The dust from the press intro at the Sacacomie Lodge in Quebec, Canada (March '06, page 22), hadn't even settled before Honda's Ray Conway and ATV Rider Editor Bryan Nylander were pondering how much better the new Rincon would be with a set of high-end shocks and quality treads. Our testing of the machine in the tight, wooded trails in northern Georgia only fueled this madcap idea. Throw in the conception phase for the 24-hour, a couple of well-placed hints and Scott Wright and Doug Roll of IMS/Roll Design stepped up to the counter to deliver us what we wanted-a Rincon 680 ready to tackle the dusty, rocky, sandy and hardpack Southern California trails. Naturally, we used our 24-hour course to try out the improved Rincon since we were already there and IMS had the machine ready.
The Honda is a fine trail machine in stock form, but the addition of aftermarket suspension and tires was what it needed to let us push it at a higher level. This translates to being able to go a little faster on trails that you wouldn't otherwise try-on a utility quad, nonetheless. The suspension soaked up all but the biggest of whoops and the ITP ATR Holeshots on C-series wheels had that extra grip to hang on in the slick and sandy sections. The bigger meats meant a slightly wider front stance and handled the hardpack, sand and rocks with equal skill. The extra ground clearance of the big ITPs was a blessing in one mile-long section of soda-can-sized rocks. With stockers we probably would have wished for robust underbelly armor in the rock field.
However, the Rincon still isn't a powerhouse. You can now drive the thing as fast as the engine will haul the chassis down the trail, whereas before the stock suspension and tires kept you in check somewhat. Our 24-hour course was littered with obstacles, and one was a particularly challenging hill. Besides being slightly steep, it was whoops at the bottom, silt in the middle and finished with a long stretch of nasty, square-edged braking holes at the top. The suspension soaked up most of this ugliness. But it was a good challenge to the diminutive motor. To its credit, the quad might have bogged a touch on the hackiest section, but pilots who kept the throttle pinned were rewarded with cresting the summit.
Kudos to Honda for keeping the weight down on the Rincon (compared to other utes this size) and the steering unbelievably easy. This enabled it to really come alive on the trail with minimal mods. Another strong point is how quiet it is. We might ding Honda for its engine, but considering how stealthily the 680 purrs, it is doing a great job of delivering good power with a minimal noise-something that others should notice.
Still considered a utility ATV, it is less a hard-working and more a hard-playing quad, especially now. One tester admitted to hitting a whoop section a little too fast, just to see how it would take it: "If this were the stock suspension, I would have gone over the bars when I came up a little short on the third mound. The new suspension absorbed it and let me gain back control."