Here is what I am personally going to spend my money on in the future:

1) Dual sport dirt bikes with licence plates! With all the trails getting shut down, there won't be any place to ride in the furure unless you are street legal. (I have thousands of miles of fire roads in the local mountains and deserts, where one can go street legal anywhere I want!) I would like to see ds versions of the CRF450X and 250X, with an intermediate seat height of around 35". A street legal quad would be even better!!!

2) An updated "race ready" TRX450R, with EFI and 50" wide. Same idea as what Yamaha has done with the new YFZ.

3) A Honda Rancher 420AT to replace my old Rancher 350.

My son however, would probably love the prototype that I rode!

 

Krait, I looked at the Wolverine. If they put the 550 that they now have on the Grizzly in the Wolverine that would be a nice mix. If Polaris put the new XP 550 EFI in the Scrambler it would also be a nice mix. Even better would be the Outlaw IRS with the new XP EFI 550 with 4wd. These could all be in the 550 lb. range or so. That would be, for me, an ideal mix between the two worlds of sport and utility.

 

Methinks its some sort of smaller quad, maybe an updated Recon or sport/race type youth quad...

Moosehenden, doing that would be a step in the right direction, albeit not quite there yet. I think the Fuji engines Polaris uses are probably on the heavy side, (I am just speculating, don't have personal experience, so take what I say with a grain of salt) so I dunno how well the 550 Polaris engine would work. I do know the original Outlaw 500 engine was a Fuji, from the Predator 500. That engine was heavy compared to the KTM 510 engine. But, losing the belt drive and going with an auto clutch manual shift 5 speed like the Pred/Outlaw 500 engine, might save some weight over the belt drive models.

The main thing for me is, I would like to see IRS since I would ride in fairly rough, rocky, rutted out trails. But IRS would make it heavier, and lots of ppl who would like a sport 4x4 would rather see an SRA rear end. So I am rather doubtful to see my perfect machine come to life anytime soon.

The Rancher 420AT honestly seems like a great little bike. I just wish they had kept the weight a little lower, and of course I wouldn't mind a similar quad with a little bit more speed so I could dual-purpose it...

My bet is some form of youth/beginner/entry level quad.

-Krait

 

I think the Predator and Outlaw are true hydraulic manual clutch with manual shifting. I personally don't like having to shift going up and down hills. A missed shift can stop momentum and cause traction loss. I like being able to stab the throttle and letting the transmission do it's thing. I wouldn't personally get a Scrambler setup the way I said but I know my son would love it. He misses the Lakota. Lots of fun but the big rocks, ruts, and mud in New England meant it had to be yanked alot.

 

I think we have to look at the situation here. With the economy the way it is people are not buying what they want, they are buying more what they need. I can't think of a situation where you would need a sport. We all want a sport, I've wanted on for a while but have not bought one cause I can't find a way in my business to write it off. On the other hand you could actually need a utility for spraying, plowing, pulling, guide service, crop service, GPS mapping, farming, ranching, and all sorts of other tasks. I don't believe as conservative as Honda is that right now they would build a machine that nobody actually needs. Of coarse, if you race you may need a sport quad. JMHO.

 

Have alot of wants. They're standing in line behind the needs. Ever notice when you have the time you don't have the money. But, when you have the money you don't have the time.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: MooseHenden

I think the Predator and Outlaw are true hydraulic manual clutch with manual shifting. I personally don't like having to shift going up and down hills. A missed shift can stop momentum and cause traction loss. I like being able to stab the throttle and letting the transmission do it's thing. I wouldn't personally get a Scrambler setup the way I said but I know my son would love it. He misses the Lakota. Lots of fun but the big rocks, ruts, and mud in New England meant it had to be yanked alot.</end quote></div>

Yeah sorry worded that wrong, I meant a 5 speed manual like the Pred/Outlaw with an auto clutch could work.

I don't need a quad at all anyways, would mostly be a trailriding toy for me. Altho if I got a ute, I could use it around my fam/friends property and put it to good use.

-Krait

 

I actually use my quad about 90% of the time for utility work anyhow.

 

Boy, this thread has gone all over the place. Impressed that it has stayed pretty civil.

I agree that a light sport-leaning, mid displacement 4x4 is missing from the market. I'm not particularly impressed by the xx, or the Renegade (not that there's anything wrong with them. I can see how a certain segment would want them). Something along the lines of a modern, higher performance version of the Scrambler. In the mountains here, sport quads can have a lot of fun, but there are often root strewn up hill sections where its a balancing act between keeping enough momentium vs getting bouced off the trail, or keeping the front end down and keeping the back from spinning.

I also agree about a danger of machines becoming less quad-like. If they keep getting bigger and heavier, pretty soon you've got a jeep with a saddle instead of seats.


I'd like to see honda put their sport clutch on the Foreman. It's no secret I'd like to see a 5 speed or low range on the Rincon.

My next big purchase will also likely be a dual sport of some kind...

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: MooseHenden

Have alot of wants. They're standing in line behind the needs. Ever notice when you have the time you don't have the money. But, when you have the money you don't have the time.</end quote></div>

Yes Moose, I think this is the story of most all of our lives.