Video of the new 2009 Honda Big Red 700 MUV Side by Side
Honda finally jumps into the side by side market with what they are calling their MUV unit (Multi-Purpose Utility Vehicle). After 15 years of development and research, Honda has finally come up with what they are calling a multi-functioning side by side that is great for work and recreation.
I was recently invited by Honda to their press introduction of their new Big Red MUV. What a blast it was! The ride took place on Catalina Island off the coast of California. This island granted special permission to Honda to bring out their new Big Red MUV units and ride some of the back dirt roads. The ride time was actually a little shorter than normal events like this, but Honda did things right in presenting a great new vehicle to the market with a little different approach.
First Impression
My first impression was this new Side by Side was bigger than I had anticipated. This new Big Red 700 boasts nothing but pure Honda quality and putting simplicity/convenience and safety to the forefront.
Here are a couple of quick thoughts as I wanted to get this video posted to give you a first glance at the new Big Red from Honda. They are now available at select dealers now. A more in-depth article will be coming up in a future issue of Hunting Illustrated Magazine.
The fit and finish and overall quality is commendable. Honda is always at the top of their game on quality, but the Big Red seems top notch
This thing is big. This will NOT fit in the back of your truck (64″ wide and 114.7″ long). The cab is very roomy and Honda chose to do the bucket seats with seat belts with the parking brake lever in the middle.
Full cargo nets and doors are not a surprise being how safety is a big concern. However, the full cargo net on the sides was a little surprise and wasn’t bad getting in and out, but was a little obtrusive when looking out while drive, etc.
The foot pedals (brake and gas) are very good and don’t wiggle at all. Nice and tight. A lot of room on the floor and good angle areas for putting your feet on.
Dump box is wide enough to fit a full wood pallet in the back with the tailgate down. Back dump box has composite plastic sides and the bottom is a metal wrapped in composite plastic. Includes nice rubber mat as well and slight rounded corners so dirt and junk don’t get caught.
Maintenance is very convenient and the most thought out of any Side x Side. Easy access to the battery, air filter, oil and dipstick.
All four tires are the same size. At first I think this is what kind of gives the Big Red its “weird” look for lack of a better term. Kind of looks a little disproportionate, but the tires are a 25 x 10-12.
How is the power? Not bad, and for the size of the machine and the motor being a 675cc I think it does fine (1,431 lb. curb weight). Nothing that will blow your socks off, but Honda doesn’t like to blow your socks off with these kind of vehicles. Good low end power for the rough stuff and decent mid and high range. Also comes with fuel injection to help on cold starts, high altitude and performance.
But what about transmission? This was a big question for me as I was curious if they were going to put in their Hondamatic or not. I like the transmission they have in their Rubicon ATVs, etc. However, I was not impressed with the newer transmission they put in their 700 Rincon ATV. It looks like they did a little combination of both, however it leans more to the Rincon-type transmission. They call it an Automotive-style with three gears. The transmission is not a fluid pull of power. This has three distinct forward gears that does shift automatically as it goes through the power train. Overall this worked fine. However, this is still not my most preferred choice of transmission for an automatic.
Four-Wheel drive mode is the best Honda has ever put out. Why? This is Honda’s first attempt at all-wheel drive differential lock in any ATV or MUV. They have a simple lever on the dash that you can slide into two-wheel drive, four-wheel drive with limited slip in front, then you can go into four-wheel drive with all-wheel differential lock. This works very well and for a machine of this size is a must. I am impressed with Honda’s new four-wheel drive system and hope they start implementing their differential lock on their ATVs.
Braking and engine braking is good. For a vehicle of this size you need to get it stopped. The disc brakes does the job and Honda has a good “hold back” engine braking system that helps on steep descents. Put it in four-wheel drive mode and you have all four tires holding you back.
How is reverse? There is no override button on the Big Red so reverse power is just what you get. I stopped coming down a steep hill and purposely put it in reverse and went back up it. There was no problem and the power was good and strong.
Handling is good and overall the machine feels very stable. It is not made to bust in the corners and try and brake the back tires loose. For what it is it does fine. The suspension is also similar, as it works for moderate speeds and roads. The front suspension does have some limitations at higher speeds on rough, bumpy roads.
So what about price? I was actually a little surprised Honda was able to keep this vehicle in the 11,000 range. Not to say that is not a huge amount of money, but puts it competitive with the Ranger and Rhino. List price for the red Big Red is $11,399 and the Natural Gear Camo version of Big Red is $11,899.
Is it a good Hunting Rig?
I had at one time one of Honda’s lead Japanese developers with me riding in the passenger seat. During this ride I was purposely looking for anything I could go over that was rough or nasty. There was a rut that ran up the full length of this hill. I could have clearly avoided this and stayed on the “good” side of the road. As I busted up the ruts and put it into four-wheel drive, scraping the bottom, jerking us around quite a bit, spinning the tires, I could tell he was quite curious and amused.
After we had stopped at the top, he questioned why I choose to take the line that I did. He asked if that was similar to what I would find while out hunting. I told him that was nothing to what you will find out in the West during a hunt, but it was close to the circumstances that you will run into. Ruts, rocks, mud, steep and deep hills, and more are common. I think the Honda’s new Big Red 700 MUV will make a great hunting rig and they have plenty of cool accessories to add.
Early Conclusion
My ride time was limited to what was available at this event and we weren’t able to really let it all hang out due to the location and some of the restrictions that we had on the island. Honda is targeting the new Big Red 700 MUV Side by Side to the hard worker who likes to do some recreation on the weekends or hunts in the fall. More utility minded then sport, but overall recreation is very good. Definitely targets more of the Polaris Ranger crowd than say the Razor RZR or Yamaha Rhino 700.
Dealer Specs
Engine Type 675cc liquid-cooled OHV semi-dry-sump longitudinally mounted single-cylinder four-stroke
Bore and Stroke 102.0mm x 82.6mm
Induction Electronic fuel injection (PGM-FI): 40mm throttle body
Ignition Full-Transistorized type with electronic advance
Starter Electric
DRIVE TRAIN
Transmission Automatic with hydraulic torque converter, three forward gears, and reverse
Driveline Direct front and rear driveshafts with 3 drive modes: 2WD, 4WD, and 4WD with all-wheel differential lock
CHASSIS / SUSPENSION / BRAKES
Front Suspension Independent double-wishbone; 5.9-inch travel
Rear Suspension Independent double-wishbone; 7.1-inch travel
Front Brakes Dual hydraulic 200.0 mm discs
Rear Brakes Dual hydraulic 200.0 mm discs
Front Tires 25 x 10-12 bias
Rear Tires 25 x 10-12 bias
There is a new big bull elk in town, and he is causing quite a stir this summer. Right now everyone is trying to get a glimpse of the Spider Bull Elk from Utah. This huge velvet elk has points all over the place, and so far has been quite easy for people to find and video. It will be interesting to see how things pan out as it gets closer to the hunts.
Archery hunters are going to get first crack at this monster bull in August. How much bigger will he grow by then? Hard to imagine.
Is this a new World Record Elk?
Are we looking at a possible world record bull elk on our hands? Some people think so. If he is taken with a bow, I think he could do it. Currently world record non-typical elk is the Franklin Bull from Arizona which scores 442 0/8 P&Y.
If he squeaks through the archery season and is taken with a rifle (or Governor Tag holder gets on him), then the current world record is 465 2/8 B&C. In order for this bull to exceed that mark, he is going to have to gross score around the 480 plus mark!
How big is this bull?
So just how big is this bull? Some people are throwing out the 500 number. Yikes, that is big. Others are confident in the 480 class. You think 450 plus is not enough? He has great mass, tons of points, but does have an average to small inside spread and main beams.
Guess the Score
Go ahead and take a stab at the score. What does he score now, or what do you think he will grow into? Do we have a potential world record on our hands?
Ok, so I have to throw this out….is this bull really legit. Is this a bull that has escaped a high fenced elk farm? There are some around here in Utah you know. Why haven’t we seen more of this bull last year? Or maybe he was a big 420 class bulll that was broken up and passed on, not knowing just how big he was. Are there any sheds to this bull laying around? Some good questions. I guess we will have to see just what happens in the next few months or so and I’ll keep you posted on the outcome.
Conclusion
I think this bull could cap off an amazing run for Utah with huge bulls. However, he may not be so easy to get to once he rubs his velvet off. He could very well hightail it out of dodge after he rubs and gets more pressure with the archery hunters. He could end up in an adjoining unit 20 miles away?….
Let’s take another look at this unique monster bull. This footage is from the guys at Tines Up.
Here is a short clip I took in Central Utah on May 31, 2008. I took a four-wheeling ride to see if I could get to the top of the mountain. I was surprised to see so much snow was still left. This was taken two weeks ago. However, we actually had a snow storm last week that put a couple of inches in the mountains. Crazy. It is starting to heat up now, and the runoff is coming down. However, some of this snow on the back sides I wouldn’t be surprised if it lasted the whole year.
I had the opportunity to travel to Knoxville, Tennessee and take a ride on the new 2008 Yamaha Rhino 700 FI Side by Side. Yamaha has come out with an all new Rhino 700 Side x Side that is a nice improvement over the previous Rhino 660.
Here are a few improvements that have been made:
-Increased the motor to 686cc (hence the 700)
-Added Fuel Injection (basically looking at the motor that is now in the new Grizzly 700 FI)
-Added power and smoothness of ride
-Improved the parking brake lever
-Added side doors for safety and keeping out the mud, brush and branches
-Passenger seat has hold bar and grip handle
-Moved the Air intake higher
-Moved the air filter more to the front to move noise away from the riders
-Added disc brakes to both rear wheels
-Parking brake uses a separate single disc brake
-Improved steering wheel fit and finish
Also available are not only the stock models, but a few different custom models with wheels and custom paint jobs.
After some really good riding, I have to say the there are some good improvements on the new Yamaha Rhino 700 FI over the older 660. Better and smoother power, I really like the new steering wheel and felt the brakes are great. Very good stopping power for a big machine. I was hesitant on the doors, but really think they are a good addition. I went through a ton of mud and river crossings and the doors really help keep you dry and clear of stray brush and limbs.
I was not impressed at all with the parking brake lever on the old 660 model. By putting on a more traditional parking brake lever, it is now nice and convenient to use the parking brake - and used it a lot. Power is great and the four wheel drive system is top notch. Motored through some steep inclines with rocks and the four wheel drive with differential lock got me out of everything. It was really wet with a lot of rock and exposed tree roots. Once these got wet and very slippery, the four wheel drive with differential lock was the only way to go. Oh, by the way…the mud bogs in Tennessee are deep!
Overall I was very impressed with the improvements made on the new Rhino 700. I think it is coming at a good time where the Rhino was in need of a good face lift. A good all around work and play machine. Nothing really jumped out at me as to something that was really missing or didn’t perform as expected.
You can see the full review on the new 2008 Yamaha Rhino 700 in the Feb/March 2008 issue of Hunting Illustrated.
The 2007 Suzuki KingQuad 450 has fuel injection, fully independent suspension, four-wheel drive with four-wheel differential lock, digital display, and a ton more features that make this 450 ATV a complete package. The Suzuki King Quad 450 has all of the features, along with a smooth ride and a decent motor, that should be worthy of a closer look if you are after a utility ATV in the 450-500 class department.
Read the full review article in the Aug/Sept 2007 issue of Hunting Illustrated.
Brent Wallace gave me a call on Saturday to see if he could stop by and have me take a look at his buck. He was hunting with a CWMU tag here in Utah and passed on some other nice bucks and finally settled on this buck. Good width, some trash and pretty 3-inch eyeguards will make this a nice wallhanger. He came in at 29-inches wide and scores 161 gross B&C.
There has been a lot of talk about these spectacular mule deer sheds. Like I posted earlier, there were some monster 307 gross mule deer sheds found in the spring of 2007 by Landon Wittwer. Here is a video clip I took of Landon’s great sheds.
Here are a few specs:
47-inches wide
24-inch inside spread was used
208 5/8 gross typical frame
41 7/8-inches of total mass
15×10 points
307 1/8 gross score
301 4/8 net non-typical score
Get the whole “Tale of the Tape” breakdown in the article feature.
You can read the whole story in the Oct/Nov 2007 issue of Hunting Illustrated. On Newsstands Now.
Want to read the story right now just like in the magazine…for Free?
Click here to browse our HI Virtual Magazine. Turn the pages and read the articles and view the photos just like the original hard copy magazine. Also watch this same video clip embedded within the Virtual Magazine…Very Cool!
Landon’s sheds are also featured as a custom re-creation in the new 2008 King’s Mule Deer Calendar. Included in this calendar are three bucks going over the 300-inch mark! Get yours today by calling 800-447-6897 or click here to shop on-line. 2008 King’s Mule Deer Calendar
This is a 2007 Sportsman X2 800 model. Polaris has changed a few things on the 2008 model and offered in different engine cc. Pretty slick operation where you can convert the back dump box into another passenger seat.
You can read my review in the Oct/Nov 2007 issue of Hunting Illustrated. Want to read the review right now just like in the magazine…for Free?
Click here to browse our HI Virtual Magazine. Turn the pages and read the articles and view the photos just like the original hard copy magazine. Also watch this same video clip embedded within the Virtual Magazine…Very Cool!
Jim Willmsen emailed me his video he posted on this whitetail buck that he shot last week. One twist on the situation, though, was this buck was locked on to another buck that was already dead. Jim shot an 18-point buck deer Friday, October 26, 2007. The deer was dragging a second, 10-point buck, after the two deer had fought and their antlers had become irreversibly locked together. Willmsen talks about the deer, and the hunt.
Check out this video clip:
