P500 520 setup for 100 mile plus solo rides

H

hondabob

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
May 14, 2013
1,157
4,520
113
Prescott Valley, AZ
Ownership

  1. Other Brand

  2. 1000-3
I installed 27 inch tires, made a large aluminum roof, intake snorkel, and rail for my little Suzuki. Some of my rides are remote without cell coverage. I installed the Honda GPS by Garmin. Its better then I thought it would be and the third Garmin I have owned. The shifting is super smooth even in automatic mode after I did the clutch adjustment. The rev limit is 6,800 rpm at around 39 mph on the speedo. Its at 6,000 rpm at 37 in 5th and 27 in 4th. Its 2 mph faster then the speedo says with the 27's. I cruise the sand washes and dirt roads at 25 to 37 on the speedo and stay at or below 27 when 4th gear is needed. Never had to ride my Suzuki with my Honda's or my 2 Kawasaki's. I have had 12 Honda side by sides with over 94,000 miles on them without a breakdown. My 3 Polaris and 4 Yamaha side by sides broke a lot so the Suzuki saved me a lot of walking. I'm too old to walk very far so I always go prepared and take my Suzuki on my solo rides. We have several 50 inch trails here so I had to have another 50 inch Honda. I had 30's on my 500. I take my Talon for the fast pace rides with my Turbo buddies.


50inch2
50inch3


5
6
7
8
 
crewcabrob

crewcabrob

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
May 7, 2018
1,029
4,038
113
Omaha
Ownership

  1. 520
Looks really good! I love the idea of a backup machine to ride home if issues happen.

How wide do you think your machine is with the 27s?

Rob
 
H

hondabob

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
May 14, 2013
1,157
4,520
113
Prescott Valley, AZ
Ownership

  1. Other Brand

  2. 1000-3
53 inches wide with 2 inch spacers. It can depend on the wheels. 53 inches fits ok on our local 50-inch trails.

I used the Talon harness and another harness for key on power on my 520 and made it easy to transfer to my Talon.

$749.95 MSRP Garmin Tread Its on the Honda site.

Required harness for Installation (Sold Separately) Not sure it the harness will fit older models

2022 (Pioneer Models) ↓
GPS Wire Harness 0SS51-HL4-A00

2022 (Talon Models) ↓ GPS Wire Harness 04301-HL6-3050

GARMIN TREAD POWERSPORT NAVIGATOR​

Tread is built to withstand extreme terrains, temperatures and weather. It features a 5.5” glove friendly touchscreen with built-in Altimeter, Barometer, Compass and Pitch and Roll gauges. *Navigator includes topographic maps of North and Central America, public land boundaries, U.S. Forest Service roads and trails with Motor Vehicle Use Maps. Includes downloadable high-resolution Birdseye Satellite Imagery via Wi-Fi® directly to Navigator at no extra cost. *Use the Tread app to sync your waypoints, tracks, routes and collections across devices, plus get easy GPX Import/Export and access to live weather. Stay connected to your friends with the Group Ride Radio for up to 20 riders. No cell signal is required. *Requires GPS Wire Harness.
 
JACKAL

JACKAL

Ancient Honda fanboi
Moderator
Lifetime Member
Supporting Member
Club Contributor
Jun 11, 2015
39,157
265,169
113
Pioneer, TN
Ownership

  1. Other Brand

  2. 1000-5
Very nice! Thanks for sharing. Nice seeing your setups, given the distances and remote areas you ride in solo.

@hondabob what is the maximum distance you have found on the P520 on a tank of fuel.
 
H

hondabob

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
May 14, 2013
1,157
4,520
113
Prescott Valley, AZ
Ownership

  1. Other Brand

  2. 1000-3
About 100 miles unless there is a lot of loose deep sand. I carry a 2 gallon gas can and sometimes a 1 gallon too. My Talons will go about 130 miles but I sometimes have to tow a broken RZR out so the extra gas is necessary. BTW I have a bit over 39,000 miles on my Talons without a break down. I plan on keeping my 2019 Talon for backup at 50,000 miles. I got passed by a pickup yesterday on a desert road with a speed limit of 35. I just hate it when that happens. I could have run up to a bit over 70 in my Talon to prevent it.
 
lee

lee

Village Idiot
Lifetime Member
Club Contributor
Apr 4, 2013
2,323
13,006
113
Springfield Ohio
Ownership

  1. 500
@hondabob I see it says something about buddy tracking on the GPS.
Are you able to use that feature?
I think I remember you talking about having the lone Honda on most of your group rides.

Just wondering if you have an opinion on that feature.
Probably the only thing that will prompt me to abandon Lifetime Trail Maps.
 
H

hondabob

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
May 14, 2013
1,157
4,520
113
Prescott Valley, AZ
Ownership

  1. Other Brand

  2. 1000-3
I think you need to have this GPS. It will track up to 20 so you can see where they are, where they turn, and if anyone has stopped. I'm still reading about it. So far its better then I thought it would be. Some of my buddies may buy one.
 
H

hondabob

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
May 14, 2013
1,157
4,520
113
Prescott Valley, AZ
Ownership

  1. Other Brand

  2. 1000-3
I removed the front wheel on my Suzuki so I could get it inside the bed. I did this for my 4 seat Teryx so it would fit in the back seat area. Never had a break down with my 2 Kawasaki's or 12 Honda side by sides. It's easy to install the front wheel but I doubt I will have a break down and need to ride it out. When I ride with my buddy's I always drive one of my Talons plus I need my Talon to tow out the broke down RZR's. The bucket seat is necessary on the long rides.
Suzuki
5
Seat
 
JACKAL

JACKAL

Ancient Honda fanboi
Moderator
Lifetime Member
Supporting Member
Club Contributor
Jun 11, 2015
39,157
265,169
113
Pioneer, TN
Ownership

  1. Other Brand

  2. 1000-5
@hondabob I see it says something about buddy tracking on the GPS.
Are you able to use that feature?
I think I remember you talking about having the lone Honda on most of your group rides.

Just wondering if you have an opinion on that feature.
Probably the only thing that will prompt me to abandon Lifetime Trail Maps.

Garmin Tread is an interesting device, available in 5.5" 8" or 10" screen sizes. However the group tracking feature only works with 3 conditions. 1. Everyone must have a Garmin Tread device, 2. Must have it connected to Smartphone via Bluetooth with Garmin app running, 3. Must be connected to cell service. No cell signal lose tracking of group.

Screenshot 20221215 230716 Chrome
 
H

hondabob

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
May 14, 2013
1,157
4,520
113
Prescott Valley, AZ
Ownership

  1. Other Brand

  2. 1000-3
I will be testing my Garmin Tread next week.

  • Tread is built to withstand extreme terrains, temperatures and weather. It features a 5.5" glove friendly touchscreen with built-in Altimeter, Barometer, Compass and Pitch and Roll gauges.
  • Navigator includes topographic maps of North and Central America, public land boundaries, U.S. Forest Service roads and trails with Motor Vehicle Use Maps. Includes downloadable high-resolution Birdseye Satellite Imagery via Wi-Fi� directly to Navigator at no extra cost.
  • Use the Tread app to sync your waypoints, tracks, routes and collections across devices, plus get easy GPX Import/Export and access to live weather. Stay connected to your friends with the Group Ride Radio for up to 20 riders. No cell signal is required.
  • Pioneer 1000 and Talon models require GPS Wire Harness.
 

About us

  • Our community has been around for many years and pride ourselves on offering unbiased, critical discussion among people of all different backgrounds. We are working every day to make sure our community is one of the best.

User Menu

Buy us a beer!

  • Lots of time and money has gone into making sure the community is running the best software, best designs, and all the other bells and whistles. Care to buy us a beer? We'd really appreciate it!

    Beer Fund!

    Club Membership!