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CYCLENEWS.COM 65 CYCLENEWS.COM 65 The Marks family has a unique position in American off-road, especially when it comes to SXS use. They love competing and recreating off-road, but they also use off-road vehicles for work and transportation around the ranch and, as we'll see later in the videos, to get away from it all with trips to their mountain cabin for a weekend or for a local lakeside day trip. Before we give the Marks family the keys to the Honda Talon 1000X Fox Live Valve edition, we couldn't resist testing it ourselves. So, let's get to it! Honda Talon 1000X First Test As soon as I parked in the hills of Montana, I called my friend Brian Elliott to co-pilot the 2021 Honda Talon 1000X Fox Live Valve with me for our first test. Brian is an off-road fanatic and a fellow Montanan. So, we met high on the Marks ranch for a quick overview of the massive amount of tech inside this premium build of the Honda Talon family. There is a lot to unpack in the Honda Talon technology build list. From the oft-mentioned Dual Clutch Trans- mission (DCT) and i-4WD system, to the now-standard Launch Mode, the button showcase inside the cab of the Honda Talon is something else. While some models have higher resolution displays on board, few sport SXS's can match the key functionality points of the Honda Talon platform. Then, Honda went ahead and stepped up the game. With the addition of FOX Live Valve Suspension, Honda added the cherry on top of a premium build. Brian is admittedly not a SXS guy. He spends a lot of his time pedaling a mountain bike or running over mountains when he's not unloading his dirt bikes for a ride with his son. His heart and soul live off-road, no matter what he's doing, so having his input to the Hon- da Talon 1000X FOX Live Valve was greatly appreciated. I even let him drive (eventually). After I went over the laundry list of features and benefits Honda throws at the Talon 1000X FOX Live Valve, we finally went for a rip. The Marks Ranch has endless two-track that the family actively uses to work the ranch. Criss-crossing that is a series of decomposing mining and logging roads from the past. From pristine polished dirt to rain ruts and rock gardens, we found it all in a few square miles of the sprawling acreage. After just a short test drive, the same excellent Honda Talon qualities come up. I was quickly chattering in Brian's ear about how much I appreciate the DCT trans- mission and its ability to just be in the right gear, all the time. From the wide-open miles of the Arizona desert, Montana's mountains gave the DCT a unique challenge with slower speed and much more elevation change. But it performed magically. In fact, in the changing elevation, DCT works even better than I imagined it could. With real engine braking that maintains predict- able traction, the Honda Talon 1000X is finding more traction when we need it most – like on steep, sudden downhills. It doesn't freewheel or suddenly change compression braking pressure; it just acts like a manual transmission. And that's a welcome feeling when expo- sure is on your side. Read more about Honda DCT Likewise, I bragged about the i-4WD system. This system proved capable and, honestly, we just left it on all the time so we could count on it to keep the wheels with traction engaged. You almost have to re-think what four-wheel drive is with this system as it's more of an all-wheel drive mesh of traction that is just always on and never in the way. Read more about Honda i-4WD Honda Talon Montana - Ep 1 UTVNEWS.COM 65

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