Honda 680 or Canam 650\800X MR

[Will Bondy]

Ok, my wife is allowing me to buy another quad (allowing me.. who the hell does she thing she is dammit lol) I have been a Honda guy for years and years. Honda snow blower, Honda Quad, Honda Lawnmower, Honda Battery Charges and so on.... I am not a speeder, and I understand that the Canam kill most in speed so I am not using that as a weighing factor. I really like the Honda reliability and the Chain drive system over the belt system. But like Blackberry.... I see Honda falling behind in almost every category and it doesn’t seem like they are doing anything about it...... How I am justifying the Canam is: I will pay 13.5K for a Canam 800XmR and it is ready to go without any mods except cargo box...... The honda on the other hand is, Buy 2015 680 with 28’ Zillas for 10K. I think I need to do something with the Transmission (something reduction kit)and put in a 1 or 2 inch lift on the Honda but by then I will be close to 13K And maybe a rad relocation kit. And the only reason why I am even considering this is because of the Chain drive over the belt. Am I just old school here or am I heading in the right direction.







Money wise I am budgeting around 13K and all the extra accessories I will buy out right like cargo box in the back and a roll bar to save my handle bars like I have on my Honda (Might have to weld one up hehe). I buy all my stuff out of Honda Extreme in Edmonton they have been really good to me





I see the Canam has higher lift almost 25 more Horse power and it comes out of the box ready to get muddy and the Honda will need more work to get it up to my standards but unlike the Canam the honda I think will last longer and have way less maintenance in the long run. I also considered the 650X MR only because I am not sure I need that much power and I tend to get braver with bigger tires hehe







I weight between 210lb and 230lb

 

[whoDEANie]

For work, go Honda. For play go CanAm. The CanAm is much more fun to ride. If you're not hell bent on speed and top HP, you'll be happy with the 650 - they still blow the doors off any Honda. For an extra $1700 and likely a much better resale, I'd personally go with the 800.

There is definately one thing to consider with the XMR's - the tires. You may not enjoy the ride of the Mudzillas and Silverbacks when not playing in the muck - the trail ride on the 800's Silverbacks won't be great, but you may be fine with the slightly less aggressive Mudzilla's that come on the 650.

My instinct would be to go to the XT 800R and then put 28" Zillas (not Mudzillas) and a rad relocate. However, after just looking at the MSRP's, it looks like the XMR is actually quite a bit cheaper, leaving you enough money to go out any buy some other tires if you don't end up liking the ride of the Mudzilla's/Silverbacks.

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Is this a trick question?

 

[drew562]

I have a 2011 rincon 680 I bought for moma this summer. Sold her Honda 420. Now she wants another. She loves the rincon but she is petite and says she prefer her old 420 and its smaller size. I bought the rincon in June with 10 km on it. The old guy who bought it new plowed his city drivway with it which is why only 10 km. It now only has around 300 and is Like new. Has new warn front mount plow. Winch. Back seat trunk box with heated handles. Front bumper. Itp tires,,heated grips and over 3 yrs transferable extended warranty left. 9500 and its yours. It was over 15 k out the door with the big warrenty and the assesories. Pm me if your interested.

 

[the_real_wild1]

Don't buy the xmr. Get an 800 xt max and put new tires and a rad relocate. Don't look back.

 

[Bnorth]

650's are great bikes but the 800 will hold value better. I'd take a Can Am over a Honda any day. Probably not that much more maintenance either as the Can Am's hold up very well. Don't be afraid of belt drive, it has come a long long way from what it used to be.

 

[Will Bondy]

I have a 2011 rincon 680 I bought for moma this summer. Sold her Honda 420. Now she wants another. She loves the rincon but she is petite and says she prefer her old 420 and its smaller size. I bought the rincon in June with 10 km on it. The old guy who bought it new plowed his city drivway with it which is why only 10 km. It now only has around 300 and is Like new. Has new warn front mount plow. Winch. Back seat trunk box with heated handles. Front bumper. Itp tires,,heated grips and over 3 yrs transferable extended warranty left. 9500 and its yours. It was over 15 k out the door with the big warrenty and the assesories. Pm me if your interested.

Thanks for the offer, but I always buy new and keep them forever. Hence the honda

 

[Will Bondy]

How often do you replace the belt or clutch?

 

[togo ripper]

The can am is going to ride and handle way better than the Honda and the 650 will blow the doors off any Honda and for 10500 for a brand new 650xmr it's pretty tough to go wrong I've got a Honda and can am and the Honda only gets ridden when there is work to be done

 

[LBZ]

Don't buy the xmr. Get an 800 xt max and put new tires and a rad relocate. Don't look back.

x2
Or buy the new Rubicon with IRS and DCT trans.

 

[Crazypaint]

Between the 3 your looking at I'd problems say 650 can am for what u posted u wanna do. I was in this dele a myself I'm a die hard honda man and was waiting for the IRS rubicon!!!! Then I started looking at all the BB quads lol. I'm not a fan of belts either by the way. I ended up buying a left over 750 king quad. 7400 out the door I couldn't refuse best price on any of them by far. Now I did add tires (stockers are pathetic) a winch plow and 4yr warranty which added up to like 9800 out the door. I'm pretty freakin happy with this bad boy only thing I'd like to add is a stealth snorkel for the rear cvt exhaust. It's just a terrible location lol. But other than that I'm in cloud 9. Hope ya get one your happy with

 

[rubirose]

I am Honda all the way for quality. That's where it ends. When Honda smartens up and gets with what others are doing then I might go back, but in the mean time I have had 2 honda's, the 450 ES, loved it, then a Rubicon, loved it. Then hubby got us into Yamaha's, him first, needed a much softer ride. Then I got a 550 grizz, liked it, very reliable, but tippy and I did not trust it as much as the Honda. Now we are into the can-ams as of last year. I have the 650, hubby has the 800. Extremely steady, great smooth power, v-twins. But mechanically very pricey. I have bent a tie rod on the second ride, pissed me off, and over the course of the year of riding, 2250kms in just over a year of ownership, bent some plastic, mainly foot wells, and ripped a boot guard, hubby has also had some issues, nothing serious, just not what we have ever experienced before with the Honda's and Yammies. Bought the full protection skid plates, stock tires, although I am buying Mudlites next year. Never had these issues with the Honda or Yamaha's so was disappointed in the can-ams or that. Would we buy again, sure, but as soon as Yamaha comes out with a v-twin and a slightly more stable ride then that is the way we are both heading. More reliable mechanically. And we don't abuse our machines, long trail rides. Hoping Honda will also smarten up. I would go with the 650 Can-am, more than enough power, unless you are going to mod the heck out of it.

 

[hadster]

I owned a brand new Rincon and was very dissapointed with the power even with a chip (it wouldn't pull a wooden pecker out of a lard pail). Fully agree with the others, for your needs the 650 Can-Am will be great. Don't worry about the belt drive (i did as well at one time) but my 800 Can-Am Max has almost 5000 km of hard riding and only on the second belt. Just don't use high range when it should be in low range & use the winch NOT the transmision & belt to tow people out.

 

[yamafam]

Id put my vote in for grizzly 700. 27 or 28 tires and you good to go. There a great middle of the road bike. Not super expensive but will blow the doors off a honda.