I also have a 300 4x4 Fourtrax and will NOT get rid of it! My brother and all our buddies have bought 600+cc atvs and they typically have at least one or two problems a year with them. I have NEVER had mine in the shop (it's a 98 that I bought in the fall of 97) and the only work I had done on it was lastyear when it needed a new battery! I also have ALWAYS kept Mobil 1 synthetic fluids in it along with super unleaded gas. The cylinder walls and piston top are still bright and shiny. I had a 93 3004x4 Fourtrax before that one, but simply traded because I wanted a green one (the old was blue) and the dealer I had bought the 93 from made me mad when he told me I would have to wait 2 weeks for a regular lube job.
This weekend I just bought a Outback ESV (redneck golf cart) and will use it primarily for riding into and out of stand areas and save the Fourtrax for guests and to retrieve any game way back in the sticks. The durability of this thing is amazing too me. The other day I got on it and it hasn't been started or moved since last January when I hunted my last day of deerseason. I always run all the gas out of the carb if it is going to sit over a couple of days so I turned the fuel on, hit the throttle a couple of times, slid the choke on and figured the battery would drag or the motor would have to spin several times to fire. WHOOM WHOOM the motor fired up the split second I hit the starter. It has done that since day one and continues to do it. My brother and buddies just smile and wish their super "megamachines" were so reliable. Too the man, NONE of them badmouth this little machine because they all know they are simply THE toughest ATCs ever built.
Honda really screwed up when they quit building this old warhorse. Another buddy of mine who began hunting with me a few years ago bought a 650 Rincon season before last. The thing is smooth and fast but has been in the shop numerous times. I too get offers all the time for my tough lil wheeler, but since I can't replace it I am not about to let it go. I'll keep it for backup and let my son ride it when he gets old enough to go on his own!
Sure the newer quads are much more powerful, taller and ride better. But what good is all that if they are in the shop periodically? I don't care about ride anyway, it's not like I am going home down the innerstate on it. I'm just riding a mile or two in the fields and woods! Sure beats hoofing it for half an hour and then doing the same thing back out!!!
They certainly DON'T build em like that anymore,
RA