a lot harder to work on because they've put the electronics is weird places all over the quad behind awkward panels.

If you need solid proof, I have a lot of photos of upside down or drowned Foremans from river crossings that Kingquads just shook off like a cool bath.

If you don't want your girl running away with one of your Kingquad pals after suspecting you have a mental illness by choosing a Foreman, take heed, don't buy a modern Honda.
 
#3 ·
I got myself a new 2017 Rubicon to work and ride with here on the farm, works great for me, I dont need a 750, the 500 is heavy enough.... I have a 99 300 king quad here also, it does all the plowing in the winter. If your going to be in alot of water and mud go with a foot shift, a 420 rancher with irs is around the same price as a foreman I think.
 
#5 ·
Welcome to the forum. We don’t encourage bashing of any products (Suzuki, or competitors here) , however, I will say that I believe the KQ750 is a far better choice. I believe the KQ has reliability, handling, power, design and ergonomics that have an edge over other machines in , or even slightly above its price range. I personally own two KQ750’s. One is a 2009 and the other a 2020. I can honestly say that my 2020 KQ750 was the only positive aspect of 2020.

The IRS is a big plus. My son and I often ride 100+ miles a day. Previously, I had owned a Vinson which is a SRA design. I gave the Vinson to my son when I bought the 2009 KQ, then gave the 2009 KQ to him when I bought the 2020. Each of us had the same reaction. The IRS is WAY nicer on long rides when you are doing them for three days .

Go with the KQ750. You won’t be sorry.
 
#6 · (Edited)
I’ve had multiple Honda’s, Yamaha’s, Suzuki’s and Polaris’s. I find the Honda’s to be boring but bulletproof. The one I have now is a 2013 Rancher PS AT IRS. I bought it new, never had any issues with. The 2002 Rancher I had before this one was the base model with the manual shift. It was also 100% reliable.

I find the KingQuads to also be very reliable and a good value. My 2020 750 SE+ has good power, handles well and rides decent. For the money, you can’t go wrong,

I currently have my fourth Polaris ATV, it’s a 2021 570 Sportsman premium. The 570 Polaris has nearly as much horsepower as the 750 Suzuki. I think Polaris has the best power steering and ride. I also really like the automatic decent control when riding in mountains.

Our last 2 Yamaha’s were a 2016 700 Grizzly and a 2017 700 Kodiak. I prefer the ride and handling of the Suzuki’s over theYamaha’s.The Suzuki 750 also has more power. As far as reliability is concerned, I had electrical issues with Yamaha 4 wheel drive randomly turning on and off. I also had 4 major engine failures in less than 4000 miles between the 2 machines. Yamaha did cover all the engine rebuilds even a couple out of warranty. However, I don’t think I’ll ever own another one.
 
#7 ·
I have a 2020 Honda 520 deluxe, which I bought last year after driving a 2003 Honda 400 for 17 years. In that 17 years, I have changed the oil and replaced a battery once. That's it. It was reliable beyond reason, so much so that I kept the old one for guests. My buddy had a 2008 750 Kingquad, which he rode for 13 years. In those 13 years, he has spent over $6500 on repairs and parts, and the machine finally gave up the ghost last fall, so this spring he bought a new 750 Kingquad. While the Suzuki has more HP; there was never a situation where he needed more HP; including riding in the snow on tracks, but he did use much more fuel than I did. Residual value; my Honda 400 can easily fetch $4500 while his Suzuki 750 got $500 as parts. That means that my Honda cost me $3000 for 17 plus years.

Side by side the new machines are almost identical in form and function. The only real visible differences are the reverse (left thumb click on the Honda, shifter on the Suzuki), and the tires. The Suzuki dealer warned him that the stock tires were crap, and sold him a new set of aftermarket tires. I'm happy with my 4 ply Maxxis. The displays are identical, and both include the maintenance reminder. Seats, racks, handlebars are all identical. I guess that the real test will be long term reliability and maintenance, something that the previous machines demonstrated the Honda to be superior.

One piece of advice; buy the PS. I'm 61 and it makes a world of difference on arms and shoulders.

Whatever you choose, enjoy.
 
#8 ·
Welcome to the forum.

Wow, $6500 in repairs? In all the years I have been riding and all the machines I have owned for myself, and my son, I haven’t spent that COMBINED. Perhaps if you add tires, oil changes, other maintenance, gas and accessories , maybe.....

$6500 is a lot of money for repairs on a machine that cost about that when new in 2008.
 
#9 ·
21070
21071

My 2021 kq750 is an absolutely solid machine that has been the only machine in all my years in the woods and bog that has absolutely given me everything I need for my terrain and ride style.
this machine…. You can toss on 2” lug 28” tires and notice zero powerloss… in 2wd with no clutch mods, when those rears hook you know if you need to go further with mods… if I add a clutch mode she’ll twist everything to pieces. she’s a dandy machine and I bought it with faith with Suzuki when they said this is the 2021 model and we fixed some **** and, it’ll do whatever you want it to do
 
#11 ·
You can toss on 2” lug 28” tires and notice zero powerloss

lol, umm.... Any time you add larger heavier tires you are going to have power loss.

I went from the stock light weight thin sidewall 25" tires to 25" 8 ply luggy tires that weigh more and there was a definite power loss. So i bought another set of aluminum wheels to run a lightweight set of tires to more spirited riding with. My moderately heavy 25's are for offroad parks only.
 
#13 ·
I Best thing to happen was when my son sunk it and insurance paid.
Just out of curiosity, how did you your son sink the Rubicon if you don’t mind me asking..?
 
#15 ·
There should have been nothing wrong with that honda. My 2012 Rubicon went through the ice on a shallow lake in winter. It was submerged upsidedown overnight in about 4 feet of water. We came back the next day with some gear and a gameplan, and got it out.

Oil and fuel were drained and refilled, plug pulled to crank out the water, and guess what. It ran like it was shut off 10 minutes ago.

Granted I had to change the fluids multiple times, and flush the water out of the cables, but if my new KQ is half as tough as my old honda I'll be happy.

Tire Wheel Automotive tire Tread Sky
Water Tree Watercourse Automotive tire Lake
 
#17 ·
Well it's this simple if your Honda sucked water in to the piston it's more often than not gonna end up with a bent rod. Water doesn't compress.
Oh we drained it down and changed the fluids blah blah but bottom line it was down on power and started smoking. Upon tear down discovered the bent rod.

Nothing magical about a Honda. Or anything else for that matter. If a motor is running and water ends up on the piston something has to give.

Now if it goes dead and sinks and ends up with water on top of the piston by all means pull the spark plug and turn it over blow the water out your probably fine.

My son's went from wide open to hydro locked instantly.
 
#16 ·
Damn, that’s a different type of ice fishing. And not the pleasant type.
 
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