"...honda has been spending a lot of time in the desert testing something. i dont think its going to be a radical out of the box style machine. i think its going to be a decent machine to get their feet wet into the sport/offroad scene similar to what can-am did with the cow'mander back in 2011. i think honda is going to re-tool their pioneer into more of a sporty machine to get their feet wet and within the near future plans to have a pure sport.
If that first statement is fact (of late) it would jive with the amount of ad dollars that they've put in to the Pioneer (of late). Whether they can afford to deliver something in-between that machine and what is about to be defined as pure sport in '16 is a strategy familiar to their fans (see the Rincon atv's debut year) yet a bigger risk for them today with 144 HP as the new norm.
The HP jump this year was just too much. I am happy with my 'mere' 107 HP (while realizing that these numbers are somewhat pie-in-the-sky) yet would trade even some of those ponies for reliability. On the other hand, Honda would be making a big mistake with this long on the sidelines by catering to that (practical) attitude with so many younger people today not necessarily appreciating it.
They need to make a significantly higher power-to-the-ground splash (now), jump-start (or more accurately 'defibrillate' from pretty much dead) sport loyalty offload and give potential customers (new and old) at least
some kind of idea that they are serious long term. Honda fans understand that a lot of fun can be had at the Pioneer level let alone anything a bit sportier as many here own now. Are they willing to take baby steps/wait (now) on something that could quite possibly never come at 20-25K or more a step? A souped up Pioneer (now) wouldn't make that decision any easier.
The recognition of legacy Honda quality for some of us or even younger buyers (if that fact even pans out) most likely won't translate in to the sales they're after if 'good enough' ('me too/too late' HP/torque numbers) doesn't approach even the '15 XPT standard. I would bite at the right numbers and build quality just this side of that fast changing standard yet would definitely shy away from anything less.
There are just too many other companies willing to put you in to something that you've never experienced
today with life being short and uncertainty in today's world rampant.