I've had a couple RZRs and now have the Talon X. I never had any problems with the RZRs with exception of my first one that was a 2012, and the suspension creaked constantly like an old rocking chair. I never had any belt problems or ball joint problems, but I never abused them, and never put a ton of miles on either. The RZR is a smother machine to drive thanks to the throttle and the CVT, and of course the turbo version will definitely have lots more power than the Talon.
The Talon has some major differences and some of those differences take some getting used to. As mentioned above, the Talon has a very sensitive throttle that can take some getting used to. In rough terrain it can make driving smoothly very difficult. The Talon, especially the 1000 X, has a very stiff suspension that only compounds the throttle sensitivity problem. Bouncing off of every little bump on the trail doesn't help keep a smooth throttle foot. The small and poorly positioned instrument cluster isn't really much of an issue for me simply because I don't really feel I have to monitor my speed that closely, but it can be difficult to see if your In Sport, or Manual etc, especially when the screen gets dusted over, and with old eyes! That's my biggest gripe about the instrumentation.
Additionally, while the 6 speed DCT transmission is cool and much more engaging, it also takes some getting used to. Even in auto modes, the constant shifting up and down, especially during various trail surfaces can get a little fatiguing. The shifts, both up and down, are quick and somewhat abrupt. My wife still isn't a fan because they can tend to jerk her forward and back in her seat when it shifts. I just installed 4-point harnesses that I'm hoping will help keep her tighter in the seat and help with some of that.
My Talon also makes a pretty high pitched whine in the transmission that can get irritating too. We have pretty much always ridden without helmets or ear plugs which I'm sure doesn't help matters, but I never had any real issue with noise in the RZR.
Another design issue with the Talon is the poorly placed engine air intake location. Sucks up the dirty air coming off the rear wheelwell and loads the $50 air filter in no time. Hopefully someone will come up with a decent aftermarket system that will relocate the air intake to a better location and doesn't involve $550 and an electric fan whirring behind your head.
Having listed all the negatives about the Talon, there are just as many, and potentially more important positives. Honda's proven record of reliability is a major boon for the Talon, and even thought it's yet to be proven out in the Talon, most of us are hanging our hats on the thought that the Talon will hold up much better over the long haul than either the Polaris or the CanAm, and I think there is a real good chance of that being true. There are a couple Talon owners already racking up thousands of trouble free miles nearly unheard of with the other brands.
The lack of a CVT belt eliminates the chance you'll be 30 miles form civilization in 100 degree heat, or 12" of snow on you hands and knees trying to change out a belt. You also most likely won't be replacing ball joints etc in 1000 miles.
I eliminated the worst of my Talon gripes by sending the shocks to Shock Therapy for the full Ride Improvement work over. The worked over shocks won't show up for another couple days, but I'm very anxious to get them on and see what kind of difference the guys at Shock Therapy were able to make. They did tell me that the Talon X is the stiffest factory suspension they've encountered. I also installed a $1700 Rugged Radio intercom and 2-way radio system with head sets that should eliminate the noise issue and aide in communications overall.
Do I think it's a little ridiculous to have to drop thousands of dollars on a brand new state of the art side by side to deal with some very obvious design issues, especially from a company as well established and engineering heavy as Honda? Absolutely! But, since I only paid $16,000 for the Talon I don't feel as bad about putting a few bucks into it to make it the way I want it.
As for your decision, I think it really comes down to how and where you ride. If you spend your days on the sand dunes or huge open areas where speed and power are king, and airtime is important then by all means go with the RZR Turbo, but if you ride tighter mountain trails etc, the Talon has all the power you'll need and then some with an expectation that it'll always get you down off the mountain under your own power, will be engaging, and more interactive along the way. The decision is yours, but if you go with the Talon and decide later you wish you had more power than the stock Talon has to offer, Polaris Pro EP levels of performance are just an afternoon and $6,000 away with a call to your Honda dealer thanks to Jackson Racing.
Good luck with your decision!
