DG Rider said:
This company is totally disconnected from the market.
24"' tires?
6" of suspension?
No diff lock?
What a total joke. Wayne Lambert should be fired.
Totally agree,
You wait 6 years to enter the 50" SXS market, and this is what you come to market with? Where is the Hondamatic type tranny? <500 cc displacement? Really? <6" of travel on the suspension? Are you kidding me! Appearance: There is zero symmetry with this machine, it looks like a Rubicon rear end was grafted to a SXS front end. The wheel gap front to back looks disproportionate. Five speed tranny with only 475 CC displacement on a machine that weighs just over 1000 pounds? That is not enough gearing, and too little displacement.
This is nothing like I was expecting to see in this market from Honda. If your going to wait so long to enter the market, you damn well better get it right. Lets look at who this "should" have been designed for. It is a 50" machine, so that should indicate it is primarily a trail machine. What is important in running trails? I think most would agree that suspension travel, ground clearance, locking diffs, power steering, a versatile rack system for the back, big enough engine so that when you get to high elevations (such as Idaho where I live) that you still have some power available at 8-11K feet. As I mentioned above, Honda you gave it 475 CC and only five speed tranny, neither is sufficient. Looking at the advertisement with the rack filled with fencing supplies tells me they don't get this segment. If we want to primarily work out of the machine we would get a larger Pioneer, 50" is not necessary for any Farm/Ranch scenerio. SET IT UP FOR TRAIL RIDING FIRST, and versatile enough to also be able to work out of second. Hopefully is it as dependable as we have come to expect from Honda, it will likely be the only feature that makes these salable. It certainly is not on its spec sheet which in this segment, doesn't even come close to the competition.
I was waiting "impatiently" for this machine and to get out of my RZR. That is not going to happen with this model. They completely missed the market with this machine. I am not sure who this was designed for, its not a workhorse and it certainly is not a good trail machine. O well guess I will continue to try and make friends with my Polaris.