Kawasaki starts off 2024 by letting us down, but we still are pumped we made it to 300 videos on YouTube! Now we just sit back and rake in the millions like Mr Beast..... I wish.... If you're looking for a new SxS, dirtbike or parts and accessories, support the dealer that made this video possible, Coyne Powersports! www.coynepowersports.com

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What's happening, everybody? We made it to 300 YouTube videos. Kawasaki launched a brand new side by side; let's talk about it. What's happen everybody, welcome back to the channel. It's Nick Olson, Chupacabra Off-Road, and of course, I had a smirk during that intro because if you've seen, if you haven't, Kawasaki launched a new side by side last night called The Ridge, and myself, a lot of people were excited. We were hoping with some of the teasers that it was going to be more than what it was. Turns out it is a utility unit similar to a Polaris Ranger or a Canam Defender. A couple of things about the teasers got me excited over the past month or two, which was the confirmation of a 4-cylinder motor. Now, if you guys aren't familiar, Polaris launched a Pro R almost 2 years ago, which totally blew the doors off of the side by side market in terms of everybody sticking to a 1000 cc motor size. So I had this whole soliloquy prepared that you know now Kawasaki is going to be doing 2000 CC's and maybe the speed will be bigger than 1000. All these things, well, I couldn't have been more wrong. But, quick and dirty, let's talk about the Kawasaki Ridge. Here it is, a utility unit; it makes sense why they'd want to do it. I used to be employed by Polaris. I do remember that Polaris sold about twice as many Rangers as they do Razors, so the market is massive. I've definitely seen a shift in the marketplace or more of an excitement around fully enclosed units. So there are some enclosed units here on this Ridge, and it's a 1000cc 4-cylinder motor makes 116 horsepower in the sport model. The teasers I wasn't expecting a sport unit, I was hoping for a new version of KRX, but I was hoping for something that was utility, that you know was closer to the Polaris expedition in terms of something bigger than 30in tire, something with more than 10 in of travel, which is what the Rich has. So it's a bummer, man. As I record this year in January, Supercross season kicked off. If you guys don't know, I'm a big Motocross fan, dirt bike rider, you know, probably like a lot of you guys watching the channel, you came from owning a dirt bike or an ATV, probably a Japanese model. So it was a letdown because we all know what the Japanese are capable of; they've got some amazing machinery, some amazing horsepower, and the motors on some of their sport bike motors and obviously the high-performing dirt bikes, all these things. Japanese engineering is amazing, you know, as reliable as it gets, all these types of things, no frills. So I'm pretty sure that this Ridge will ride really well and be nice, but that market is definitely owned by Polaris. Canam has been trying to sink their claws into it with the Defender, obviously, Honda getting involved, and that's where a big lion share of the market is in terms of overall side-by-side dollars. So, you know, hopefully, hope this leads to bigger, better things. As I've been going to events for the last few years, I've noticed Kawasaki's taken more of a keen interest. They're selling really well in southern Utah. The KRX is a phenomenal rock-crawling unit. Every time I go to Utah, I think about purchasing one. I like the look of the C. I like the wheelbase. I like how well it's built. The suspension geometry is great. It's just lacking in power, but crawling wise, has done well. I think Kawasaki saw that and invested in being at some of these events. And so I was just thinking, man, could this be the time? Could this be a Japanese manufacturer finally steps up and gives us something with 200 horsepower, close to what the big dogs are doing in the industry? And we got stumped again. So at the release, Kawasaki did put out a little teaser video which we have to get into. They knew there's a lot of people like myself that were hoping for something sport-related. So we just got to play the video, we'll dissect it. Let's get into it right now. This futuristic concept is just one of many models we're working on that are going to be light years ahead of anything in the market today. I mean, this is like a low-quality iPad game my 6-year-old plays. Nothing about this even resembles a Kawasaki in terms of brand ID. It's got straight axles, you know, portals like this is just like a cartoon that somebody made. I mean, it does resemble San Hollow; there is a lake there in the background. But for that guy to say light years ahead of the competition after showing that, I couldn't do that if that was me. But let's keep watching. So future concepts are great, but look what's coming in 2025. Okay, so he brings levity. He's like, okay, future concepts. He's kind of like acknowledging this is just like a cartoon, but let's bring it down. Here's what's coming in 2025. So let's watch. And that was the big news, is a scribble of a concept if you even want to call it that. I mean, they did tease a sport unit. I think it's really like, without saying too much, hopefully, it was something a little more tangible. It doesn't even appear to have the design idea of a KRX or anything Kawasaki related or have any type of working prototype. They knew, I think, at least they're teasing that something is coming. It makes sense that the Japanese, being more conservative, would launch this motor in a utility application, see what works, and then maybe this is the platform, this is the motor they will use to pump up the power and make a sport unit and finally have a Japanese built sport side by side that puts out some horsepower numbers comparable to Polaris, Canam, Speed, etc. So maybe next year, 2025, that could be a year and a half from now; it could be almost two years from now; it could be December 30th of 2025. So kind of a big nothing burger. They announced price drops on their KXs, which was interesting. I know the market's definitely softened up sales-wise, and I'm seeing some bigger deals, incentives, and rebates at dealers for KMS and Polaris. So I think, you know, the Fufu huge numbers, high-profit years of Co are behind us, and now more competition, everyone's going to have to sharpen their pencil. So it was cool to see that as we talk about what's available in the marketplace. Again, KRX is a great machine. I'd consider owning one and bringing the price down is only going to be more exciting and drive more market share, of course, for them. So shifting gears, talking about marketing releases to the creation here of our 300th video. That's about five and a half plus years I've been putting in of creating content.