P1000 It's official, my kids hate the back seats

[Uniblab]

I took my daughter and two of her friends out to Red River ATV park (Hendrix, OK) yesterday in our P1K/5. They are all 13 years old... hmm I just realized that I'm as old as all four of them put together. Had a great time but had to stop frequently to rotate them out of the back seat (3 of us on the bench in front, one in the right rear seat, gear in left rear). Complaints were as follows: Uncomfortable, primarily when bouncing around the seat belts were hurting them. Poor visibility out the front. Too noisy to communicate with front seat passengers while riding.

We tried wrapping the seat belt anchors with towels, that helped the comfort issue a little bit, but I can see the writing on the wall. The P1K/5 is not going to be a good solution for more than three people for anything except short trips. At least not for us. I probably should have sat in the back of it before buying it, and I didn't so nobody to blame but myself.

I do have another kid that is old enough to drive so I think I'm going to go with plan B, which is to start looking for another rig that can seat 3 on a bench in front. Gonna have to make some mods to my car trailer to support transporting two rigs, it is about a foot too short to carry two Pioneers.

 

[ToddACimer]

If they are worried about ride quality, upgrading shocks definitely takes the bounce out of the back seat. I am not a huge fan of the 2 buckle seat belts in the back. A harness bar and rear 4-point harnesses might be a great upgrade for rear passenger comfort. Adults have thick enough thighs to not notice the buckles on both sides as much

 

[sharp]

I took my daughter and two of her friends out to Red River ATV park (Hendrix, OK) yesterday in our P1K/5. They are all 13 years old... hmm I just realized that I'm as old as all four of them put together. Had a great time but had to stop frequently to rotate them out of the back seat (3 of us on the bench in front, one in the right rear seat, gear in left rear). Complaints were as follows: Uncomfortable, primarily when bouncing around the seat belts were hurting them. Poor visibility out the front. Too noisy to communicate with front seat passengers while riding.

We tried wrapping the seat belt anchors with towels, that helped the comfort issue a little bit, but I can see the writing on the wall. The P1K/5 is not going to be a good solution for more than three people for anything except short trips. At least not for us. I probably should have sat in the back of it before buying it, and I didn't so nobody to blame but myself.

I do have another kid that is old enough to drive so I think I'm going to go with plan B, which is to start looking for another rig that can seat 3 on a bench in front. Gonna have to make some mods to my car trailer to support transporting two rigs, it is about a foot too short to carry two Pioneers.

It probably wasn't as bad as they made it out to be. It's hard to please 13 year old girls. Lol

 

[BWAF]

I took my daughter and two of her friends out to Red River ATV park (Hendrix, OK) yesterday in our P1K/5. They are all 13 years old... hmm I just realized that I'm as old as all four of them put together. Had a great time but had to stop frequently to rotate them out of the back seat (3 of us on the bench in front, one in the right rear seat, gear in left rear). Complaints were as follows: Uncomfortable, primarily when bouncing around the seat belts were hurting them. Poor visibility out the front. Too noisy to communicate with front seat passengers while riding.

We tried wrapping the seat belt anchors with towels, that helped the comfort issue a little bit, but I can see the writing on the wall. The P1K/5 is not going to be a good solution for more than three people for anything except short trips. At least not for us. I probably should have sat in the back of it before buying it, and I didn't so nobody to blame but myself.

I do have another kid that is old enough to drive so I think I'm going to go with plan B, which is to start looking for another rig that can seat 3 on a bench in front. Gonna have to make some mods to my car trailer to support transporting two rigs, it is about a foot too short to carry two Pioneers.

Put 4 point In helps alot as far the rest tell them to quit whining i never got to do that stuff when I was a kid

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[Cuoutdoors]

First, I agree the back seats are definitely not as comfortable as the front. I have a couple thoughts.

Had a great time but had to stop frequently to rotate them out of the back seat (3 of us on the bench in front, one in the right rear seat, gear in left rear).

Glad you still had a great time.

Most likely there is separation anxiety when 3 are in front and one in back by themselves. It happens with groups of all ages. Likely the experience would be more positive if 2 were in the back and the gear were in front middle or behind the rear seats. Being separated from the group puts a damper on the experience from the start.





Complaints were as follows: Uncomfortable, primarily when bouncing around the seat belts were hurting them. Poor visibility out the front. Too noisy to communicate with front seat passengers while riding.

I'm not well versed on the rear belts but the proposed 4pt option looks promising.

Teens are probably all going to complain they can't see out the front. They aren't very good at sitting back and taking in the view from all sides. Especially when sitting separately from friends.

Was it too noisy from wind or from engine noise?

Another instance where 2 in the back instead of one may have been better.

I'm glad you all had fun. Maybe with a few small changes the next trip will be even better. Getting 3 teens out for a ride is a great thing and I hope you'll get them to continue.

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[JTW]

A quick and easy way to solve this is to make them f***ing walk.... but if you can’t muster the balls for that move. Add some extra soft boat cushions or similar pads to the back seats. Boosting them up should help with the comfort and visibility. I would also look at adding a removable T bar to the rear seats for them to brace against. Like in a rzr passenger seat. As for the noise and talking. Put them in pairs... singles in the back is just asking for a gripe. But if it’s really an issue just get some helmets with a comm system. Then they can all talk talk talk... shocks and 30’s improve rise tremendously. But as @sharp said... they’re 13 year old girls. They’re going to b****!

 

[Damian]

Put 4 point In helps alot as far the rest tell them to quit whining i never got to do that stuff when I was a kidView attachment 101242View attachment 101243View attachment 101244

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Sorry to hijack the thread, but that rear harness looks great. If you don't mind me asking, where did you get them and are they difficult to install. Thanks.

 

[Choogsbro]

JTW why are you so suttle ?

 

[alloutdoors]

Chances are the only experience they have is riding in a vehicle, so bouncing around, noisy, firm ride, etc., isn't something they are really familiar with, plus I think the "experience" would have been even worst during summer (no AC, ingesting dust, etc... During the summer, however, you can get into some mud and I suspect they would like that

 

[alloutdoors]

I just noticed you are in TX, so you can get into the mud now

 

[sharp]

A quick and easy way to solve this is to make them f***ing walk.... but if you can’t muster the balls for that move. Add some extra soft boat cushions or similar pads to the back seats. Boosting them up should help with the comfort and visibility. I would also look at adding a removable T bar to the rear seats for them to brace against. Like in a rzr passenger seat. As for the noise and talking. Put them in pairs... singles in the back is just asking for a gripe. But if it’s really an issue just get some helmets with a comm system. Then they can all talk talk talk... shocks and 30’s improve rise tremendously. But as @sharp said... they’re 13 year old girls. They’re going to b****!

I'm just glad to see that the young girls are doing something outdoors instead of face down in the phone. Lol

 

[Montecresto]

hmm I just realized that I'm as old as all four of them put together.

Haha, don’t feel bad, you’re still a young man....

 

[hondabob]

Its an easy fix for back seat comfort. Use a lashing strap to secure 2 $30.00 car seat cushions to each seat bottom. Make the girls wear a helmet to reduce the noise and go a bit slower with passengers. I like the 3/4 helmets with a flip up face shield. I added a spoiler to the roof just behind the front seats to reduce the negative pressure and the dust in the back. My buddy bought it about a year ago.

 

[ohanacreek]

A quick and easy way to solve this is to make them f***ing walk.... but if you can’t muster the balls for that move. Add some extra soft boat cushions or similar pads to the back seats. Boosting them up should help with the comfort and visibility. I would also look at adding a removable T bar to the rear seats for them to brace against. Like in a rzr passenger seat. As for the noise and talking. Put them in pairs... singles in the back is just asking for a gripe. But if it’s really an issue just get some helmets with a comm system. Then they can all talk talk talk... shocks and 30’s improve rise tremendously. But as @sharp said... they’re 13 year old girls. They’re going to b****!

@Cuoutdoors has s good point put them both in the back and let them accompany each other.
Works a lot better than separating them.

 

[CumminsPusher]

I don’t get it or understand the complaints. Every kid that rides with us has a great time and sometimes we’ll even have a couple kids belted in each rear seat. I very commonly ride in back myself, it’s a family thing and the responsible kids commonly take the machine by themselves.
Those that have kids and take out the back seats “because they’re so uncomfortable anyways “ I just don’t get or understand! It’s a short wheel base vehicle made to carry 5. Impossible in any other make. I think some just need to get a Polaris limo or a Jeep with a/c so they don’t get their white designer t-shirt dirty.
Easiest way to have kids enjoy the ride is to make it about them. And some kids just need to be toughened up, it’s a soft generation looking to just sit home. We try to make it about the kids so they have fun

Smiles from our large group of kids that attend

 

[hoghead76]

I took my daughter and two of her friends out to Red River ATV park (Hendrix, OK) yesterday in our P1K/5. They are all 13 years old... hmm I just realized that I'm as old as all four of them put together. Had a great time but had to stop frequently to rotate them out of the back seat (3 of us on the bench in front, one in the right rear seat, gear in left rear). Complaints were as follows: Uncomfortable, primarily when bouncing around the seat belts were hurting them. Poor visibility out the front. Too noisy to communicate with front seat passengers while riding.

We tried wrapping the seat belt anchors with towels, that helped the comfort issue a little bit, but I can see the writing on the wall. The P1K/5 is not going to be a good solution for more than three people for anything except short trips. At least not for us. I probably should have sat in the back of it before buying it, and I didn't so nobody to blame but myself.

I do have another kid that is old enough to drive so I think I'm going to go with plan B, which is to start looking for another rig that can seat 3 on a bench in front. Gonna have to make some mods to my car trailer to support transporting two rigs, it is about a foot too short to carry two Pioneers.

Hows was the park. thought they had closed it down.
That around my old stomping grounds,the old bridge they closed at Carpenter buff is were I grew up

 

[Uniblab]

A quick and easy way to solve this is to make them f***ing walk.... but if you can’t muster the balls for that move. Add some extra soft boat cushions or similar pads to the back seats. Boosting them up should help with the comfort and visibility. I would also look at adding a removable T bar to the rear seats for them to brace against. Like in a rzr passenger seat. As for the noise and talking. Put them in pairs... singles in the back is just asking for a gripe. But if it’s really an issue just get some helmets with a comm system. Then they can all talk talk talk... shocks and 30’s improve rise tremendously. But as @sharp said... they’re 13 year old girls. They’re going to b****!

Good suggestions, I will look into the seat pads and harnesses. I would have put two kids in the back but I already had a bunch of crap strapped down on the other side and didn't feel like moving it. Reading back over my post it does sound a little snowflak-ey but I can assure you that my girls at least (can't speak for their friends, it was their first time on an ATV) have been through some sh*t with me and have handled it pretty well. Their first time out with me was a few years ago at Mud Creek, about 11pm the right wheels hit a deep spot on a flooded trail and had to abandon ship in waist-deep water and get winched out. That was in our old Ranger - they spent a lot of time in the front seat of that and it was quieter and smoother than the back seat of the Pioneer so I can understand how they would feel it's a step backwards in comfort. I am really happy that they want to participate in this kind of thing and want to keep them interested, so I am going to do my best to make it enjoyable for them.

Same daughter in this image, 2.5 years ago at River Run - yeah she loves the mud!

 

[Uniblab]

Hows was the park. thought they had closed it down.
That around my old stomping grounds,the old bridge they closed at Carpenter buff is were I grew up

I thought it was great! $15/person to get in, owner was very laid back and friendly. There were probably only about a dozen other vehicles there with us so we rarely came across anyone else. Nice mixture of sand, mud, open areas and forest. Plenty of flooded areas. Not too much elevation change being on the river. Great place for kids and beginners, and it's less than an hour from my house so a great place to run up to on a free afternoon like we did yesterday. It's main drawback is that it's fairly small, can see everything in one afternoon.

 

[Uniblab]

First, I agree the back seats are definitely not as comfortable as the front. I have a couple thoughts.

Most likely there is separation anxiety when 3 are in front and one in back by themselves. It happens with groups of all ages. Likely the experience would be more positive if 2 were in the back and the gear were in front middle or behind the rear seats. Being separated from the group puts a damper on the experience from the start.

I will definitely try that next time.

I'm not well versed on the rear belts but the proposed 4pt option looks promising.

Agreed. I'd love to rip out the factory rear belts, they are annoying in so many ways.

Teens are probably all going to complain they can't see out the front. They aren't very good at sitting back and taking in the view from all sides. Especially when sitting separately from friends.

Adding seat cushions as some have suggested would improve comfort AND the view outwards. Bonus!

Was it too noisy from wind or from engine noise?

Pretty sure it was from engine noise. The P1K is not exactly quiet, especially in sport mode. That was another thing I didn't realize until after I bought it. Every other Honda I've owned has run like a sewing machine, this one feels like it has a little harley in it.

I'm glad you all had fun. Maybe with a few small changes the next trip will be even better. Getting 3 teens out for a ride is a great thing and I hope you'll get them to continue.

Gonna do my best, thanks for the reply.

 

[hoghead76]

I thought it was great! $15/person to get in, owner was very laid back and friendly. There were probably only about a dozen other vehicles there with us so we rarely came across anyone else. Nice mixture of sand, mud, open areas and forest. Plenty of flooded areas. Not too much elevation change being on the river. Great place for kids and beginners, and it's less than an hour from my house so a great place to run up to on a free afternoon like we did yesterday. It's main drawback is that it's fairly small, can see everything in one afternoon.

I thought it was great! $15/person to get in, owner was very laid back and friendly. There were probably only about a dozen other vehicles there with us so we rarely came across anyone else. Nice mixture of sand, mud, open areas and forest. Plenty of flooded areas. Not too much elevation change being on the river. Great place for kids and beginners, and it's less than an hour from my house so a great place to run up to on a free afternoon like we did yesterday. It's main drawback is that it's fairly small, can see everything in one afternoon.

Still have a place in Denison I have to check on, next time I come down will have to P M you and see about a ride