Honda-Talon-1000X-4-FOX-Live-Valve

Honda adds a four-seat Talon to its side-by-side lineup

Jeff Glucker

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Color me not surprised… but certainly smiling. Honda has already expanded its still-fresh Talon lineup. The UTV with the sharp name is the sportier side of the side-by-side family. It launched in two flavors, both of which were for two people only. We attended that launch and I asked Honda if a four-seat version was coming. Reps replied that they were watching the market. It was a short stint of eyeballing, because the Talon 1000X-4 has arrived.

According to Power Sports Business, the Talon 1000X-4 uses a similar but stretched chassis. The rear seats are raised a bit, for a stadium experience. Power is provided by the 999-cc Honda twin engine, which is backed up by a dual-clutch gearbox. Just like in the Talon we drove in March.

First Drive: Honda Talon 1000R and 1000X

We came away seriously impressed. And this new four seater should be just as impressive because you can bring more people to the party. Also that longer chassis could add even more high-speed stability. Though it may be a dash less agile.

In addition to the standard 100oX-4, Honda is offering a version called the 1000X-4 Fox Live Valve. This one utilizes Fox’s crazy live-valve suspension technology. That’s the same type you’ll find on the latest Ford Raptor, by the way. Here on the Talon, it offers 14.4 inches of front travel and 15-inches of travel out back. More importantly, it constantly monitors all four shocks and can adjust the damping on the fly.

There’s no word on price for either example of the four seat Talon. They certainly won’t be cheap, as the two seat Talons start at $20,000. The cheapest four-seat Polaris RZR will likely undercut the Talon 1000X-4… but you have to deal with CVT whine and belt snapping sapping fun with that one.

We’ll take the Talon.

(I can hear Ross Ballot screaming from here and I love it…)

About

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker is the co-founder and Executive Editor of Hooniverse.com. He’s often seen getting passed as he hustles a 1991 Mitsubishi Montero up the 405 Freeway. IG: @HooniverseJeff

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14 responses to “Honda adds a four-seat Talon to its side-by-side lineup”

  1. Ross Ballot Avatar
    Ross Ballot

    Haha. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of a traditional transmission in a SxS. That said, the belt issue with the RZRs isn’t as bad as competing manufacturers would leave anyone watching / listening to / reading their press materials to believe. The CVT noise does absolutely suck though.

    Now, *THAT* said: this is a good move on Honda’s part. The four-seaters aren’t big here in the the NY/NJ/PA/CT area as the trails are just too tight, but up north (ME/NH/VT) they’re a bigger market and absolutely make sense. And out west? Four-seaters are killing it on the sales front. A four-seat Talon makes all the sense in the world.

    If I was plunking down my money on a new SxS today, it would be the Talon.

    Gonna need a demonstration of that Fox suspension…

    Reply
    1. rovingardener Avatar
      rovingardener

      Arctic Cat has been using Fox iAct shocks for the last two seasons. Same tech.

      Reply
      1. Ross Ballot Avatar
        Ross Ballot

        Didn’t know that, thanks! Time to research.

        Reply
    2. Mark Thompson Avatar
      Mark Thompson

      That noise issue is a big one for me. The Teryx was simply awful. I’ll never attempt to drive a SxS again without earplugs.

      Reply
  2. rovingardener Avatar
    rovingardener

    As nice as the extra stability of the long wheelbase is, I’d rather have a shorter wheelbase for agility. The rarity of uses for all four seats would help in this decision as well. So, I’m looking at a Yamaha Wolverine X4 SE.

    Reply
    1. Jeff Glucker Avatar
      Jeff Glucker

      I’d prefer the two-seater if I were just playing with myself (hehe). But I’d ideally like to bring more friends along which is why I like the four seater. Both are rad though, certainly.

      Reply
  3. neight428 Avatar
    neight428

    Around here, I think half of the the people that are hunters choose the hobby to be able to blast around the woods on SxS rigs that cost more than my truck.

    Reply
  4. Hatchtopia Avatar
    Hatchtopia

    But, why? Why not buy a used Jeep for the same cost and just drive it to wherever you’re going, rather than having to own/insure/register/fuel a tow vehicle and store/insure/register a trailer? These things make zero sense to me and epitomize consumption for the sake of consumption. He who dies with the most toys is dead. Get off my lawn.

    Reply
    1. Jeff Glucker Avatar
      Jeff Glucker

      This can do significantly more than a Jeep can do straight out of the box.
      It’s definitely a toy though, no question.

      Reply
      1. Ross Ballot Avatar
        Ross Ballot

        Yes and no. A Rubicon (though 2x the cost of a Talon) will still crawl up and over much larger rocks.

        There’s also the aspect of some trails being for street-legal vehicles only.

        Reply
    2. Mark Thompson Avatar
      Mark Thompson

      All the “support equipment” needed by a SxS is a real issue for me too. You need a serious trailer and a tow-capable vehicle to move one. And don’t forget the storage space required by the above. And the complexity of a SxS has got to mean some significant maintenance/repair costs. I can just imagine what hard use would do to bushings, CV joints, etc, let alone shocks/brakes/tires. It all makes a sportbike seem Corolla-level rational.

      Reply
      1. Ross Ballot Avatar
        Ross Ballot

        The alternate side of things is that if you break your Jeep on a trail, you’re SOL. You break a SxS and you can toss it on a trailer and still get home without issue.

        Reply
        1. Mark Thompson Avatar
          Mark Thompson

          You’re not wrong on that count. And it’s probably true that a Jeep would be far more likely to break something important than a SxS.

          Reply
  5. Mark Thompson Avatar
    Mark Thompson

    I recently rented a Kawasaki Teryx 4 seater for an afternoon. This was in a western state that allows such vehicles to be licensed and driven on the street. The Teryx is quite outdated by this point, but it was my first real seat time in a SxS. A couple thoughts:
    1. Anyone who willingly drives one of these on the street to do anything other than get to/from the dirt is out of their mind. So loud and obnoxious–both from the driver’s seat and for any bystander. If you do that, I question your judgement and consider you a bit of a jerk. Sorry, but I said it.
    2. The suspension is by far the best part of these vehicles. We bashed it pretty well off some rocks, probably got some air, powered thru water holes, etc. If we ever bottomed the suspension or ran out of ground clearance, I didn’t know about it. The Teryx never skipped a beat and really made the whole experience pretty idiot proof. And I have no problem admitting I can be an idiot.
    3. The price on these things is outlandish. I looked up the MSRP on the creaky old Teryx and saw it was about $16K. A local dealer is blowing them out here for $12K, but even that seems waaay over the top. For that kind of money, a used 4×4 truck/SUV with heat and AC that can actually cover some miles on road without making you deaf/insane, or a couple quads/dirtbikes, just makes so much more sense to me.
    4. All that being said, I really would like a go in a more modern sport SxS, especially the Yamaha w/ the manual gearbox.

    Reply