By Kevan Ray
The 2021 Honda Talon 1000X Fox Live Valve in its natural habitat.
Narrower than its 1000R sibling, the 2021 Talon 1000X FOX Live Valve it handles tight, technical trails without sacrificing the wide-open performance we love about the desert-focused 1000R. For 2021, Honda has once again teamed up with Fox Suspension to offer Live Valve technology in its premium sport UTV lineup. But are those smart shocks worth the extra coin if you’re not blasting through sand at full tilt?
For our first test, we took the 1000X Fox Live Valve to Windrock OHV Park in Oliver Springs, Tennessee. With more than 73,000 acres and nearly 400 miles of marked trails, Windrock is a southeastern mecca for all things off-road. The Talon 1000X drew eyes as soon as we pulled into the parking lot, begging for attention with bright metallic blue and white graphics. Loading and unloading the Talon 1000X two-seater is easy; the thing’s light, narrow, and highly maneuverable. Honda even includes small frame hoops fore and aft to allow quick and secure strapping. With the machine ready to go I threw on my helmet and buckled in.
It begs for your attention with a bright metallic blue and white paint scheme.
The interior is well-built. The suicide doors are solid with a wide opening that accommodates drivers of all sizes. The strong tube cage is never in the way. Thoughtful safety nets clip into the roof on both driver and passenger sides to keep flailing limbs contained. Both seats are surprisingly comfortable, and also ready for four-point harnesses if an owner chooses to upgrade later. Ergonomics are mostly upright, with ample shoulder and head room. Driver’s side seat and steering wheel adjustments are sturdy and intuitive, letting you find the optimum position to see out of the cab in all directions. Honda included an optional rearview mirror on the Talon 1000X Fox Live Valve model we tested, a nice addition for monitoring traffic and the occasional reverse situation.
Honda laid out the dash with big, easy-to-operate toggles. My only gripe with the interior is the center gauge display; looking down and over to the small screen is not ideal. It does, however, provide the driver with great forward visibility. The mechanical gear shifter rises up out of the center transmission hump connecting the front dash to the rear plastics, where you’ll also find two cupholders. Each gear is labeled with a raised black letter, which is anything but easy to operate in the dark. Luckily, the central gauge readout will tell you what gear you’re in, along with speed, fuel level, engine rpm, and transmission mode.
Honda’s 999cc parallel-twin motor is mated to a six-speed dual clutch transmission.
Honda claims 104 hp from the 999cc parallel-twin engine, but it feels like more thanks to the six-speed dual clutch transmission (DCT) and narrow gearset. The Talon defaults to 2WD automatic normal mode on start-up, and there it stayed for the first part of my gravel ride up into the heart of Windrock.
The Talon accelerated quickly up the steep twisting grade as I made my way to the trailhead. The dual clutch transmission has a way of convincing you to pin the throttle wide open. Each shift feels like racking your favorite 12-gauge. All the while the Live Valve system monitors a slew of onboard sensors to predict what’s going to happen next, adjusting the suspension accordingly. Fox’s system uses this data to constantly counteract physics with custom damping rates at each corner. You’re at 60 mph before you know what’s happening.
The DCT unit has another neat trick: engine-braking. This was especially useful during steep downhill trail sections where controlling speed was important. Speaking of hills, Honda includes a hill-start assist for those heart-wrenching first moments when you’re starting on a steep grade. Press the brake pedal, hold down the hill-start-assist button, and let the onboard computer do the rest. The Talon uses its ABS system to hold you in place while you move your foot over to the accelerator pedal. During our testing it worked flawlessly, even with two wheels in the air.
The side-by-side never felt unstable or twitchy…
At the trailhead I activated Honda’s i-4WD via the dashboard drive mode button. Intelligent-4WD, as Honda calls it, is simply wonderful. By using the onboard ABS system to actively vector power to wheels with traction, i-4WD provided ample grip on all surface types and never got in the way. Although I wish Honda had included a true manual locking front differential, the i-4WD system performed well enough that I can look past the omission. Honda paired the transmission with a low-range transfer case capable of an adequate 1.4:1 reduction to make rock crawling easy. The stock gearing works well with the factory 28-inch Maxxis tires, but might be stretched to its limit with anything larger in diameter. Pressing the manual button illuminates an icon on the dash letting you know the steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters now control shifting duties. The system isn’t fully manual, however, and will protect itself by forcing a shift if engine rpm fall too low or rise too high. While the paddle shifters primarily make cruising speed a little more bearable, I found the gearboxed worked so well in automatic mode that I simply let it do its own thing.
The 28-inch-tall Maxxis knobby tires transfer the power to the ground with little drama.
Traction was great aside from any manually induced drifting action. The vehicle never felt unstable or twitchy thanks in part to those proprietary six-ply Maxxis knobbies. The Fox coilover shocks also play a massive part in maintaining control, offering up 14.4 inches of travel in the front and 15.0 inches of travel in the rear. An 87.6-inch wheelbase and 64-inch chassis width give the Talon quick handling characteristics and outstanding maneuverability. This combination gives a driver exactly what’s needed in the thick East Coast woods.
The Live Valve system completes the Talon 1000X. The electronic suspension keeps the machine calm and the rider happy no matter what's going on underneath. Honda confirms the Bosch control unit can read data, including yaw, engine rpm, selected gear, steering angle, and brake pressure, upwards of 200 times a second. As a result, the Talon has some of the best factory suspension I’ve ever skipped across an east Tennessee rock field. The confidence it provides is absolutely worth the $2,100 premium over the base model. While you may not find it as useful in slow technical trail sections, it’s essentially a safety feature when traveling over 20 mph.
Rear cargo space is abundant on this sport-focused side-by-side.
Apart from the magical suspension and comfortable handling, I was happy that the Honda Talon came well equipped for a reasonable $22,099 MSRP. A few other key pieces of standard equipment to note: plastic factory sun-blocking roof with rain gutters; small rear storage tray with tie-down anchors; an ample glove box; and two well-positioned cupholders. All these make this machine feel premium. The Talon 1000X gives you a sense that it’s both ready to party at a moment's notice and happy to spend an afternoon exploring some green trails at your local off-road park.
I personally wouldn’t hesitate to enter an amateur hare scramble event with this Fox Live Valve Talon or throw it on the trailer for a casual weekend full of riding with friends. That’s what I appreciate most about the Honda Talon 1000X Fox Live Valve: it’s a comfortable, reliable, and highly useful multipurpose performance machine.
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