Honda Talon Racing

[hondabob]

Some pictures from the Vegas to Reno Race. Still developing the Race Car. The Baja Race is next.

 

[Admin]

 

[McCarthy]

So badass. More details please!!! What remains of a stock talon? Anything? Also, they appear to be stretched? If so, how much? I friggin love it!!!!!!

 

[JTW]

Not exactly stock...

 

[hondabob]

Same engine and drive train. We should get improvements from what they learn in the future. All of the competitive desert race UTV's have around $10,000 to $20,000 in improvements. Frame gussets, roll cage, long travel suspension, large tires, radiator relocation in the back, large fuel cell, race seats, etc. This testing was in May. I want one.

 

[JTW]

Same engine and drive train. We should get improvements from what they learn in the future. All of the competitive desert race UTV's have around $10,000 to $20,000 in improvements. Frame gussets, roll cage, long travel suspension, large tires, radiator relocation in the back, large fuel cell, race seats, etc. This testing was in May. I want one.

 

[TxDoc]

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

 

[HondaTech]

Same engine and drive train. We should get improvements from what they learn in the future. All of the competitive desert race UTV's have around $10,000 to $20,000 in improvements. Frame gussets, roll cage, long travel suspension, large tires, radiator relocation in the back, large fuel cell, race seats, etc. This testing was in May. I want one.

There's more than $20k in the chassis id bet.

 

[HondaTech]

So badass. More details please!!! What remains of a stock talon? Anything? Also, they appear to be stretched? If so, how much? I friggin love it!!!!!!

They started with a four seat chassis..

 

[1HasBeen]

As I said in another thread, I didn't expect them to win right out of the box, BUT I did expect them to be consistent finishers, and that has really not been the case. I know off road racing is grueling and unforgiving, I get all that, but for a factory effort they need to step it up IMHO. That video from Barstow doesn't show the car for the long stretches of whoops that are there, but you can plainly see the rear bucking, and is unsettled. The front is working pretty good.

 

[hondabob]

They will get the reliability problem fixed but it may take awhile. I hired one rider to help me develop the Team Honda trials bikes in the 70's. The next year Honda contracted 3 more riders and Honda won the National championship the next 3 years. The desert racing is way more difficult to get good reliability. The factory Polaris and Can-Am teams are still have mechanical breakdowns after several years of development. With 10 to 20 factory race teams you only need a few to finish without problems. You have to be lucky too but the fast pace especially in the dust will cause crash damage. The Kawasaki's did good to finish and probably with some small improvements. To do well you need lots of experience and also a lot of pre running. I think both the Talon drivers are champion race track drivers. Doing a lot of pre running will help a lot. I expect the Can-Am and Polaris teams will be winning for a few years. 2017 Polaris Race Team.

 

[CID]

They started with a four seat chassis..

That's an interesting tidbit, 🤔 thanks. 👍

 

[HondaTech]

We've been told California wants to race as much as possible in as many disciplines as possible. But Japan is being stingy.

 

[1HasBeen]

We've been told California wants to race as much as possible in as many disciplined as possible. But Japan is being stingy.

That is a bad recipe.

 

[1HasBeen]

They will get the reliability problem fixed but it may take awhile. I hired one rider to help me develop the Team Honda trials bikes in the 70's. The next year Honda contracted 3 more riders and Honda won the National championship the next 3 years. The desert racing is way more difficult to get good reliability. The factory Polaris and Can-Am teams are still have mechanical breakdowns after several years of development. With 10 to 20 factory race teams you only need a few to finish without problems. You have to be lucky too but the fast pace especially in the dust will cause crash damage. The Kawasaki's did good to finish and probably with some small improvements. To do well you need lots of experience and also a lot of pre running. I think both the Talon drivers are champion race track drivers. Doing a lot of pre running will help a lot. I expect the Can-Am and Polaris teams will be winning for a few years. 2017 Polaris Race Team.

View attachment 220577

Bob, were you involved with Marty Smith back in the day? It's a shame the way he passed away.

 

[JACKAL]

As I said in another thread, I didn't expect them to win right out of the box, BUT I did expect them to be consistent finishers, and that has really not been the case. I know off road racing is grueling and unforgiving, I get all that, but for a factory effort they need to step it up IMHO. That video from Barstow doesn't show the car for the long stretches of whoops that are there, but you can plainly see the rear bucking, and is unsettled. The front is working pretty good.

If they would get good experienced desert racers instead of aspiring social media influencers that play with everything but what Honda is setting them up for would help. Must be nice to be rich kids that can take a factory ride and not GAF on Instagram and YouTube.

 

[BigOL3]

Bob, were you involved with Marty Smith back in the day? It's a shame the way he passed away.

When did Marty Smith die, of what?

 

[snuffnwhisky]

So badass. More details please!!! What remains of a stock talon? Anything? Also, they appear to be stretched? If so, how much? I friggin love it!!!!!!

Pretty sure they are about 77" wide and 130" WB. Probably around $100k per car with some spare suspension parts. About the only Talon left is some plastic pieces, engine/transmission case and maybe the diffs.

 

[CID]

If they would get good experienced desert racers instead of aspiring social media influencers that play with everything but what Honda is setting them up for would help. Must be nice to be rich kids that can take a factory ride and not GAF on Instagram and YouTube.

My thoughts exactly. After watching the above video, I was thoroughly unimpressed with that young man - nothing more than an entitled attention whore.

When did Marty Smith die, of what?

Marty and his wife were both killed in a SxS crash, his two passengers survived. To the best of my knowledge Marty and his wife weren't strapped in, the two passengers were.

 

[Cuoutdoors]

Same engine and drive train. We should get improvements from what they learn in the future. All of the competitive desert race UTV's have around $10,000 to $20,000 in improvements. Frame gussets, roll cage, long travel suspension, large tires, radiator relocation in the back, large fuel cell, race seats, etc. This testing was in May. I want one.

That f***ing retard couldn't out drive my mom in a grocery store parking lot. Put somebody in the car that actually knows what they're doing. I'm no Ricky Carmichael but I whipped a lot of spoiled rich kids with my stock honda dirt bikes. Experience can overcome a significant sum of money. Evidence: KRX guy whipping hondas ass.

I feel bad for the people that have to work with those little snot nose punks.

 

[NTCPrezJB]

That f***ing retard couldn't out drive my mom in a grocery store parking lot. Put somebody in the car that actually knows what they're doing. I'm no Ricky Carmichael but I whipped a lot of spoiled rich kids with my stock honda dirt bikes. Experience can overcome a significant sum of money. Evidence: KRX guy whipping hondas ass.

I feel bad for the people that have to work with those little snot nose punks.

@JTW are you going to let him get away with talking smack about the KRX like that?