The Honda will be A CRF450 or 439 and will have an Aluminum Frame. It will be worth the wait no doubt. A big aftermarket parts company will have one soon for making a arms etc.

 

Seems like to me that Honda designs an ATV and releases it when it is finished. How much do you think other ATV's affected the out-come of either the Rubicon or the Rincon, or even the new Rancher AT. I think Honda makes a decision on what they want and deliver it when it makes them happy. Seems for the most part most all the bugs are gone by the time their new ATV's hit the market. Other manufactures are the ones who look at what they think everyone wants and rush it to the dealer.

They do need a new sport ATV and I hope it gets here soon.

 

I agree with TrailMix...I just turned 36 & whatever quad I buy next will probably be my last.....2 kids, mortgage, car & truck payments, babysitting ( $750 per month in the summer!!!!)anyhow.....wife gave me the green light last month to buy something this fall...so I'm still waiting for Honda to release something. I like Yamaha's...I own a YZ 426F..but there are some things that Yamaha needs to work on. The very 1st time I pulled the oil filter cover off, 2 of the 3 bolts came out very hard & when I did get them out there was aluminum from the case stuck in the threads! That's bullcrap!! I had to buy a 6mm tap to clean the threads up & run it through there everytime I change oil to keep the threads nice. I asked my friend at work who bought one about a year before me & he had 1 of his bolts do the same thing ( he also wanted to borrow my tap for his next oil change ) So....I just hope Honda comes out with something soon before my wife turns that green light red.

 

BAh... DAMN HONDA.. enough said

 

joedif,
Did the dealer say if it was aluminum framed or fuel injected?

I think Honda will announce the quad here very soon too. That's what the Dealers here in AZ are saying, I do advertising for Trader Publishing. Honda can reduce the flow of buyers going with the YFZ by releasing a little info even if the quad doesn't come out untill Jan. 04

The YFZ's are here in the states, they are in port at Long Beach or Seattle. They will hit the dealers out west within 2 weeks. I wouldn't doubt if Honda releases the info around the same time.

I have ridden both bikes at the dunes. The YFZ has a better hit that I think would rock in a quad. The CRF is electric and very easy to ride. I want to say boring but I owned a stock 400ex back in 98, that was boring. Anyways, something with just short of 50hp stock can hardly be called boring.

If they put reverse on the CRF you can keep it. It will sell more with reverse. It will sell more than the YFZ. But the YFZ with the battery delete/kickstart option should be a better race platform. That has a value all it's own.

 

bansheesand,
THe next time you do an oil change. Coat the filter cover bolts with anti-sieze. That will eliminate the corrosion problem you are having and stop the bolts from stripping out the threads.

 

Yeah, I had to buy some right after the 1st oil change...still trys to do it but not as bad as the 1st time.

 

Well the way some of the other Honda guys talk the CRF is higher maintenance than most four strokes today. So I think honda is gonna try figureout a way to make it not so high maintenance. My point is if the maintenance is low the reliability is good...which is what Honda is noted for.

 

Check out this lawyer's website at www.bennettlawfirm.com/atv.htm. After reading through some of that website, I'm thankfull that ATV's even still exist. Honda is in the spotlight when they make ATV's. They are the main target out of all of the manufacturers when it comes to lawsuits. Honda needs to make sure that their ATV's are safe and reliable, so they can avoid recalls and people getting hurt due to malfunctions. I think that may be one of the main reasons why Honda is taking so long with their new sport quad. I just hope they set the standard again when they release their new quad.

 

They will set the standard for sure. People just have a lot of pent up 400EX aggression from getting beat so bad so they try and talk smack everytime a new model is introduced.