Carmicheal was winning far before he every touched a honda. I'll bet it's his payroll that made honda not come out with a new quad. That boy is so fast. I can't wait to see when Reed goes to the 250 class...he's pretty fast too.

 

dalediehard

you make a very good point, in that brand loyalty can overshadow brand contributions and worth to the sport. however, the 400ex isnt really that old or bad.

its the same with manufacturers as it is with atv riders: no matter how fast you are, someone will eventually come along and beat you out.

its important to note that suzuki has pretty much copied the ex frame. that, along with rider experiences, proves that the quad is an excellent bike thats just somewhat slow. look at the trx250r, its 15+ years old. and yet, its still considered one of the best quads ever made. the frames are copied and sold by aftermarket companies by the truckload. true its a little short on power in stock form, but thats not too hard to evercome.

the moral of the story is that honda maybe doesnt need to release a new sport quad, at least not so fast.

 

maddog56,

What about updates??? It not like they have to reinvent the wheel to please the Honda hopefuls, just spice things up a little. Like you said, people are still clinging to a 15yr old quad. Why?...NO UPDATES. What do you think people would do if Honda reintroduced an updated version of the 250R. GO NUTS, that's what they'd do. It certainly would not be that difficult for honda to update the 400ex. A few suspenion mods, a few extra ponies, reverse? and you have a quad that is back in the running. Maybe not the best, but still in the running.

Now, I know people will point to the track and talk about how they're still in the running, but I'm talking about real-life ATV(ALL terrain vehicle) riding. Now, I know people will point to tight woods riding. Fair enough, but the Suzukasaki does, and the Pred should, carve as well as the ex. Besides, nobody in their right mind would attempt true tight woods riding w/o reverse unless they really wanted a workout anyway(that goes for the Pred too).

The point of all this is if they don't wanna come out with a new quad that's fine, but atleast add the known needed updates to their present quad to keep their customers happy. Judging from some of the posts on this forum they aren't doing that very well.


-SprtsmnFan

 

SprtsmnFan,

point taken, there is room for updates. however, the cannondales get along great without reverse, and the predator doesnt have it either. the ex handling is absolutely great, better than most of the others. the only argument left is increased power. ok, yes, more power would be nice, but that is easily acheived in aftermarket means.

the trx250r recieved updates 2 years after production. the honda has not recieved anything major to my knowledge. the only improvement that everyone will agree on is the performance need. but as soon as you spice it up, the rest of the quad world will up the ante even more. so in reality honda is hindering the sport atv market by failing to push others to do more.

in short, ex needs more power but thats really all honda can do to that quad to really make it better. maybe they need to do like kawasaki and come out with another atv that participates in a higher or different class?

 

I remember back in the eighties that everybody wanted Honda to come out with a 500 to do battle with the Banshee and Zilla. It never happened. Honda doesn't care if they have the most powerful quad available. They want to have the best handling and best reliability.

But they will have to update the 400EX or bring out a new quad to keep everybody happy.

I don't think anyone is saying that the 400EX is a bad machine. For most people it is great. I would still have one if it had reverse.

 

if you don't like honda's product don't buy it....no need to come here crying over how honda didn't make a machine specially designed for you....polaris doesn't make a machine reliable enough for my liking so i don't buy one...but i sure as he11 don't go to the polaris form and flap my gums about it....i'll wait until they produce a machine as reliable as honda...if by that time honda doesn't have a true 4wd, and polaris has gotten rid of their belt drive, then i'll buy a polaris...personal preference....why does everyone who owns something besides a honda care so much about what honda makes....ever ask yourselves that question...i think i know the answer...i sure don't give a heck what anyone else makes...at least until the reliability level reaches honda...my likes are my preference and opinion..the reliability issue is statistically true...if you wanna argue that fact, argue with the mechanics who fix quads, and the dealers who sell more than one brand, not me.

 

Maddog says "in reality honda is hindering the sport atv market by failing to push others to do more"...so you are saying that it's honda's fault that the other brands aren't making what you want!!!!!.....just think about that!!!!

 

What he said! Exactly.

Referring to GreatCanadian, of course.

(I'll compromise with you - The 400ex is the lowest performing high performance quad on the market.)

WyoDuner, I'll buy that for a dollar...uh, I mean I can agree with that (big bore-wise).

 

Why dont we all just buy banshees and have twice pipes. Go in a strait line non stop. Have the most uncomfortable ride ever made but go fast in a straight line. Sounds fun. Then we can race the thousand other banshees and go just as fast.

Everyone thinks honda needs a new bike. WHY? Seems to me that the 400ex is doing good on the track and other sorts of races. It dosnt have twice pipes and dosnt go up dunes faster then alot of things but take it to the trails and it is a well balanced machine. Honda will make a new quad when it is really needed. Maybe i am blind by my faith in honda but hey, whats a boy to do?

 

Prang11, I like your idea about everybody buying Banshees. See, that way, next time I go to St. Anthony dunes I won't have to take the easy & flat route out to Devil's Dune becasue the Hondas can't make it up the hills needed to get there. Yes, it's true, BTW. There are places where you NEED a lot of HP to get where you're going.