P500 Honda Pioneer 500, 2017 Gear Improvements!

[Hondasxs]

Parts fish for the Honda Pioneer 500 have been made public. They can be viewed -> HERE. This confirms the 2017 Pioneer 500 will come with a higher gear ratio than prior models. Of course, your first question may be... How can I retrofit my 2015 or 2016?

Well... That is a tough question to answer. Here are some of our thoughts.

Final Shaft Gearing.
We have confirmed different gearing. Frist look is at the final shaft gear inside the rear crank case cover. Here there is an increase from a 16/30 tooth combo to a 22/40 tooth combo on the 2017 models. Changing these 2 gears will give your 2016 P500 a higher top speed and can be done for under $70 and a few hours of time.

2016
GEAR (16T) 23621-HR0-F00
GEAR (30T) 23631-HR0-F00

2017
GEAR (22T) 23621-HP5-600 $23.22
GEAR (40T) 23631-HP5-600 $44.98

Transmission.
Here we find lots of updates inside the main transmission. Most are hard to identify as teeth count are not listed but part #'s suggest improvements. This will be difficult to change out for the home mechanic and may not provide any results.

Computer, wire harness, display.
The wire harness and computer has updated part #'s. This was expected as it now needs to handle automatic mode along with the possibility of additional sensors.

Differentials.
Both differentials remain the same and pass along the same part # between he 2016 and 17 years.

Other unknown parts.
This post is not meant to be a guide for an automatic retrofit changeover. There are many unknown parts that will be required to properly complete this tasks. One will most likely find it not worth the money to complete.

Feel free to research some differences on your own. Please, we ask you share you findings.
Parts fish link - New & Used PowerSports For Sale in Gastonia, North Carolina. Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Beta, and more available. Service & Parts too!

Thanks.

 

[Kenjones21]

So the new P500 will have not be as low geared in first but they will have a faster top speed?

 

[Gator]

Ya'll figure this out so that when the 700 gears are available I can do mine.

 

[Montecresto]

Parts fish for the Honda Pioneer 500 have been made public. They can be viewed -> HERE. This confirms the 2017 Pioneer 500 will come with a higher gear ratio than prior models. Of course, your first question may be... How can I retrofit my 2015 or 2016?

Well... That is a tough question to answer. Here are some of our thoughts.

Final Shaft Gearing.
We have confirmed different gearing. Frist look is at the final shift. Here there is an increase from a 16/30 tooth combo to a 22/40 tooth combo on the 2017 models. Changing this gear will give your 2016 P500 a higher top speed and can be done for under $70 and a few hours of time.

2016
GEAR (16T) 23621-HR0-F00
GEAR (30T) 23631-HR0-F00

2017
GEAR (22T) 23621-HP5-600 $23.22
GEAR (40T) 23631-HP5-600 $44.98

Transmission.
Here we find lots of updates inside the main transmission. Most are hard to identify as teeth count are not listed but part #'s suggest improvements. This will be difficult to change out for the home mechanic and may not provide any results.

Computer, wire harness, display.
The wire harness and computer has updated part #'s. This was expected as it now needs to handle automatic mode along with the possibility of additional sensors.

Differentials.
Both differentials remain the same and pass along the same part # between he 2016 and 17 years.

Other unknown parts.
This post is not meant to be a guide for an automatic retrofit changeover. There are many unknown parts that will be required to properly complete this tasks. One will most likely find it not worth the money to compete.

Feel free to research some differences on your own. Please, we ask you share you findings.
Parts fish link - New & Used PowerSports For Sale in Gastonia, North Carolina. Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Beta, and more available. Service & Parts too!

Thanks.

Wow, that's cool news @Hondasxs, I would surely be interested in changing the top end gear out if it's fairly easy and cheap. However, I really like that bottom end just as it is.

 

[trigger]

Wow, that's cool news @Hondasxs, I would surely be interested in changing the top end gear out if it's fairly easy and cheap. However, I really like that bottom end just as it is.

Somebody needs to get a '17 and chime in here on top speed. If it's like 2 mph it wouldn't be worth it.
Get me to 50 and I'll be in.

 

[Montecresto]

Somebody needs to get a '17 and chime in here on top speed. If it's like 2 mph it wouldn't be worth it.
Get me to 50 and I'll be in.

Agreed on that. Looks like it may be JTW. what do you think about low gear? I sure wouldn't want to go up with it. Which makes me think. JTW stated that his friends P5 bogged down in 4 low. I bet the 2017 would be even worse with a higher low gear ratio.

 

[Jbird]

If the 2017 P5 is not going to have low range won't raising the 1st gear ratio just kill the pulling power and utility people like about the P5?

 

[Hondasxs]

Hard to say.
The final gear was improved for a higher gear ratio. But the actual gears (1-5) could be spread out to compensate. Will have to wait for specs to come out.

 

[Hondasxs]

I'm wondering if they went to a "finer" tooth ring and pinion to quiet the final drive down a bit as they had a lot of complaints on that. It's not a big difference in ratio with the 16/30 being 1.875 and the 22/40 being 1.818.

Doesn't the gear wine people are complaint about come from the differentials?
They remain the same according to part number comparison.

 

[Montecresto]

Doesn't the gear wine people are complaint about come from the differentials?
They remain the same according to part number comparison.

Yes, that's correct. But after going to a synthetic 75-140 lubricant and once I passed a thousand miles long ago, that's no longer an issue.

 

[Jshell3]

Somebody needs to get a '17 and chime in here on top speed. If it's like 2 mph it wouldn't be worth it.
Get me to 50 and I'll be in.

When will the 2017's make it to the dealers?

 

[sthomp54]

I'm wondering if they went to a "finer" tooth ring and pinion to quiet the final drive down a bit as they had a lot of complaints on that. It's not a big difference in ratio with the 16/30 being 1.875 and the 22/40 being 1.818.

It is odd, thats just a 3% difference in gear ratio. So if the 2016 goes 42mph, the 2017 will go 43.2mph assuming 5th gear is the same. I suspect they are fine tuning the trans for the auto mode. Raising the 1st gear ratio by 15% should make the auto behave a little better too... but not gonna help those wanting to pull logs/trailers and whatnot.

 

[pFive]

I am kinda glad I purchased a 1st gen, lower gearing in the muck and less sensors for the auto shift. With my 30's my cousin on a bigger quad said I was bumping 50mph on the road, my speedo is off (obvious reasons) but I have no interest in going that fast again, at least not with agricultural tires.

 

[Hondasxs]

Ya.
All this is hard to confirm until someone actually gets around to trying it.
Researching more. I find the crankcase cover has been updated as well. This could be anything from new sensor to an extended case to allow the bigger gears. This could throw this idea of raising the gearing out the window.

I am interested in picking up a 500 in the coming year but I am praying for a wider gear range.

 

[rlutech]

Ya.
All this is hard to confirm until someone actually gets around to trying it.
Researching more. I find the crankcase cover has been updated as well. This could be anything from new sensor to an extended case to allow the bigger gears. This could throw this idea of raising the gearing out the window.

I am interested in picking up a 500 in the coming year but I am praying for a wider gear range.

I would have to agree. I have always been interested in the P5 since its debut. I have read a lot of reviews that criticize the low top speed of the P5 which is my primary concern. I hope they gear it for a little more top speed for '17.

On the other hand, I do like the idea of the first gen's requiring less sensors and switches with a manual only transmission. Simple and less to go wrong. And the '16's are priced very reasonable right now! Decisions...decisions!

 

[JACKAL]

Somebody needs to get a '17 and chime in here on top speed. If it's like 2 mph it wouldn't be worth it.
Get me to 50 and I'll be in.

Doing the math the 16/30 is 1.88 ratio and the 22/40 is 1.82 ratio or 6% difference. That would be from 39 mph to 42/43 mph max unless computer chimes in differently as well. Could still be electronicly limited to 39/40 to keep lawyers happy or up a tad to 45 mph to keep owners happy.

 

[JACKAL]

From my riding experience the P500 would only benefit from higher gearing on level terrain. Riding it at Royal Blue on trails 24 or 25 (essentially smooth gravel roads) with a 4 to 5 % grade it cant even pull 20 mph in 4th gear let alone 5th gear at all.

Just my 2 cents worth, without more torque or HP higher gearing only helps flatland riders with tires 26" or smaller.

 

[Hondasxs]

From my riding experience the P500 would only benefit from higher gearing on level terrain. Riding it at Royal Blue on trails 24 or 25 (essentially smooth gravel roads) with a 4 to 5 % grade it cant even pull 20 mph in 4th gear let alone 5th gear at all.

Just my 2 cents worth, without more torque or HP higher gearing only helps flatland riders with tires 26" or smaller.

Thanks @JACKAL
Guess we all want to have the cake and eat it too..
I want at least 45 but I want a super low crawl gear also.
sucks. lol.

 

[Jshell3]

Well, I've got several GPS apps on my phone, and my bike is stock tires and wheels... 40 mph on the speedometer = 35 on GPS.

It's as if Honda KNOWS 24" stock wheels and tires will be replaced with larger... And they just sorta cheated the bike without having to answer to the legality of it. Same w the high torque/ low gears... Bigger tires seem to be the answer. Better fit, even.

But the minute you swap those tires, it' gonna give Honda a lot of relief when it comes to turnovers and warranty.

"Not liable... Our engineers didnt design that bike to use larger than 24 inch tires."

But the speedometer is off... I'm telling you. Stock.

 

[JACKAL]

Thanks @JACKAL
Guess we all want to have the cake and eat it too..
I want at least 45 but I want a super low crawl gear also.
sucks. lol.

They might get there (low crawl gear and 45 mph+) with a combination of 6 speed DCT and a bump of 4HP or so.