The shootout was between the Rincon, Kawi and Grizz, they said they could not get the sp700 or Quest in time for the shootout.
First test, speed run in the 1/4 mile by radar. The Griz came in at 52mph, but speedo read 58. The Kawi was 50, speedo read 54, and the Rincon came in last at 49 and speedo read 52. They wanted to see how bad the speedo were off, the Grizz won that.

Next drags, They said the Kawi and Rincon would jump off the line ahead of the Griz. The Rincon pulled great from the very bottom but would fall on it's face right away while the Kawi pulled away. The grizz quickly reeled in the Rincon and blasted past it. They said the Rincon's lack of mid-range muscle soon became aparent. Even in ESP mode, the results were the same.

Engine torque, they said they had to relegate the Rincon a distant third in the battel of engine torque. If you get into trouble,there just is not as much power on tap with the OHV pushrod engine of the Rincon. Even with the same GC as the Griz, we managed to get the Rincon stuck in several mud sections that the Kawi and Grizz easily went through.

Handling, the Rincon just beat the Griz saying for sheer predictabilty off of jumps, bumps, and corners, the Rincon won.

Comfort Factor went to the Grizz with the Rinco right behind.

Suspension went to the Grizz with the Rincon 2nd. They said both traveled very well, but because the Grizz had adjustable shocks and more travel, it rode better when pushed hard through the woops.

Brakes went to the Kawi then the Grizz. On the Rincon it said " the big loser in brake-off was the drum front brake setup on the Rincon plus its eaqually poor engine braking feature. On the engine braking DW said "Sorry, Honda. You need to go back to the drawing boards and come up with something that works on par with your competition."

Extra's- They Like the rims on the Griz and Rincon, didn't like the Kawi rims. Skid plat protection went to the Grizz with full lenth plastic. The Kawi came in next with its coverage of aluminum skids. The Honda had the weakest skids. They said that they virtually destroyed the plastic skids after only one day of thrashing around in the rocks. Rincon had the sleeker look while the Grizz had the baddest look. They said the Kawi had a dweebish-like appearance. Trunk space went to Grizz, Kawi then Rincon.

Overall they kept the Kawi as the best PURE SPORT 4x4, then the Grizz right behind with the best all-day riding. On the Rincon they came away a bit disappointed. It lags behind a fairly distant third in our monster shootout. To be competative with the Kawi and Grizz, it will take something other than what Honda has come up with for the Rincon 650 . Harsh, but true.

I would say DW was not impressed with the Rincon. Sorry for such a long post.

 

HI GUY'S;
Any surprises? ALL HAIL THE KING OF BEASTS...THE AWSOME KAWI P650!!! Congradulations to the Grizz as well...for kicking sand in the face of the not so mighty RINCON!!!


ROB

 

I'm assuming you're talking about Dirt Wheels mag? I can't find any mention of the article of their site. What month is it in? Must be November (?). I'd like to take a look, since they were SO fond of the machine in the September issue.

 

Its the Dec issue, just got it today.

 

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img] I havent got the DW mag yet. It should be coming any time now. What else is in the magazine? Do they mention anything about the new Kawasaki 700?

 

They have a artical on the KFK700. They didn't do any testing on it, so there going on what Kawi testers said.

 

kawirob, Hate to tell ya but sounds like dw is full of opinionated crap. I rode with 6 p650's 2 weeks ago and these machines are dead nuts even in speed on asphalt in a straight race. You've got a nice Machine, I'll stick with mine...you do sound like a jerk though.

 

Ostie. I guess all us Dweeb riders are jerks. Just remember that when you look ahead on the trail. YOU'RE TRYING TO CATCH UP TO JERKS!

 

I don't see how you could make that leap. Ostie was taking issue with kawirob slamming the Rincon, a machine that some of us are quite proud to have in our garages. Taking his statement and turning it into "All p650 riders are jerks" is a bit extreme. That leap alone might make one a jerk, but I can't see why Ostie would bag on your choice of machines in an effort to defend his choice of machines.

I wasn't going to say anything, but after watching this board for a while, it starts to wear on me. People seem to have this uncontrollable urge to say nasty crap about other people's rides, while singing the praises of their own. The second activity is great, we're all happy you have a machine that treats you well. The first activity, however, is just plain juvenile. We didn't buy the quad you did. That doesn't make us stupid, it doesn't make us less-informed. Maybe yours is faster, maybe it's a better mudder. I really couldn't care less. I did my research, I bought the machine I did. Trust me, the decision certainly was not made to spite you, so get over it.


Anyone got change for a nickel?

 

I guess for once advertising dollars didn't win the shootout, huh?

I have to admit that I actually agree with DW on this one, and not just beacause I have a Kawi. Its like myself and several others have said "the Rincon just isn't up to par with the other big bores". I can't find a falsehood in the DW article either, they didn't give any machine slack. They gave credit to each machine where credit was due, it's just sad to say that the most expensive of the machines doesn't have much to show for its price except a trick tranny (which disengages at low speeds and allows freewheeling [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img] ).