Yeah honda would have no trouble selling a 650ex. Seems like they dont care about their atv division as much as their automobile division. Where's the honda I grew up with? In 81 they invented the performance atv {atc250r}. In 83 they completely redesigned it. In 85 they completely redesigned it again. Where did the honda go that met a rivals challenge with ultimate reliablity AND ultimate performance? Honda used to say "follow the leader". Now all they're doing is trying to play catch up, or worse, not playing at all {650ex}.

 

FWIW; In 1990 I was looking for an extended cab pickup. All I could find at the Ford,
Chevy, Toyota, etc. dealers were regular cabs. I asked each dealership I visited why
they didn't carry more extended cabs, including crew cabs. "We can't keep'em in
stock and we can't get any more of'em". Now 15 years later, almost every pickup
in the lots is either extended cab or crew cab. They only carry regular cabs for low price
advertisements. Why did it take 15 years?? Manufacturers are really slow to innovate.
They love to keep things constant. If it weren't for foreign car makers, we wouldn't
have rack and pinion steering, disc brakes, electronic ignition, radial tires, etc. I
think Honda has fallen into that "leave it alone" trap to maximize profits; a sort of
"We will tell you what you need". Do you believe for a moment that potential buyers
would opt for EFI over an improved tranny? Or disc brakes over an improved tranny?
Or "improved front differential" over a locker? My ATV is 6 years old and runs great,
but I'd love to have a new one. Unfortunately, Honda tells me I don't need one.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

 

Don't listen to Honda though. If someone else offers what you want then you should buy it. Things will balance out once Honda sees they are losing valuable customers. You can only wait so long for them to update to your liking. It is possible they never will and you just lost years and years waiting.

 

I think that was the point of the thread, people should quit complaining about what Honda doesn't have because its in their power to buy something else....

Complaining rarely accomplishes anything except annoy those that have to hear it. These threads rarely start off as a bellyache session, but often end up that way.

 

hondas are good bike iv had one to ride ever since i was knee high to a grass hopper from trail bikes to three wheelers to quads aprox 30 years of riding ! they have all been dependable but in those years i also had suzuki's kawasaki's yamaha's and ktm's i dont recall there being much difrence in any of them for reliability isuses as long as you did regular maintenance and kept them clean or didnt abuse them ! i dont bilive in brand loyalty eather because no dealer has a whealer or bike for every ones needs, but they do try And man do i ever love my 05 650 Brute ye ha

 

Alrighty...

As I sit here and read honda posters, i've observed a few things. One of the most loyal bunches i've ever seen (except for the ones that left for other bikes). It's nice that you keep toting about the "the reliability" of your bike, but really, what else can u brag about? Gotta find something, i guess.

And hey, if all manufacturers were building bikes for the last 30 years, then maybe they'd have people saying "i only did 1 oil change in those 30 years, and bygone, it started every time"

It's starting to feel like a cult of some sort... people walking around with red winged underwear thinking they're superhuman bikes can do no wrong. Cmon people... we (non honda people) tell you why we chose the bikes we did, we we liked this feature and that feature, and u laugh... hahahha slippy belt guy on his arctic cat.

Well, surprise... no belt slips. and hey... i was riding with a buddy and his foreman... should have heard the noise when he nailed the rock that I cleared easily on my bike. I think he might still be in that last mudhole he got stuck in! Guess he should have a locking diff....

Point is, I just felt like I needed to say something about honda owners in general. Might not apply to all, but as i'm keen on reading posts about an industry I enjoy, i just hate the fact that it's always the same dribble coming out of the mouths of honda posters.... reliability. When that's gone, what will you praise next? that you paid a 20% premium?

 

well that dribble is far more important to me then anything else. lol i don't carry tools when i ride, none at all, i've never needed one. how come all the polaris and yammy guyz i ride with have their entire tool kit with them? if u don't think reliability is important then, well we shouldn't even talk cus thats all that matters to me when im 60 miles from the truck and my cell phone don't work, not weather i can get through a mud pit 3 seconds faster cus of a diff lock

why would honda's reliability go out the window? thats just a dumb statement

 

what I'm saying is that your claim to fame for honda makes less and less sense to me considering the other manufacturers are putting out great bikes...

No tools= you're a fool... you'll be the person that the police get called out for because your hours overdue from your riding spot... and as the helicopter flies overhead, you're going to be crying "but, it's a honda.. it <u>never</u> breaks down"

I dunno... i've usually just got my regular tools that come with the bike, nothing extra. does that mean that my bike's reliable too?

If you are going to pin all u'r expectations on honda's reliability, you may be in for a hard lesson. Maybe not, but don't tell me that it will never happen.

 

Eros, if someone pins all their expectations on reliability alone, what's their hard lesson? Of course you are taking your chances, but some people stick with what has worked for them in the past. Usually good gamble. I do recommend a good tool kit though.

But do you think all Honda owners are only looking for reliability? Do you they're that simple?

 

i never said i ride alone, can u please point out where i said that? remember i got all those yammy's and polaris that bring all theirs, so im coverd the way it is