Honestly, had I done a review about this part of the machine in the first 250 miles, It would not have been very favorable. I had all the same complaints as many others but I gave it (and me) some time to break in before I decided to give any type of review. At 1000 miles, my Talon is a very different and MUCH better machine to me and my wife.
My wife is not much of a wheeler and hated its ride and jerky feel when we first got it enough that she would not ride in it much and missed miles 250 through 750 completely. I coaxed her into a ride a few weeks ago when it had about 750 miles on it and she commented on how smooth it was and asked what I had changed. The only suspension change I made at that time was that I backed off the rear crossover rings 21 turns (1.5") and that helped a little. She now happily rides with me on occasion and no more complaints about the ride quality. Any review in the first 500 miles should be taken with a grain of salt in my opinion.
When I first got the machine, I too was concerned about technical riding but after the springs, shocks and clutch settle/break in and the throttle cable is adjusted and the rear crossover rings backed off (and probably a little time behind the wheel to get used to operating the machine), the jerkyness is all but gone for me at 1000 miles.
I have done a fair amount of mountain trail riding and some technical rock crawling and have absolutely no complaints. Throttle is predictable, no jerking and smooth clutch engagement. I will say that technical riding must be done in Manual and Low range to be the most predictable. My R went anywhere I wanted with ease in a smooth, predictable fashion. Albeit it was no Moab where I was but still challenging enough to rate it a 7 out of 10 in my book.
As far as over the hood sight, I would rate that as fair. I came from a Rhino and have driven my BIL's RZR 800 Trail (and some other machines to some extent) and there is a noticable difference going to the Talon but I have gotten used to it. Getting rid of the window nets also made it easier to look out and see where the left side tires are placed. I am 6' 4" tall and have even raised my seat about 1" and that helped a lot. Shorter drivers may have a harder time acclimating to the cockpit.
The only other valid complaint I see is turning radius. It SUCKS in an R so you will need to change your driving style if you get one. The X is better but I have no experience with one. I did not buy my R for trail riding, I bought it mainly for duning and the turning radius doesn't bother me at all. The occasional 6 (or 8) point turn is worth it to me
The only thing left about the suspension that bothered me was a little wheel hop under certain conditions and some bunny hopping at high speeds over rough terrain. Both conditions due to too stiff of springs so I decided to install the Shock Therapy spring set. I only have about 50 miles in sand with paddles on them and still need to fine tune them but so far there is a BIG difference in ride. Hookup is much better and the occasional rear wheel hop that was still happening in certain sand conditions is completely gone. High speed over rough terrain is so much better, it is like a different machine. Once I get them fine tuned and some more miles on these springs in different terrain, I will do a full review.
