I have several friends with Hondas, and some of their 'wheelers are getting long in the tooth. They seem to run forever. I originally went looking for Hondas, but their pricing turned me off. I had to spend $10k, or more to get independent rear suspension and disc brakes. Even their eight thousand dollar bikes had drum brakes on them. Seriously?
I really like Yamaha, but in 2016, all they offered were 700cc engines. The various models differed on levels of trim (wheels, brakes, suspension and minor drive train differences). I didn't think my wife would want a 700, and I didn't want to buy an expensive model just to get hydraulic brakes versus cable controls. It looks like they brought the 450cc engine back, again, which would have been a nice option when I was in the market.
A couple friends have older Kawasakis, and they think highly of them. But, again, in 2016 they only offered a 750cc model. Too big for my wife.
Enough friends bashed the Polaris machines, that I really didn't even consider them, to be honest. My wife's company had a couple of Polaris "work" machines for a while (they mostly got used for recreation, though), and they always seemed to be sidelined with one issue or another.
I looked at both Arctic Cat and Suzuki, but I didn't see enough differences to justify their higher prices. I would love to have the taller ground clearance of the Arctic Cat, but I didn't like the rest of the bike enough to pay more and go that route.
To be fair, there are some things about the Can-Am that I don't like. During break-in, the CVT ran pretty hot, and you could feel it on your left leg. There was also a considerable belt whine noise that was annoying at higher speeds. Both of these issues have gotten better, after a couple hundred miles, or maybe I'm not noticing it as much? The CVT definitely runs cooler than it used to, though.
Maintenance on the Can-Am is a bit of a chore. Oil changes take some time, because you have to remove a fair amount of the plastic to get access to the oil filter. There are a lot of grease fittings on the Can-Am, as well. Getting to all of them takes some ingenuity and long arms.
However, the ride on the Can-Am is really nice, and the power steering is worth every penny. The throttle response and power of the twin cylinder engine is great, and it starts like a champ in the winter (I use it, on occasion to plow the driveway). I use low gear most of the time, on the trails (less than 25mph), and the machine is really smooth and easy to drive. My kids can handle them. In high gear, they turn into pure fun, and they'll easily go over 50mph on our Alaskan gravel beaches.
I am continually impressed at how much "stuff" the bike will go through. The automatic differential lock works like a champ! I've taken it though seat-height water, wheel-burying mud, long uphill climbs, steep descents (the engine braking is amazing), and just about everything else you can think of. Yes, I've gotten it stuck, more than once, but it took a lot more doing than I ever thought it would.
Good luck on your quest to find a new machine!
