Hondasxs
Club Founder
Staff member
Lifetime Member
Supporting Member
This past weekend was my first chance to really get out and see what the Pioneer had to offer. During the weeks prior I have been pondering if I made the right choice jumping into the SxS world as I have always been a ATV fan. I have owned a Trx300, Trx300FW, trx500FA, and currently ride a Trx680FA. My fear was I would not like the Pioneer at all. How could such a huge machine, compared to my Rincon, even remotely be fun on the trails? Well I was about to find out as were set on a 3 day adventure around the Hatfield trails.
Day 1, 32 miles, 2 bars of gas down.
Unloaded and headed down the log roads towards the trails. I was a bit unimpressed of the top speed but I already knew it maxed out at 45, It was that I did not know what 40 mph felt like on a SxS yet. Could of used a 4th gear as I was cursing around 36mph. Once we got the trails it was a different ball game. The trails were fairly rough with rocks and what not. The Pioneer handled them well and was a lot smoother then the Rincon I normally would ride. Several times when powering over a whoop it did bottom out in the front several times. Like I needed to adjust the shocks up 1 notch from factory but could not as they are preset. I left the rears at #2 setting as I was not carrying a load and that handled fine. It could also of been the 14 inch wheels I installed. I’ll cover that in another post.
As the cold blew in it started to snow, we slowed down a bit and enjoyed the trails up until the point there was a limb in the path. I decided to just run it over and when I did I failed to notice a larger limb to the left that smashed into the fender and out the front dash between the break handle and roll cage. I was pissed. After some time getting it straightened out we were off again. By now it was getting dark so we headed back to camp for the night.
Day 2, 52 miles on a half tank of gas.
Woke up to a snow covered ground. It was around 24 deg. I figured the Pioneer would have a hard time starting but it fired with one turn of the key. I released the park brake and upon re-engaging it was frozen and would not latch. After a few mins it latched correctly. We decided to skip breakfast and head to town for lunch. Our path was the creek trail. This was my first time in the high water and was excited to test it but afraid as I did not know the limits. Creeks were only about 20 inches deep so it handled it with grace. I decided to tackle an obstacle; it was a dug out hole in the trail. I hit it in 4 wheel drive. It was fairly dug out and I quickly bottomed out setting at a 45 deg angle. I tried to rock it like an ATV but really could not. I tried to reverse but the rear end dug into the ground. I was stuck. We winched it out and headed on.
Now the Pioneer was growing on me. I was starting to enjoy it. Once at town we had lunch and headed back to meet some friends back at camp. They arrive and we headed off again. This time we were off to the trussels to take some cool video. We found some hills and I was going up them. I was unable to get a running start so I had to start slow. It managed to hit second and was losing the momentum I had collected, just as I felt it was about to slow, the Pioneer smoothly changed to first and gained speed going up the hill. I then went down and back up again. No issues here. It climbed the hill with ease. Same on a steeper hill in the same area, I was impressed. We played around for a bit on the tracks then headed off and made our way back to camp.
Day 3, 64 miles on a half tank of gas.
Once breakfast was finished, we loaded up and headed off. We had 3 objectives. To get lost somewhere we have never been, to head to the “View”, and to get stuck in some mud. We headed down a trail we never been. Our GPS was tracking our path. Around noon we decided to find our bearings and head to the “View” We rode the haul road for a few miles and finally made it. The “View” is a huge hill the mining company has made with a panoramic view of the mountains a full 360 degs. The hill to the top is hard and should only be done by experienced riders. So for sure that was on the list. The Pioneer hit the hill around 40 mph. It lost momentum about half way up until it once again smoothly changed gears into first and begun to gain speed climbing the hill. We did it again for fun and it tackled with ease. Now don’t get me wrong here. It did not fly up the hill like a bat out of hell; it simply crawled up it with ease in both 4 wheel and 2 wheel during the second time.
Once we ate lunch, we headed back down the same creek trail we ran yesterday. Here there are plenty of mud holes and deep creeks to find. I was not set out to get the Pioneer burred, just wanted to have some fun in some mud. We past up some sticky mud for those we have conquered before in the Rincon. Found a hole that just the day before a Yamaha with 28 inch tires got stuck in. The Rincon went first and rocked it through. I went second and was unable to rock. Had to reverse and take a different approach. Once through it was a breeze. The Pioneer in 4whee diff lock would not let a mud hole stop it today. Now it was covered in mud, off to the deep creeks. We knew of a small hole up the road that was fairly deep. The snorkeled Rincon tested the waters and made it no problem. Now time for the untested Pioneer to give it a try. Seeing the factory snorkel is fairly tall I figured it would make it so I hit it in 4 wheel diff lock. I was impressed it made it through, so we played in it a few rounds. Now it was getting late so we headed back to camp to drink some beer and play in the fire. Our trip was over and we had a blast.
Now at home and looking back I see I have enjoyed the Pioneer. Soon I will start to prepare my Rincon to be sold as I am keeping the Pioneer as my main ride.
Until next time…
HondaSxS
PS. Glad I got this finished, been working on it all week. lol..
Pictures here --> http://hondasxs.com/gallery/album.php?album_id=38
Here's a few:
[album]738[/album][album]728[/album][album]729[/album][album]727[/album][album]726[/album][album]713[/album][album]723[/album][album]720[/album]
Day 1, 32 miles, 2 bars of gas down.
Unloaded and headed down the log roads towards the trails. I was a bit unimpressed of the top speed but I already knew it maxed out at 45, It was that I did not know what 40 mph felt like on a SxS yet. Could of used a 4th gear as I was cursing around 36mph. Once we got the trails it was a different ball game. The trails were fairly rough with rocks and what not. The Pioneer handled them well and was a lot smoother then the Rincon I normally would ride. Several times when powering over a whoop it did bottom out in the front several times. Like I needed to adjust the shocks up 1 notch from factory but could not as they are preset. I left the rears at #2 setting as I was not carrying a load and that handled fine. It could also of been the 14 inch wheels I installed. I’ll cover that in another post.
As the cold blew in it started to snow, we slowed down a bit and enjoyed the trails up until the point there was a limb in the path. I decided to just run it over and when I did I failed to notice a larger limb to the left that smashed into the fender and out the front dash between the break handle and roll cage. I was pissed. After some time getting it straightened out we were off again. By now it was getting dark so we headed back to camp for the night.
Day 2, 52 miles on a half tank of gas.
Woke up to a snow covered ground. It was around 24 deg. I figured the Pioneer would have a hard time starting but it fired with one turn of the key. I released the park brake and upon re-engaging it was frozen and would not latch. After a few mins it latched correctly. We decided to skip breakfast and head to town for lunch. Our path was the creek trail. This was my first time in the high water and was excited to test it but afraid as I did not know the limits. Creeks were only about 20 inches deep so it handled it with grace. I decided to tackle an obstacle; it was a dug out hole in the trail. I hit it in 4 wheel drive. It was fairly dug out and I quickly bottomed out setting at a 45 deg angle. I tried to rock it like an ATV but really could not. I tried to reverse but the rear end dug into the ground. I was stuck. We winched it out and headed on.
Now the Pioneer was growing on me. I was starting to enjoy it. Once at town we had lunch and headed back to meet some friends back at camp. They arrive and we headed off again. This time we were off to the trussels to take some cool video. We found some hills and I was going up them. I was unable to get a running start so I had to start slow. It managed to hit second and was losing the momentum I had collected, just as I felt it was about to slow, the Pioneer smoothly changed to first and gained speed going up the hill. I then went down and back up again. No issues here. It climbed the hill with ease. Same on a steeper hill in the same area, I was impressed. We played around for a bit on the tracks then headed off and made our way back to camp.
Day 3, 64 miles on a half tank of gas.
Once breakfast was finished, we loaded up and headed off. We had 3 objectives. To get lost somewhere we have never been, to head to the “View”, and to get stuck in some mud. We headed down a trail we never been. Our GPS was tracking our path. Around noon we decided to find our bearings and head to the “View” We rode the haul road for a few miles and finally made it. The “View” is a huge hill the mining company has made with a panoramic view of the mountains a full 360 degs. The hill to the top is hard and should only be done by experienced riders. So for sure that was on the list. The Pioneer hit the hill around 40 mph. It lost momentum about half way up until it once again smoothly changed gears into first and begun to gain speed climbing the hill. We did it again for fun and it tackled with ease. Now don’t get me wrong here. It did not fly up the hill like a bat out of hell; it simply crawled up it with ease in both 4 wheel and 2 wheel during the second time.
Once we ate lunch, we headed back down the same creek trail we ran yesterday. Here there are plenty of mud holes and deep creeks to find. I was not set out to get the Pioneer burred, just wanted to have some fun in some mud. We past up some sticky mud for those we have conquered before in the Rincon. Found a hole that just the day before a Yamaha with 28 inch tires got stuck in. The Rincon went first and rocked it through. I went second and was unable to rock. Had to reverse and take a different approach. Once through it was a breeze. The Pioneer in 4whee diff lock would not let a mud hole stop it today. Now it was covered in mud, off to the deep creeks. We knew of a small hole up the road that was fairly deep. The snorkeled Rincon tested the waters and made it no problem. Now time for the untested Pioneer to give it a try. Seeing the factory snorkel is fairly tall I figured it would make it so I hit it in 4 wheel diff lock. I was impressed it made it through, so we played in it a few rounds. Now it was getting late so we headed back to camp to drink some beer and play in the fire. Our trip was over and we had a blast.
Now at home and looking back I see I have enjoyed the Pioneer. Soon I will start to prepare my Rincon to be sold as I am keeping the Pioneer as my main ride.
Until next time…
HondaSxS
PS. Glad I got this finished, been working on it all week. lol..
Pictures here --> http://hondasxs.com/gallery/album.php?album_id=38
Here's a few:
[album]738[/album][album]728[/album][album]729[/album][album]727[/album][album]726[/album][album]713[/album][album]723[/album][album]720[/album]
