with all the new sport quads out.... I sure hope Honda does a little better with their next sport quad than what they did with the Rincon...

now they did a great job buy making the Rincon their first IRS 4x4... and with the new automotive style tranny... but sorry front brakes, now front locker, weak top end power??? man, they could have the best 4x4 out their.... what were they thinking???

with that said, I'd say a new sport-trax would have to stay in the 400-440cc range to be utilized on all the MX tracks around the country, it would have to put out at least 40rwhp to be stay on top of the manufactured pile, it would have to have reverse because 90% of people that buy the quads use it for recreation and trail riding, it should also be an inch wider (front and rear) than a 400EX, have a 1 inch longer wheelbase, and a 1 inch shorter seat height... it should have a dry weight of 360lbs, carry 0.5 more gallons of gas, and have 10 inches of suspension travel (front and rear)... THAT should be the Honda Engineer's formula for success!

 

DSAPP,

That is a good question. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

Honda updates there cars in a regular cycle. As soon as the new generation model arrives they are already working on the next model in succession.

If this were the case lets say with the 400EX, the present model would be completely outdated and the new model would be such as you have described all ready in the showroom.

Chet

 

Honda does have a formula for success. Brand Loyalty. People buy Honda because it is HONDA regardless of how lacking or non-competitive it is. Come on, who would buy a rincon for example for $7600 when for the same or less money you can get a machine that has WAY more features, power, etc.... ???? They do it because they are loyal to HONDA not because Honda has something better or cheaper.

 

There formula for success keep up the solid work and keep pumping thoses 400 exs out of the shop[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] May not be the fastest bike but, a consistant bike is a great bike. The 400 ex will NEVER DIE!!

 

Most likely true......But the brand loyalty didn't come about by just picking a company to be the best.

Honda earned it's reputation as the most reliable motorcycle/ATV manufacturer years ago.

From dealing with 6 different brands of ATVs, I can say without a doubt that they don't show any signs of slowing down yet.

Performance wise though....They are improving...but still stay a step behind the competition each year.

 

Enter the TRX250R! Honda still makes the best performance machine out there! You just have to find one![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] I will say any honda that ends in an"x" takes a licking and keeps on ticking! 350x, 250x, 400ex, 300ex, 200x-You name it! They are all rock solid performers. I hope Honda blows our minds very soon with a new 450cc AND 650cc machine. I may be dreaming, but if this happens Big Red will take the helm again! I don't want to start another rampant rumor mill though! Geez-you'd think someone at Honda would read this stuff and see what the world wants. Oh wait! Cannondale, Polaris and Suzuki have answered our prayers! Hallelujah! Long live the new kings (right behind the "R" of course).

 

After owning the competetions quads for a few yrs,I decided it was time to go back to what stays on the trail,HONDA.

Simple put,I now could care less what the other manufactures have on their ATVs,my last two 4x4 Polaris ATVs had all them nice features but they were in the shop for repairs EVERY other time I rode them.I love my Rincon and yes,I wished it had disk brakes up front and a locker mode,however,just knowing its a Honda is enough for me,because I know it'll be on the trail and not spending all its time in for repairs.Thats a ''GOOD'' feeling.

Bill

 

Knowsalot, nice to see you pop in every so often.

Yes, Hondas do have a reputation for reliability but I have to say it's easier to build a reliable LOW performance machine that a reliable HIGH performance machine.

Let's get the performance aspect up to par then we'll have something. As everybody knows by now - am an advocate of high performacne with reasonable reliability over low performance with high reliability. And yes, I do tend to jump all over certain threads in the Honda forum.

 

WyoDuner,
Looks like Muddy4Life is a firm supporter of you philosophy.
And for the record, I'm still waiting for the first problem with my Sportsman.(3 years so far)

 

Hey Wyoduner.

Yeah, I haven't had as much time lately to browse around the forums as much as I used to...LOL

I understand your point about the performance/reliability factor. If Honda wasn't so concerned about damaging that reputation, there's no telling what we would be riding by now. LOL

Honda changed their motto to "Performance First" early last year and they are showing that in the four stroke dirtbike world with 5 new CRFs this past year...............They just need to hurry and apply it to the quad world.

Patrick