16 • September 2026 • Powersports Business

FROM THE EDITOR

There are worse places to contemplate the state of the powersports industry than Lake Arrowhead, California. For starters, there are mountains, trees, winding trails through the San Bernardino National Forest, and a beautiful lake. And apparently, there are quite a few celebrities who

BRENDAN BAKER call the area home, too. I didn’ t see any celebrities during my visit. I did, however, spend a day in a $ 9,999 UTV. And honestly, that was probably more memorable.

I was in Lake Arrowhead in late August for the media launch of Denago Powersports’ new RanchHawk 650FI. The media group had plenty of jokes about what the RanchHawk needed to be perfect. A few more beer holders, for starters. And maybe some NOS( Just a little bottle of nitrous, ala Fast and Furious). But after spending a day riding it through the San Bernardino riding area, the reality became pretty obvious: Denago doesn’ t really need to turn the RanchHawk into a sport machine. It is already a remarkably well-equipped basic farm vehicle or work machine.

At $ 9,999, the RanchHawk 650FI brings a 623cc engine, 4WD, locking differentials, electric power steering, adjustable remote-reservoir shocks, a winch, windshield, doors, bumpers, cargo rails, towing provisions and a 10.25−inch infotainment screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. That’ s a lot of UTV for $ 10,000.

And it reminded me why the side-by-side category took the powersports industry by storm in the first place: versatility. The early success of the SxS wasn’ t necessarily about building the fastest or most technologically advanced off-road vehicle. It was about creating something people could use for almost anything.

The RanchHawk fits that philosophy. Could it use more power? Sure. If you’ re buying a UTV primarily for recreation, you’ ll notice that the RanchHawk isn’ t going

We put the Ranch- Hawk through its paces in the Pinnacle ORV riding area of the San Bernadino Forest, and it handled the hills and rocky terrain like a champ. But it is designed more for work than for thrills.

to deliver the same punch as a dedicated sport SxS. But that’ s not really what it was designed to do. Denago’ s David Garibyan told me the engine has been conservatively tuned to meet CARB and EPA requirements, which leaves some room for relatively easy changes to make the RanchHawk more responsive off the bottom. The company is already considering improvements as it continues to develop the machine.

But let’ s be honest: Nobody is going to mistake a RanchHawk for a Polaris RZR Turbo or Can-Am Maverick X3. And that’ s OK. Those are sport machines designed to thrill. The RanchHawk is designed to work. That distinction gets lost sometimes when we talk about the UTV market because the high-performance side of the category gets so much attention. The horsepower numbers, suspension travel and increasingly sophisticated technology make for great headlines— and even better social-media videos. But there is a huge market for people who don’ t need to do 80 mph across the desert. They need to get things done.

That’ s what makes the current UTV market so interesting, particularly as we look at the second half of 2026. As you’ ll read in our UTV market feature this month,