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ATVs, like cars, houses or whatever else you can purchase, tend to lose their factory-freshness over time. The paint on the walls of your crib fade, the carpets get stained, and just where does that “new car smell” go anyway?

Springtime witnesses the annual awakening of hibernating ATVs the world over, and while it’d be nice to have the luxury of picking up a brand-spanking new quad each year, many of us are forced to make due with a machine that has lost its factory freshness back when George W. was still in office.

No need to fret if you find yourself in this camp, there are a few simple measures that can make your tired machine feel nice and new. The fact of the matter is our ATVs only make contact with our bodies at 3 key points. A machine that is fit mechanically, sharp cosmetically and up-to-date on its maintenance just may be due for a cockpit refresh. Let’s dig in to explore what that entails, shall we?

Make Sure You’re Sitting Pretty >>

Here at ATV Connection we never know what we’ll be testing next. It can be anything from an ATV to a knit hat to well, a folding ruler. In the event that you think we’re exaggerating, read on.

Read the rest of this entry »

You can’t possibly watch a good fighter plane film like Top Gun or Iron Eagle without hearing a whole bunch of technical terms to describing the physics of aerial combat. If you pay attention, you might actually learn something—like why Goose’s death wasn’t actually Maverick’s fault.

Well, believe it or not, many of these same scientific principles apply to each of us every single time we set our quads into motion. But there’s no need to hold a PhD in aeronautics to sound much smarter at parties. Your ATV Connection editors are on the case of translating these fancy sounding terms into concepts we all deal with whether we realize it or not. For starters remember that all aircraft are subject to three axes: roll, pitch and yaw. Click through for an explanation of how these high-flying terms apply to your ATV!

You’ve Got to (Try Not To) Roll With It >>

We live in an age of excess- need proof? Look no further than the Yamaha Raptor 700R- a bone stock ATV with top speed figures that could make private aircraft blush. However, where some see performance in excess, others see a starting point. When we say “others” we are actually referring to California’s Trinity Racing; a tuner/ builder/ parts supplier known for tricking out some of the hottest ATVs the world has ever known.

Added to their list of accomplishments is a Raptor 700 project that does the unthinkable: It breaks the 100 HP barrier! Not only does it surpass the long-standing ATV benchmark but it does so with an authoritative 7-horsepower margin.

To achieve this figure, the crew at Trinity targeted a few key areas, beginning with custom head work (port & polish, oversized crank shaft) complete with high-flow valves. Displacement has, naturally, been bumped to top over 900cc via a big bore kit. A Dual Stage 4 exhaust system in the rear offers torque & power increases throughout the entire powerband when compared to the traditional single muffler system.

Billetanium SS7 rebuild-able Steering Stabilizer with removable billet end caps to protect the seals from dirt and mud mates up to Lonestar 2 + 1 (2-inches wider, 1-inch forward) Longtravel A-arms. Fox Racing FLOAT X EVOL air sprung shocks were selected all around for their infinite adjustability. Lonestar Racing steel braided brake lines and Streamline Blade Rotors round out the bling-factor.

Trinity’s own E-brake block off plate and Lonestar Racing Billet Sprocket Hubs round out this build. Eagle eye readers will surely have noticed the paddle tires that have been mounted on the rims indicating this build’s specialty: Desert/ dune domination. Perhaps the most exciting news of all is that every single component and modification done to this Yamaha Raptor is available to John Q Public.

These days the economy has even the most optimistic among us wondering if things are really improving or whether the media is simply fluffing the proverbial pillows so as to avoid a panic. In either scenario the lust to get outside and explore the trails, traverse streams, and pound rocks couldn’t care less. Chalk it up to the nature of human genetics!

Fortunately Honda knows that our DNA is flawed and hence the Recon 250: Entry level pricing, automatic clutch, racks, and a nice reliable engine. The cure for your craving has arrived: recession or otherwise.

Mounting Up

At a glance, the Recon 250 looks an awful lot like its larger utility brethren on Honda’s line. The engine is largely shrouded by fiberglass and the front skid plate wraps around the leading edge of the quad to meet up with the overhanging rack to protect the headlights. Big meaty tires, durable steel wheels and floorboards round out the visual treatment.

Hopping in the saddle reveals a roomy, comfortable cockpit for riders of all sizes. Electric start means a simple stab of the bar-mounted button gets this carbureted machine to life. We found half application of the bar-mounted choke was required on the cold February mornings of our testing but otherwise simply pressing in the starter was enough to get underway (especially when the machine was already warm). While we never had reason to use it, the back up recoil starter was a welcome feature.

The cockpit itself is loaded with beginner-friendly instrumentation that advanced riders won’t find distracting. Among these, a reverse and neutral light, handlebar shifting arrows (up and down) and a lit indicator for each of the 5-forward gears.

Blast Off

Getting the Recon 250 moving is a pretty unique experience. Despite the tendency for our left boot to instinctively jump each time, putting the machine into gear is accomplished by depressing the upward arrow on the left handlebar pod. This is the same arrow responsible for upshifts. It’s a pretty neat feature as there is no clutching to take into consideration here. Rather you put the ATV into gear, give it throttle until it starts to rev out, then tap the arrow button to shift. The cockpit gear-indicator mentioned above assures that even the most absent-minded rider won’t get lost in the transmission.

Power is about what one would expect from an air-cooled, twin-valve 229cc pushrod-equipped 4-stroke; which is to say peppy but not blessed with abundant torque down low or top-end speed through each of the five gears. However, it’s by no means underpowered, in fact thanks to the light, nimble chassis and rear-wheel drive power delivery, the Recon 250 is pretty darn zippy and can actually wheelie with a snap of the throttle and light tug on the bars.

Speaking of the chassis, the Recon is quite stable considering its nature to zip through tight situations. We expected a lot more lean out of the suspension in the corners than we got; always a plus when a situation comes up that forces us to carve a turn at higher speeds than we’re comfortable with.

Suspension action is decent: 5.1-inches of dual-A-arms up front and 4.9-inches of travel out back thanks to a single-shock/ swingarm set up. The shocks themselves are non-adjustable, as expected on a budget ATV, but deliver a surprisingly supple ride assuming you don’t try to take the machine airborne.

This is a machine that loves tight twisty trails, hardpack, loose sand and moderate rock gardens. The fact that it is rear-drive only means it is possible to get into trouble trying to cross deep sticky mud or climbing steep grades of slippery rock.

Odds and Ends

We certainly appreciated the fact that Honda thought to include reverse on this model even though the actuation process is a bit overly complex. We expected such things years ago when the CPSC was targeting ATVs as responsible for all of the world’s problems, these days we’ve come to welcome simpler reverse actuation. Additionally the quad is set-up to prohibit starting in gear.

Braking is adequate as well, with high marks coming in for the dual sealed hydraulic drums up front and average performance reported with the single mechanical drum in the rear (performance does suffer if the unit gets wet).

The racks are definitely appreciated and plenty handy though a trailer hitch is an up-charge accessory affair only sadly.

Conclusion

For around $3,899, the Honda Fourtrax Recon 250 proves that big bucks isn’t a requisite to getting out and enjoying the trails as is demanded by our DNA. The human genome may not be easily understood but thanks to Honda, it is easy to satisfy.

 Head over to the Forum and see what members are saying about Honda’s budget-friendly entry into this segment!