[creed82]

Hello friends,

I rode a newer Honda Recon ES this past Saturday. It was my first experience with a Recon ES, and I figured I'd share a few thoughts/impressions for whoever is interested. Having spent LOTS of time on a Rancher DCT the I felt immediately at home on the Recon ES. The shifting was smooth, and intuitive. Cake. Loved it. I never had any issues with it while we rode. The engine's power output was surprisingly torquey and fun. I was smiling immediately and climbing bigger hills that I thought I might be able to. I may have set myself up with lower expectations because of how many different machines I've ridden. But I can say this, the Recon was FUN. I loved the light weight and playful nature. It was easy to use the engine's bottom end to pull up the front tires over obstacles or just for fun. It was quick enough to overtake my buddy's Grizzly 450 (with big heavy 26" Bighorns). The suspension was better than I thought it'd be, especially for such little travel and no adjustment. The seat and seated position were comfortable. All in all, I'd happily own a Recon, even as an experienced rider. I will qualify that last statement - I would happily own a Honda Recon with the type of riding that I do, and the places I normally ride, in the southwestern USA. Here's a little video footage from the ride:

 

[wheelsquad]

Hey @creed82 you want to know something interesting about that "newer" Recon??... The 2020 model will be going on its 24th model year run of remaining basically unchanged. I can't think of any model ever by any manufacturer that has been on that long of a run. They added ES option sometime in the early 2000's, and updated the styling in 2005. But that's basically it. I wonder how many Honda has sold since 1997? I can't imagine they sell many now, but it can't cost honda much at all to continue to produce them either since their development costs have been ZERO.

I told my brother when he bought his 1997 Recon used last year, that he'd never have to worry about replacement parts availability cause they're still making them today.

 

[creed82]

Hey @creed82 you want to know something interesting about that "newer" Recon??... The 2020 model will be going on its 24th model year run of remaining basically unchanged. I can't think of any model ever by any manufacturer that has been on that long of a run. They added ES option sometime in the early 2000's, and updated the styling in 2005. But that's basically it. I wonder how many Honda has sold since 1997? I can't imagine they sell many now, but it can't cost honda much at all to continue to produce them either since their development costs have been ZERO.

I told my brother when he bought his 1997 Recon used last year, that he'd never have to worry about replacement parts availability cause they're still making them today.

Correct, I only used the were "newer" because there hasn't been a NEW Recon...since they came out! I've ridden an older foot shift model, with the square headlights. I think it's cool that the Recon has been in production this long. And, I still see people buying them! I LOVE that it's one of the only quads you can still buy with a backup pull start. The Brute Force 300 is similar in that way.