I’ve been reviewing vehicles professionally since 2017, and in that time, I’ve driven everything from affordable commuters to motorcycles to million-dollar supercars and everything in between. One thing I’ve never done is drive a side-by-side, and that’s not entirely by accident.
See, almost every car journalist I know who has driven one has managed to crash or roll it, and I try to avoid those sorts of experiences wherever possible, because crashing sucks. A lot.
Fast-forward to this summer and the start of my tenure at GearJunkie. It turns out that you all (our fantastic audience) seem to like side-by-sides (aka UTVs) a lot, which means I, as the motors editor, need to cover them. If I’m going to cover them appropriately, I need to understand them and the people who love them, which means ripping off the proverbial band-aid and getting behind the wheel.
The Offer
Enter the folks at Cardo OHV, who recently invited me to come test the new Venture helmet. For that launch program, they had put together a one-day, casual drive in the desert in UTVs and ATVs (quads) that they promised would be a relaxed, fun experience where I could dip my toes into the world of UTVs with an experienced co-driver. Sounds ideal, right?
Well, actually, it was. I got paired with an experienced UTV driver named Dave Timm, who runs a great YouTube channel called Gear and Tread. Dave and I were given our Cardo helmets and a Honda Talon 1000X-4 and sent out into the Cactus Flats OHV area with a bunch of professional side-by-side and ATV racers for a day on the trails.
The Talon
Dave had the first stint behind the wheel of the 100-ish-horsepower (Honda doesn’t publish horsepower numbers) 1,800-pound Talon, which gave me a feel for how it would handle the terrain. Immediately after setting off, I began to understand both why people love UTVs and why my fellow car journalists tend to have a history of crashing them.
The dangerous thing about a UTV, even one as relatively tame as our Honda, isn’t the tall and narrow profile or the super-plush suspension. No, it’s the confidence that suspension inspires. The speed and ease with which our Talon (which was equipped with Fox Live Valve 2.0 shocks — a factory upgrade) navigated broken ground and rocks was staggering and wildly confidence-inspiring.
I’ve driven tons of vehicles off-road, ranging from Wrangler Rubicons to Range Rovers, but nothing comes close to the wild, unassailable confidence that a UTV gives you to drive off-road at speed. I fully understand how that confidence can very easily turn into overconfidence and leave you upside down, hanging from your seatbelt, with the UTV on its roof.
The First Drive
After around 30 minutes, we made our first photo stop of the day, and it’s at this point that Dave and I switched seats. Sitting in the driver’s seat for the first time, the controls all look and feel pretty standard. The Talon has a six-speed dual-clutch transmission, not unlike what you’d find on an Africa Twin (on which the Talon’s 1,000cc engine is based), and it can operate in automatic or manual mode with shift paddles.
Setting off, the Talon felt very responsive, and the power steering was incredibly light. It was extremely easy to fall into a rhythm, and pretty soon I was buzzing down the trail and using the Talon’s long wheelbase to slide through the occasional bermed corner. It quickly became apparent why so many people have side-by-sides as their entire personality. Driving one is seriously fun.
Rocky trails quickly turned into sandy washes, and soon I was sliding the Talon around with my foot pinned to the floorboard. I’m not a racer by any stretch, but again, that long wheelbase and plush suspension made the Talon feel so willing to party. I got so into it that I might have gotten a little lost for a few minutes in the maze of trails on the way back up into the hills.
Like a Sneaker in a Dryer
After a few more driver swaps, we met our last challenge of the day: a narrow, very rocky (as in all boulders at some points) trail to the top of a mountain overlooking California’s famous (if you’re an off-road enthusiast) Johnson Valley. Here I learned that the Live Valve shocks had real limits when things got seriously rough, but the Talon handled things without too much complaint. I remained very impressed.
After a long day of eating dust, trying (and failing) to avoid getting sunburned, and being tossed around like a sneaker in a tumble dryer, we made our way back to the staging area.
The point of this experience, other than reviewing a helmet, was to get a feel for side-by-sides and UTV culture. At the end of the day, I feel like I got a good grasp of both and learned a few things.
Am I a SxS Person Now?
First, side-by-sides are fun as hell. Like, way too fun. As in, I seriously need to keep myself in check behind the wheel going forward, lest I completely yard sale one across the desert while going Mach Jesus, and a poor junior PR company staffer has to mail my mangled remains back to my wife in a Ziploc bag.
Second, I learned that the side-by-side lifestyle is a massive commitment, and it makes sense that people make it their whole family’s thing. First, you need a truck and trailer to get your UTV to the trails. That’s a big investment on its own. Then you need a place to store everything, which ain’t cheap in 2026.
Lastly, you need to be able to buy the UTV itself. Our Talon, which is not that expensive by side-by-side standards, was over $25,000. Higher-end UTVs easily top $50K, and that’s for something that you can’t drive on the road.
At the end of the day, am I a UTV person now? No, at least not yet. But I do get it, and I can’t wait for my next experience, which should be in a couple of months. Stay tuned.
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