Is it worth the money??

[Cwhite012]

Hey guys, I just recently bought my first SxS, the P700-4 and one of the accessories I find necessary is a snorkel. I live near the Ouachita Mountains in central Arkansas and already have encountered high water spots when crossing river/creeks. My question is, is it worth spending the money on a snorkel kit or do most of you go out to the hardware store and buy PVC and DIY?? If done correctly, I can't see how doing it yourself with PVC could go wrong. Are the kits more appealing to the eye? Also how deep have you gotten without a snorkel?! Let me know your thoughts!

 

[Admin]

 

[trigger]

Hey guys, I just recently bought my first SxS, the P700-4 and one of the accessories I find necessary is a snorkel. I live near the Ouachita Mountains in central Arkansas and already have encountered high water spots when crossing river/creeks. My question is, is it worth spending the money on a snorkel kit or do most of you go out to the hardware store and buy PVC and DIY?? If done correctly, I can't see how doing it yourself with PVC could go wrong. Are the kits more appealing to the eye? Also how deep have you gotten without a snorkel?! Let me know your thoughts!



View attachment 464811

A snorkel is well worth the money IMO. Even if you don't plan to go deep there's always the oh sh!t moments. DIY is far cheaper than buying a prefabbed kit and it's easy. Dry fit everything until it meets your standards, mark it and then glue it together. Couple coats of black with a rattle can and you're good to go. Just be sure not to reduce the size of the pipe and choke your intake.

 

[CID]

Mud Puppy on Utoob has done some krazie sh!t in his environment.

In his Talon -

In a Pioneer 1000 -

 

[Cwhite012]

A snorkel is well worth the money IMO. Even if you don't plan to go deep there's always the oh sh!t moments. DIY is far cheaper than buying a prefabbed kit and it's easy. Dry fit everything until it meets your standards, mark it and then glue it together. Couple coats of black with a rattle can and you're good to go. Just be sure not to reduce the size of the pipe and choke your intake.

agreed! Once it’s painted, you can’t really tell (from the videos I have seen at least) unless you look at the head of it compared to a warrior snorkel.

 

[CID]

About the title of the thread -

When I was younger, I had more time than money. Now that I'm not younger, I have more money than time.

I was raised by a craftsman to be a craftsman; I do good work ... but it takes me a lot longer to do that good work than it takes to buy something commercially built. And, frequently, no matter how hard I try, a commercial aftermarket part will 'probably' look better than what I made, although I'll get much less job satisfaction out of the project.

Do you have time? Or do you have money? Do you enjoy tool time or do you hate it? My ex retirement buddy thinks he's a mechanic but if he is a mechanic, he's the worst mechanic I've ever known.

 

[Cwhite012]

About the title of the thread -

When I was younger, I had more time than money. Now that I'm not younger, I have more money than time.

I was raised by a craftsman to be a craftsman; I do good work ... but it takes me a lot longer to do that good work than it takes to buy something commercially built. And, frequently, no matter how hard I try, a commercial aftermarket part will 'probably' look better than what I made, although I'll get much less job satisfaction out of the project.

Do you have time? Or do you have money? Do you enjoy tool time or do you hate it? My ex retirement buddy thinks he's a mechanic but if he is a mechanic, he's the worst mechanic I've ever known.

lol the problem is I make good money, decent amount of free time on my hands, and a brain that thinks I can do it all I am handy and like to go the cheaper route if it’s reliable and not above my skill level. DIY snorkel seems very simple, but as someone that takes care of the things he buys better than most others, I worry with how well something will hold up. Probably overthinking it, just wanted to know if there were actually any cons to DIY.

 

[dweber23tr]

If you are talking water deep enough for a snorkel, don't forget to extend all the vent lines. There are kits for this available on ebay

 

[silvertrd09]

PVC and DIY

 

[Robobrainiac]

If you are talking water deep enough for a snorkel, don't forget to extend all the vent lines. There are kits for this available on ebay

I was looking thru this thread to see if someone else had already said it because I was going to say the same thing

 

[Brett002]

I like many others have taken the homemade route... Less fittings makes for a better seal. Look up the instructions for the snorkel kits online. They will give you a good start on the pieces and how far the machine will need to be torn down. etc. You can "T" alot of the vent lines together. Anything with gas needs to stand alone. I'm not that familiar with the 700 but these machines can be waterproofed fairly easy. If your gonna stay just around shin deep you really need to take the time to dielectric grease all the plugs below the waterline. This will just help with corrosion and keep the gremlins away. If you plan on going deeper than your shins than take the tine to waterproof your screen, as they are possibly the weakest link in your submarine adventures.

As mentioned, there are several youtube videos with info on all of this. Mudpuppy is my go-to.

I really wish mother honda would catch up with the times and offer us snorkeled rigs from the factory. Instead, they offer "Bold new graphics".

 

[Scoop]

I really wish mother honda would catch up with the times and offer us snorkeled rigs from the factory. Instead, they offer "Bold new graphics".

Most buyers don't use their Honda rigs (especially the 700) in such a way to need to snorkel it. Adding a factory snorkel to every one would simply raise the price to everyone when only a small fraction of the buyers want/need it. Same goes for running the vents up to the roof. Heck, if Honda did everything that everyone said, "Gee, I wish Honda would add (insert feature here) to every rig from the factory", we'd be paying $35K from the factory.

FWIW, I bought all the bits to DIY snorkel my P1K5 like others here did, but never did it. They are all sitting in a box in the garage. I did install the vent kit, though.

 

[lee]

Most buyers don't use their Honda rigs (especially the 700) in such a way to need to snorkel it. Adding a factory snorkel to every one would simply raise the price to everyone when only a small fraction of the buyers want/need it. Same goes for running the vents up to the roof. Heck, if Honda did everything that everyone said, "Gee, I wish Honda would add (insert feature here) to every rig from the factory", we'd be paying $35K from the factory.

FWIW, I bought all the bits to DIY snorkel my P1K5 like others here did, but never did it. They are all sitting in a box in the garage. I did install the vent kit, though.

Preach it brother!

 

[Brett002]

@Scoop I'm not asking for honda to snorkel every one of them. Offer us a mud edition in a Talon, & P1000 with a gear reduction like poolaris and canned ham and I'd be happy. Maybe you don't need the items mentioned where you're from but down here in the south sometimes you better hold your breath before taking the dip.

Now most people would say get a boat. Have those. I enjoy riding my side by side. Water is just part of my terrain. I guess I could move but love it where I'm at.

 

[Brett002]

Sorry to the OP @Cwhite012 didn't mean to hijack your thread, was only offering advice and my opinion on a factory installed snorkel that would be better than anything you or I could build. Then you have others come on and say but that would be more expensive. Why yes it would, but would it be backed by some of the best engineering in the market? Yes again, and I'd pay for that. Then if they did offer it you'd have people out there saying I wish they didn't offer those options so it would be cheaper. I'm saying keep those in the fleet. Nothing wrong with what's already offered. Could there be improvements? If not, we'd have nothing to talk about on here.

 

[Scoop]

@Scoop I'm not asking for honda to snorkel every one of them. Offer us a mud edition in a Talon, & P1000 with a gear reduction like poolaris and canned ham and I'd be happy. Maybe you don't need the items mentioned where you're from but down here in the south sometimes you better hold your breath before taking the dip.

Every "option" you want to offer add significant complexity and cost to the entire process of engineering, sourcing, purchasing, and assembling a vehicle -- car, truck, or SXS. That's the primary reason why there aren't endless options available.

Yes, I understand that, down south, y'all like taking your SXS through swamps and bog, but I stand behind my statement that the vast majority of buyers do NOT use their Honda's like that.

For the record, I spent all my formidable years living down south (Texas), so I'm as much of a southerner as I am a northerner.

But I get where you're coming from.

 

[trigger]

Offer us a mud edition in a Talon, & P1000 with a gear reduction

That would be cool but you can bet the bank any warranty claim on that Honda edition would be denied before the ink was dry.

 

[Robobrainiac]

Also, for the record, my two cents as it were. The pioneer is technically a utility machine. Designed to check the farm and herd the cattle. What we choose to do with the pioneer is FAR from what the engineers designed it to originally do. I think alot of people lose sight of that. Having some logic of how Honda operates, we are probably lucky we even have three pioneer sizes to choose from: 500, 700, and 1000.

Same reasons apply to the talon in my opinion. That is why there is literally one option; the 1000.


I think focusing on Keeping It Simple is why Honda is able to make such a reliable machine. Compared to Can Am and Polaris, they have so many options with so many factory accessories it is no wonder they apply themselves so thinly across the market it creates such differing opinions.

I think kawasaki is closely behind Honda. They keep it simple as well.

KISS makes bulletproof machines that last 10,000+ miles.

 

[Brett002]

Again, sorry to the OP for the can of worms I opened with the factory snorkel hopes and dreams. I agree @trigger honda warranty sucks! (Long story as to how I know). That's why I had/ have the kawasaki warranty on my machines. They cover other brands or at least they did when I purchased my P1000 way back when.

To be clear my current machines are not snorkeled, nor do I plan on making one up. I tend to go around when water enters the floor. My old P1000 had a snorkel and only needed it once. Probably saved me a rebuild cause the seat bottom floated out of it. They are a great safety precaution, but as trigger mentioned don't expect any help from Honda if the snorkel is in the warranty pictures.

To help the OP here is the snorkel I added to my old P1000. This was routed right off the air box and eliminated all the stuff under the floor of the P1000. This is how I have seen the 700's routed as well. I capped off the hose under the floor and under the hood so I could return it to stock if need be. (Warranty). This is why I also mentioned the less fittings the better. Took me two tries to get it to seal. Buddy has an amazon smoke tester. Very handy if you're wanting a airtight seal.