P500 Love my p520 except for....

Bmurray

Bmurray

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
May 6, 2021
438
1,666
93
Missouri but soon to be Idaho
Ownership

  1. Talon X
i love my blue goat. It will go just about anywhere I point it. However there are three main things I really dont like and wish they could correct

1) not have any leg/footroom on the left. Come on Honda....

3) lack of storage. Move brake to under the dash and add a little cup/console. Give us the storage under the seat. Maybe separate the bench in halves for that small armrest. Just wasted foam. Give us the glovebox. Come on Honda....

3) speed is too slow. Give us either an overdrive for open areas or roads. Maybe raise the 5th gear just a bit as 45 mph would be about right for this little machine. Come on Honda....
 
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Keebler

Keebler

Well-Known Member
Nov 1, 2020
242
832
93
St Charles, Mo
Ownership

  1. 500
i love my blue goat. It will go just about anywhere I point it. However there are three main things I really dont like and wish they could correct

1) not have any leg/footroom on the left. Come on Honda....

3) lack of storage. Move brake to under the dash and add a little cup/console. Give us the storage under the seat. Maybe separate the bench in halves for that small armrest. Just wasted foam. Give us the glovebox. Come on Honda....


3) speed is too slow. Give us either an overdrive for open areas or roads. Maybe raise the 5th gear just a bit as 45 mph would be about right for this little machine. Come on Honda....
For concern 1 my wife and I use a 3 inch thick seat cushion on both sides of the P500 so we set a bit higher and that allows a bit more leg room.

For concern 2 I have a frame mount storage bag with multiple compartments that mounts above the seat back to top of the cage. It allows for a lot of storage.

For concern 3 I have 26 inch tires that gives me a couple more MPH, actual speed but not on speedometer. I actually like the tire size because it allows me to run 30 MPH without reving out the engine. For a vehicle as short and narrow as a P500 running much more than 35 doesn't feel all that stable. With that said, I too sometimes wish I had a little more top speed when running with the big guys (P1000 and Talons) but I don't run roads with others that often so I like the speed range of the P500 most of the time.
 
crewcabrob

crewcabrob

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

  1. 520
We added the Choog glove box, that helps a bit with small storage items. We also have the under-hood storage box for now, but that space will be eaten up with my power steering soon.

I have 27.7" tall tires and I have some decent top speed. Close to 43mph on my GPS. Indicated is 39 of course... I would love a bit more speed for the road too. By the way, with wider tires I haven't felt like it is unstable at high speeds.

Yeah, the leg room is a bit lacking. My father in-law wasn't very happy with the passenger side, but size 13s are likely the issue.

Rob
 
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trigger

trigger

Old Ironsides
Vendor
Lifetime Member
Supporting Member
Feb 13, 2016
20,834
154,102
113
Bay City, Michigan
www.quickshieldutv.com
Ownership

  1. 500
All of these issues are the sacrifice we made to have the smallest sxs on the market.
1) To give more leg room would mean lengthening the wheelbase.
2) Could give us a glovebox but they offer the rops bag for interior storage. Large riders would complain if they put in a console. I made one for it when I ran the bench seat and it was tight even for us. There's a bunch of room right behind you for the rest.
3) Speed is adequate for its size. It was designed as a utility machine, more speed would lead to more lawsuits. If someone wants a road runner or corner slinger then look for a different machine.
 
Remington

Remington

Deputy Fife POIDH Enforcement Officer
Lifetime Member
Supporting Member
Jul 24, 2016
18,342
104,583
113
Michigan
Ownership

  1. 1000-5

  2. Talon X
1) not have any leg/footroom on the left. Come on Honda....
Not to pile on here, but when I seen this part, I had to mention @100Acre He has put many a thousands of miles on a P5 for many yrs and hes Wilt Chamberlain hight and I never heard a complaint besides a joke that I know of from lack of room. He just delt with it. Then later bought a P1K5 for more space. Come to think of it, there are a few that are tall and delt with it. Im 6-2 And had a P5 for a while. yeah it was tight but its a small utv like @trigger said So it is what it is.
theres all kinds of things guys came up with to make it more comfy Tho.
 
GRANITE

GRANITE

People Dying to come see me!
Lifetime Member
Supporting Member
Jul 21, 2014
1,100
5,550
113
Brookville, Indiana
Ownership

  1. Other Brand

  2. 520
I'm 6'2 and roughly 290 lbs and I'm buying a new 520. When you factor in the cost of roughly 10 grand these days your getting alot of bang for the buck. If your wanting faster, more room, more options spend 20 grand and get something else....
 
Kkettlebell

Kkettlebell

Well-Known Member
Apr 1, 2022
114
475
63
Nova Scotia
Ownership

  1. 500
The P500 is plenty fast where I live…it’s tight, rocky, rooty and swampy. The low gearing makes it shine in this terrain, if I wanted something faster for fire roads I’d do what we did when we were younger and that’s take a an old beater car, cut the wheel wells, stick some tires on er it rip it till it dies lol…the original SXS on the cheap
 
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W

wvmountaineers

Member
Jun 17, 2021
12
39
13
Virginia
Ownership

  1. 500
I agree on storage. Basically you get substandard cup holders. That’s your storage. Pathetic.

I wouldn’t want to go any faster with the short track width. Seems like an accident waiting to happen.

The other thing that is poor is the lights/lighting. The headlights are like driving with your parking lights on.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Keebler

Keebler

Well-Known Member
Nov 1, 2020
242
832
93
St Charles, Mo
Ownership

  1. 500
@Keebler any pics or details for the 3” seat foams?
On a 7 day group ride my wife and I used boat throw seat cushions, now we have upgraded to chair cushions we bought off amazon.

SeatCushion
 
906UP

906UP

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
Supporting Member
Club Contributor
Jul 6, 2017
12,939
120,426
113
da Yoop
Ownership

  1. 1000-3

  2. Talon X
......
3) speed is too slow. Give us either an overdrive for open areas or roads. Maybe raise the 5th gear just a bit as 45 mph would be about right for this little machine. Come on Honda....
This one is a relatively easy fix, cost is under $200, you just have to be willing to open the engine a bit and swap a couple gears. Details are in my signature below
 
100Acre

100Acre

Samsquinch the Terrible Magic Bean Manipulator
Lifetime Member
Club Contributor
Apr 25, 2017
17,333
103,126
113
Idaho
Ownership

  1. 1000-5
I ended up selling my 500 but in a way I wish I still had it just for a secondary machine. Yeah the legroom sucked especially for your left foot sometimes if you took it in behind your right foot it helps I often thought it be nice to cut a hole in the floor but then I’d be covered in mud. Sometimes on open gravel roads in the national forest I would just open my left-hand door driver side door obviously and stick my foot out. Is that dangerous? Sure, who cares I’m a dangerous kind of guy. LOL at the time it was all I had so I made the best of it and coming from somebody with really bad knee problems before I had my knee replacement surgery it was a real pain in the knee for a while. I get it but understand that Honda is probably designed for Japanese people which aren’t exactly big unless you’re a sumo wrestler….
 
HiFive

HiFive

Well-Known Member
Apr 17, 2019
613
2,466
93
West Central Fl.
Ownership

  1. 500
My p5 is perfect size for forest trails and never go faster than 25mph most of the time 10-20mph. I solved the storage space by adding a glove box and a box on the back of sxs works very well for wife and me. I also added LED bulbs to headlights and two spotlights to front of p5 this works well in rain and night driving. The leg room has not been an issue for the two of us and we are not small people. The more trails I drive the more I feel I made the right choice.
 

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