I diagree. Here in rural Pennsylvania, everyone I know older than 25 has a big utility machine. For hunting, and working, and even general riding, people use the 4X4's. Most people I know would rather get in a big group and cruise through the trails and enjoy nature, instead of ripping through a field at 50mph. Of course, the land is different here than it is in California, so I understand the want for a sporty quad if you have lots of terrain to ride it on.

 

I think if you had the oportunity to ride your Pennsylvania trails on the machine that I visualize, you would realize what a clunker your 450 actually is, and disagree with yourself!

But, there will always be a "percentage" of the riding population that needs a "work" quad, and those will always be available, as long as the manufacturers feel the market will support their sales. Thing is, that "percentage" is not the majority of the of the current market.........but work quads sell, because that is pretty much all the manufacturers have offered the public until recently.

Most folks just want a nice trail machine, but would prefer to have 4wd in case they get into a sticky situation out there on the trail. Honda is the best seller, and the Rancher is Honda's best seller, so that tells us right there that most folks aren't looking for a big, heavy, expensive monster utility machine.

From what I can see, even here in the southwest (dirt bike Mecca and sport quad country!), Wolverine sales are surprisingly good. I think the Renegade will have a small but loyal following, but it is to large, heavy, and EXPENSIVE a machine to have broad market appeal.

In any case, the 07 Rancher will be something different from the previous ones. We will have to wait a few weeks to find out just how. The Rancher is a good starting platform for a light hybrid 4X4, so we will see if Honda caught on to the idea or if it's just a pipe dream. Honda does tend to be very conservative, but will machines like the Wolverine and Renegade, force their hand?????

 

once again nobody cares and stop trying to act smart the thread was asking who had a rancher not the future of them smart one i was simply saying that ur post was irrelevant to the thread and that nobody would care i didnt know u would take it this seriously.....damn

 

i strongly agree

 

ya u can only ride good with sporty quads on flat land and sand dunes terrain like that what is a sport quad gunna do for u in the woods or even having a passenger on it.

 

this whole theory of urs sounds like a total opinion i dont think with how much success they had with the utility rancher that they would randomly change it to a sport quad ranchers r still the best selling honda quad.....

 

Well, the technical stuff I ride is more like rock crawling than trail riding. If anybody needs a pure utility, it should be me. Yet, I don't want one! I picked the Rancher, because it contains the least of the many evils that I dislike about the current trends in utility design (huge, heavy, top heavy, overpriced). Subconciously, you probably picked the Rancher for the same reason, just like many thousands of other Rancher owners.