Don't worry you ex'ers. There probably are Sport ex's, 440 and 650, in development like our king (Knowsabit) has told us. But there is no way Honda would introduce an '04 sport now 18 months before delivery of these new quads. News of this would only hinder their sales of the '03 "old" models, as most ex faithful would only wait to make a purchase of the new models. They have to get rid of this inventory and news of new models would only hurt them. That's the logic.

 

Well im sure all of the people that are know turning to Yamaha, Suzuki, Polaris, and Cannondale will hurt there sales a whole hell of a lot more. Honda let down there fans one to many times i think.

 

not a bad point, but that doesnt appease the sport atv world

 

I don't think so. Why? Because they introduced the Rincon last year this same way. They just introduced these new Ranchers this way and they just introduced some new 4 stroke dirt bikes this way. Frankly, I think that the sport atv may be in the works but either A) It's not ready or B) They will release it soon, just not tonight(not very likely).

I sure would love to see something though.

MX

 

Not a matter of appeasing the atv sport world...they are looking out for their bottom line profits. If their sport quads aren't going to be ready 'til 04, any introduction would only further hurt their sales this coming year (on top of the Yamaha's, Zuki's and Dales cutting into their sales--that's a matter they can't control).

 

I've talked with two different dealers, one of which strictly Honda dealer, other sold both Hondas and Suzukis. Both of which told me since the Z's arrival, neither have sold a single new ex. Can't hurt sales that don't exist...food for thought. The ex is still a great machine, but it hit it's plateau around a year ago. We'll see the 13th what's in store. All eyes on big red.

 

I guarantee that if Honda had one that would be ready for 2004, they would let people know about it. There are a lot of EX owners who are starting to look at other brands but, if they knew that Honda was coming out with an '04 model they would wait.

MX

 

I will be purchasing a new quad this winter-spring. As soon as I sell my quads I am going to go get something. I have a guy coming ove next Saturday to possibly get the Bayou. I was wanting to see what Honda had coming out but I am not waiting for another year. What ever it is, more than likely it will be overpriced.

 

There is no logical answer to our question....Honda, where is our new sport quad? 400ex sales are down. Dealers are having trouble moving them, they've gone to selling the quads at a reduced price. Polaris has introduced the Predator, Cannondale has their quads, and Suzuki released the Z400. All are better trail quads than the Honda. I easily see the 400ex placing last in a Performance Quad shootout in an ATV Mag. Yes, the 400ex's are still winning the GNCC races, but look how small that segment of the market is. I would say 1 in 25 400ex's sold are raced in a sanctioned event. Maybe even a higher ratio than that, but that's my best guess. It was time for Honda to step up, and they didn't. I've officially washed my hands of Honda. I was really considering selling my Cannibal if Honda came out with a new 400cc range quad.

I really thought we would see an new sport quad from Honda, and I'm just lost for words.....I don't know what to make of this. There is already enough 300-400cc auto quads out there, and I guess they think it's a bigger market than the sport market....stupid stupid Honda...

 

One tidbit to think about is the utility quads outsell the sport quads 5 to 1. Honda is not stupid enough to ignore a segment that makes 5 times the profit for them.

They also are battling the competition on the dirt bike front. Yamaha has been eating them alive in the 4 stroke dirt bike market so, Honda introduced 2 new 4S competition models for '04, CRF250R and CRF250X. They may have not had enough capacity to fight all of these battles. OTOH, somehow Yamaha is doing it.

I still think though that they are missing out on a big opportunity here and are losing their loyalists.

MX