Hello all, first Honda SxS and first post here. I've owned and loved Rhinos since late 2003 and bought a new one every two years after (still have four; large family) and they have always served me very well. After many years of riding them I thought I wanted something more so I purchased a RZR. It was a blast to ride but since I couldn't keep it out of the shop I sold it and went back to riding my solid, dependable Rhinos that have always brought me back to the truck at the end of the day. I liked some things about my brother's Ranger but it felt like I was driving a school bus and once pierced an oil reservoir backing it off the trailer (literally!...ramp failure caused Ranger to land on a rock that hit the unprotected reservoir over the rear tire) so I quickly lost interest in the Ranger platform after that. In 2014 I once again wanted to try something new and purchased a Teryx4 800. The Teryx is a rock solid machine and mechanically superior to the Rhino in every conceivable way, yet I found myself continuing to choose the Rhino when I went trail riding and so my daughter ended up claiming the Teryx for herself.
A couple months ago my brother and I were riding around considering a new SxS for him. We looked hard at the Yamaha Viking but even though it's built off the Rhino platform it just lost the "feel" that I'd grown to love and neither of us were particularly interested in it. We stopped by the Kawasaki dealership so that he could check out the Teryx and Mule Pro and before buying he decided to take a look at the Honda dealership. I never considered the Honda line because they didn't have front lockers and where we ride if you don't have a front locker you spend more time out of your machine pulling a winch cable than you do riding. When I learned that Honda added a front locker to the new Pioneer 1000 I had to take one for a test ride myself.
The dealership invited me to test it fully and test it I did. I was thoroughly impressed that the only way I could stick it (at least in what they had to offer for a test track) was to high center it on a pile of dirt. The stability and agility of this machine truly impressed me, especially considering its size and weight. I've been riding Rhinos long enough to know that had I taken my Rhino on that same trail I would likely have rolled it over more than once (although I'm confident the Teryx would have been just fine). Although I wasn't in the market for a new machine at the time, the Pioneer sold itself and with that test drive I decided that I wanted one but I wanted one in black so I put down a deposit and waited a month or so while the dealership ordered it for me.
I picked up my machine about a month ago or so but it's been too cold to ride it and I've only been able to put 8 miles on it so far and much of that was dealership test drive where I had to return it to the dealership so they could clock the steering wheel.
I'm really looking forward to getting this machine on the trails and while I'm waiting on stable warm weather (currently 38 degrees) I want to get a few modifications out of the way. The trails we ride are through forest covered mountains and it's not unusual for me to be 60+ miles away from where I left my truck (what's the range like on a full tank?). Due to the dense population of grizzly bears (around the Blackfeet Reservation), hiking back because the machine broke down really isn't a good option no matter what provisions you bring.
Obviously the first and most important modification is a winch. I plan to order the 4,500# Warn from Honda but it comes with a steel cable and I prefer pulling synthetic. Any idea if Honda makes this option available or are you left with re-spooling if buying through Honda?
I'd also like to add a half windshield. The half-windshields on my Rhinos and Teryx make all the difference in the world and I prefer them greatly to a full windshield that always seems to get dirty just as the ride gets good. The Honda OEM half windshield seems really low, certainly lower than what I'm used to. Is it at least effective or would I be better served by looking into one sold by Super ATV? Is there a better option? Does the half windshield tend to work with or against adding a roof (in regards to dust)?
I have a large dog bed that I put in the bed of my SxSs so that my dogs can join me for the ride. The rear netting on the Pioneer works out nicely and I'm wondering if there is a similar net available for above the tailgate. I've got a six month old German Shepherd that still gets a little too excited when he sees wildlife and the net in the rear would give me one less thing to worry about.
Montana allows ATVs/SxSs to be licensed for riding on the road and my experience has been that the Bighorns just don't wear well at all on pavement. Being limited to my own experience, this could be due to the way the tires lean inward on the Teryx or it could be just that that Bighorns don't wear well on pavement. I run the radial Mudlite XTR on my Rhino but even that tire doesn't in my opinion wear well on the pavement. I like the OEM 14" wheels on my Pioneer and would like to find a light truck tire of comparable size with aggressive off road tread that will stand up to highway use. Recommendations appreciated.
I'd also like to find a Bluetooth amplified speaker bar made specifically for the Pioneer. I don't really need a radio because when I'm trail riding I don't listen to music anyway and when I'm riding on the road I'd like to be able to stream radio onto my mobile phone and Bluetooth connect it to an amplified speaker bar if one exists?
CB communications are another issue I hope to resolve. Is there one that you can actually hear when you're riding without going to a headset?
Over the years I've really grown to love a CVT transmission (Yamaha, Arctic Cat and Kawasaki especially; not enough experience with Can Am CVT and I absolutely loathe the Polaris CVT system). Had Honda offered a CVT option in the Pioneer I would have certainly chosen it but they don't. The transmission in the Pioneer is the only thing about this machine that I don't like, but I don't yet know if that's because it's inferior in some way to the CVT or if it's because I'm just used to the CVT and I won't know for sure until I get this machine out on the trail to find out what its really all about. I do look forward to testing its full capabilities very soon and finding out what it's really all about.
Thanks,
