DIRTHAMMER SAYS

What do you want out of a sport side-by-side? A snappy chassis? An engaging driving experience with a proper, geared transmission? A super-reliable, time-proven engine? Seating for four? Electronic suspension? An affordable price of entry? Of course you want all of those things. This 2023 Honda Talon 1000R-4 bring all of that to the table in a super clean, nicely modified package.

The Honda Talon came out in 2019 as a naturally-aspirated alternative to the Polaris RZR and Can-Am Maverick lineups. It was small, nimble, and capable, and had right around 100 horsepower from a 999cc parallel twin. All of that is about in line with its competitors. But the little Honda had an ace up its sleeve in the form of its excellent, slick dual-clutch gearbox. Also, it came with a starting MSRP under $20,000, which even then was a bananas entry price. Even better, for just a couple thousand dollars, Honda offered the Talon with Fox's excellent Live Valve electronic suspension package. If you're unfamiliar, Live Valve uses senors to read the terrain 1,000 times a second and adjusts itself to conditions on the fly. The system has manual settings that change the base tune depending on how stiff or compliant you want the ride to be, and the system automatically adjusts itself from there. It's seamless, slick, and gives the Talon an unbelievably good ride right out of the box. The fact that it is available on a rig that comes in well under $30,000 is almost unbelievable.

This 2023 Honda Talon 1000R-4 Fox Live Valve is in a one-owner machine in immaculate condition and has a few comfort and performance upgrades that make it really sing. The seller added front and rear windshields, whip lights, a Bluetooth stereo, and a sweet S&S exhaust. The exhaust really wakes up the bark from the Talon's lovely 270-degree parallel twin.

If you're looking for a dialed, affordable four-seater for trail duty this year, this Talon is hard to ignore!