Talon Talon or General

M

MundsParkAZ

New Member
Lifetime Member
Jun 16, 2019
10
13
3
85018
Ownership

  1. Do not currently own
I'm looking to buy my first SXS later this year. I will be using it for trail riding in Arizona. I am not looking to go super fast or do crazy trail crawling. Rider comfort is most important. I'm a 50 year old guy just wanting to do some trail riding. I was leaning towards the Polaris General but now interested in the new Talon 4 seater. I'm a big Honda fan since i grew up on Honda bikes. I had never considered the RZR since i thought it was more than i really need since i am not looking to go fast or use crazy trails. Is the Talon too much? Thoughts?
 
  • Like
Reactions: sharp
Smitty335

Smitty335

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
Supporting Member
Oct 3, 2016
35,445
208,726
113
NWA Arkansas
Ownership

  1. 1000-3

  2. 1000-5
I'm looking to buy my first SXS later this year. I will be using it for trail riding in Arizona. I am not looking to go super fast or do crazy trail crawling. Rider comfort is most important. I'm a 50 year old guy just wanting to do some trail riding. I was leaning towards the Polaris General but now interested in the new Talon 4 seater. I'm a big Honda fan since i grew up on Honda bikes. I had never considered the RZR since i thought it was more than i really need since i am not looking to go fast or use crazy trails. Is the Talon too much? Thoughts?
We use our, Pioneer P1 for trail riding and yard work, we'll never get rid of it, the turf mode is great in the yard, if your going to use it for working, I would go with the General or Pioneer, Talon's don't have much bed space.
 
JACKAL

JACKAL

Ancient Honda fanboi
Moderator
Lifetime Member
Supporting Member
Club Contributor
Jun 11, 2015
39,836
272,156
113
Pioneer, TN
Ownership

  1. 1000-5

  2. Talon X4
I'm looking to buy my first SXS later this year. I will be using it for trail riding in Arizona. I am not looking to go super fast or do crazy trail crawling. Rider comfort is most important. I'm a 50 year old guy just wanting to do some trail riding. I was leaning towards the Polaris General but now interested in the new Talon 4 seater. I'm a big Honda fan since i grew up on Honda bikes. I had never considered the RZR since i thought it was more than i really need since i am not looking to go fast or use crazy trails. Is the Talon too much? Thoughts?

You mentioned the Talon 4 seater, the live valve Edition would give you the best ride coupled with the longer wheelbase. It has virtually the same power as the General so, don't believe it is too much. Pretty much boils down to personal preference. I'm a life long Honda fan so my opinion is biased but never had a Honda machine make me have to walk home in 45 years of riding them off road.
 
J

JimmyTalon

Active Member
Apr 13, 2019
130
235
43
SE Minnesota
Ownership

  1. Talon R
I had a 2018 General Deluxe. Sold it to buy the talon. The two are built for different missions. General is right between work and play, and does each reasonably well. Talon is what I'd call pure sport. To be fair, you'd compare the pioneer and General.
Compared to the Talon, the General had a nice sized dump box with tailgate. Talon, a flat space big enuf for a large cooler. As mentioned, similar hp. Polaris was a little lower price than talon, about $6000 less in fact! Polaris has more nice accesories than anyone. The General has about half the suspension travel as the Talon, but the Deluxe with fox qs3 shocks rides very plush compared to the Talon with twice the travel. So I'm guessing the talon could carry a much higher speed thru very rough terrain. Seats are about the same. The General had a much better seat than the polaris RZR models come with. General is belt drive, so that's a factor in remote areas. General came with receiver for hitch. General deluxe came with a winch. General comes stock with a great electrical accessory power bus under the hood, makes adding stuff a breeze. The General Deluxe came with a radio, and I didn't think I'd use it, but found if I was working on something, like fencing, or gardening, and the General was standing by, I would use the tunes. The general has a lot more built in storage. Overall quality of the General was lower than talon, but not so much it would bother me. Of all the polaris sxs models, the General has my respect (and I still own a RZR too) .
To be fair, you should be comparing the General Deluxe with the Pioneer 1000. They are more similar missions. To compare the Talon with a similar mission polaris, look at a polaris RZR 1000. The RZR models are less expensive than the Generals. Don't ask me why.
 
Jon_MT

Jon_MT

New Member
Jul 11, 2019
12
11
3
Montana
Ownership

  1. Talon R
I'm looking to buy my first SXS later this year. I will be using it for trail riding in Arizona. I am not looking to go super fast or do crazy trail crawling. Rider comfort is most important. I'm a 50 year old guy just wanting to do some trail riding. I was leaning towards the Polaris General but now interested in the new Talon 4 seater. I'm a big Honda fan since i grew up on Honda bikes. I had never considered the RZR since i thought it was more than i really need since i am not looking to go fast or use crazy trails. Is the Talon too much? Thoughts?

We took our Polaris General to MOAB this past June. It was the most miserable trip. It was the Hunter Edition. Had 30 inch tires, 3" lift. Not only was the wheelbase too short, the suspension was miserable over rough terrain. We traded it on the way back from MOAB for a 2-seat Talon R. Couldn't be happier. Gave up some storage but gained way more comfort, articulation and NO BELT.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mopower58 and JTW
J

JTW

Guest
So.. I would say the pioneer 1000 or the talon. Really would need some more info. How many people would be riding with you? How often? Are you a mod kinda guy, or would you rather not do anything to it?

In my opinion, the general splits the difference between the pioneer and talon. I would suggest buying the machine that goes above what you think you need. And for that... I say the talon. If you don’t mind to do mods and tinker the pioneer 1000 could be a good option. BUT it’s not as comfortable for rear passengers and you’ll likely have more in it than you would just buying a talon. It really is very subjective to the type of riding you want to do. Are you just day riding or do you want to camp on the trail? And maybe most importantly... if you’re riding with others. What machines do they have? With our group, it’s really nice being able to share the interchangeable parts, tools and knowledge needed to fix these things on the trial.
 
RB3offroad

RB3offroad

Well-Known Member
Vendor
Nov 2, 2017
1,711
4,807
113
Tempe, AZ
Ownership

  1. 1000-5
I'm looking to buy my first SXS later this year. I will be using it for trail riding in Arizona. I am not looking to go super fast or do crazy trail crawling. Rider comfort is most important. I'm a 50 year old guy just wanting to do some trail riding. I was leaning towards the Polaris General but now interested in the new Talon 4 seater. I'm a big Honda fan since i grew up on Honda bikes. I had never considered the RZR since i thought it was more than i really need since i am not looking to go fast or use crazy trails. Is the Talon too much? Thoughts?
We are in AZ if you just want to do trails the Honda Pioneer 1000 is great for.
 
H

HondaFam

New Member
Mar 6, 2019
1
0
1
Mesa, AZ
Ownership

  1. Other Brand
We are in AZ if you just want to do trails the Honda Pioneer 1000 is great for.
I'm looking to buy my first SXS later this year. I will be using it for trail riding in Arizona. I am not looking to go super fast or do crazy trail crawling. Rider comfort is most important. I'm a 50 year old guy just wanting to do some trail riding. I was leaning towards the Polaris General but now interested in the new Talon 4 seater. I'm a big Honda fan since i grew up on Honda bikes. I had never considered the RZR since i thought it was more than i really need since i am not looking to go fast or use crazy trails. Is the Talon too much? Thoughts?[/QUOTE

I live in Arizona and trail ride. I have owned 3 RZRs a Pioneer 1000-5 a Wolverine and a Talon 1000R. The RZRs ride the smoothest and softest on rough trails even at slow speeds. The Talon is close but a little stiffer on the small bumps. They all need shock work to get a truly smooth ride. Even the RZRs ride a little rough with stock shocks. I like the softer ride on my RZR 1000 XP (that has shock work) but like everything else better on the Talon. Once I get the shocks done on the Talon I believe it will be my favorite in all areas - ride, quality, comfort, fit/finish, lack of rattles, reliability, ability to shift, no belt and overall fun factor. I like an ultra-smooth ride and for my preference there is nothing that can be done to a General to make it ride smooth enough. It doesn’t have enough suspension to get a super smooth ride on the small rocks as well as large bumps and rocks. I like Polaris but if you buy one you have to accept some rattles and some minor quality issues.
 

About us

  • Our community has been around for many years and pride ourselves on offering unbiased, critical discussion among people of all different backgrounds. We are working every day to make sure our community is one of the best.

User Menu

Buy us a beer!

  • Lots of time and money has gone into making sure the community is running the best software, best designs, and all the other bells and whistles. Care to buy us a beer? We'd really appreciate it!

    Beer Fund!

    Club Membership!