After two mornings of riding and 50 KM under our belts, all I can say is how much fun the bikes are and how forgiving they are. The first morning was on some flat trails in the nearby woods to get a feel for the bikes. This morning, we ventured a little further and took in some muddy and water-soaked trails across some local farmland.
Common sense goes a very long way in making it back home safe and sound, but the technology in the bikes is amazing. We both have been using DCT auto shifting (ESP) and are quite happy. There have been some of the clunky shifts under power that I’ve read about, but nothing to surprise either of us and we hardly notice anymore after two days. The dealer told us Friday that we should see a lot of ESP improvement after a little break-in and the first oil change. Either way, I’m really happy with the auto shifting allowing us to focus on riding and getting a feel for the bikes.
The IRS suspension is unbelieveable. I have nothing to compare against, but the ride with the IRS and EPS is so compliant. We have very rocky and tree root strewn trails with lots of wet mud and have had no issues in tracking on a straight line. The only complaint my son had was that the 420 seat is a lot firmer than on my Rubicon and I have to agree. It’s too bad Honda didn’t make the 2" foam additon across the board, but hey, he’s young and can handle it. :laugh:
As for power, the 420 keeps up perfectly with the 500. We have maxxed out at 60 km/h just because we aren’t really used to the physics of how the bikes handle under different situations. No issues with takeoff power for either bike and the "under powered" Honda engines have all the power we need for riding the trails we have available.
The dealer was too busy with sales/service on our first long weekend holiday so we did not get our winches or AMS Slingshot tires installed yet. I made a mistake about 15 minutes into my first ride of trying to ride across a 10 foot "swamp" and brought up solid. I tried diffloc and rocking the bike, but no luck. Luckily, we had a tow rope and my son was finally able to get me out after about an hour and after putting a lot of fallen tree trunks under the tires. :icon_ cry:
Overall, I am so pleased with the ride, quality and finish of both bikes. I would have liked more storage for some additional tools and gear, but simply strapped a waterproof sports bag to my rear rack. I have owned Honda motorcycles and cars and take Honda quality and reliability as givens. Can’t wait to get the tires and winches installed so we can go have some messy fun.
Thanks again to all forum members who responded to my posts and other user posts about the same models.
Jeff
