P1000 New P1000-5 owner kind of disappointed.

[Formula1]

I added OEM Fox shocks and adjusted my toe and it made a big difference.

 

[74UAFJ]

I feel your pain, the cure is going to be expensive!!!
My experience has been this way we planned a trip to Colorado so I bought a pair of Fox shocks for the front using them around the farm loved them so much I bought the rear one's too, fast forward to CO out there I soon was hating them I was constantly adjusting them up and down the final straw was when we were coming down the back side of Italian off Flag Mountain it started to sleet and rain so hard the ground turned white and it turned into a race back to the camper I was following a loaded four seater RZR 1000 and he wasn't getting away but needed to stop adjust my shocks again because I was bottoming the shocks out horribly!!!
When I got home I took off my like new Fox shocks and sold them and put on Elka 5's and was glad I did, if you are going to ride with sport machines the Pioneer's need all the help they can get Don't buy Fox's you are going to need high and low speed compression adjustment.

Cure 1 trade new Pioneer on a sport machine

Cure 2 upgrade the shocks, put bigger tires on, and reflash the ECU

Both cure's will cost about the same money, good luck on witch ever route you choose to take you will find the side by side sickness is worse than Covid 19

Reflash ECU? Is there a thread on this?

 

[2Ladiesdad]

So I spoke with Sébastien at elka earlier today and he directed to to Darren at iShock, both we very informative and helpful. They both recommend the stage 3 system for what I use the machine for, I will likely be ordering from iShock within the next few days. The elka stage 3 is $50 more than I can get the fox shocks from honda for so that seems like a no brainer being that the elkas are custom built for you. Darren said when I call back to order have the information on accessories I currently have and want to add in the future right down the the number of beers I'm going to have in the cooler.

 

[BigOL3]

So I spoke with Sébastien at elka earlier today and he directed to to Darren at iShock, both we very informative and helpful. They both recommend the stage 3 system for what I use the machine for, I will likely be ordering from iShock within the next few days. The elka stage 3 is $50 more than I can get the fox shocks from honda for so that seems like a no brainer being that the elkas are custom built for you. Darren said when I call back to order have the information on accessories I currently have and want to add in the future right down the the number of beers I'm going to have in the cooler.

If the weight is THAT critical to the performance of the suspension, then adding 100, 200, or 300 extra pounds in the bed may wreck havoc if needed for an overland excursion.

 

[Haldog77]

I purchased a 2020 P1000-5 base 2 weeks ago. We originally went to look at a 700-4 base model and decided the 1000 had all of the options I needed and wanted (high & low range, power steering, tilt wheel, middle seat belt in the front, ect.). I purchased my pioneer the same day a close friend of mine purchased a Rzr 900s, since then 3 other friends have bought side by sides as well (can-am X3 turbo, rzr 1000XP and a talon) yes I know those machines are in an entirely different category than mine and I bought mine because I can haul the wife and kids while riding and also use it around the house, I wasn't looking for strictly a go fast toy. We all rode about 60 miles in the mountains yesterday and I came to realize that I truly dislike this machine. It rides worse than my diesel F350 truck, everything rattles, and it handles like a boat. I expected it to handle a little sloppy due to its size so that's not a huge deal, it rode so rough that my daughter wound up riding 15 miles back to the parking lot with a friend and I put the pioneer back on the trailer and got in with a different friend for the remainder of day. I know I can't blaze down the trails like a rzr but even moving at a moderate speed was miserable, they would stop for a break and be almost done with their drink by the time I caught up. I don't want a sport machine because they are only usable as a toy, I will likely put a plow on this for the winter months and use to to haul around some wood also. Does anyone have any recommendations as far as suspension upgrades? Spending 2k on suspension is a hard pill to swallow but not as hard as taking a several thousand dollar loss on trading in a brand new machine. Sorry for the long post, thanks for any input.

Having come from a Yamaha Rhino 660, my P1K-3-LE drives like Lincoln. I must say it is far more nimble in the woods and will out turn the Rhino as well. Some of the guys I ride with have belt burners and I have no problem what-so-ever keeping up with them. I have hauled two 300 pound pigs with a deer on top of them (about 720 pounds total) several miles back to camp with no issues. I mention the weight because most of the time I have to haul their deer because they can't. It will climb with, go through mud with, and cross water with any of the other non shaft driven machines. The only thing the rzr will do that my Honda won't is run 70+ mph and I ride very few trails that require 70 mph. I truly hope you can find a way to make your base model Pioneer better. Good luck

 

[2Ladiesdad]

Having come from a Yamaha Rhino 660, my P1K-3-LE drives like Lincoln. I must say it is far more nimble in the woods and will out turn the Rhino as well. Some of the guys I ride with have belt burners and I have no problem what-so-ever keeping up with them. I have hauled two 300 pound pigs with a deer on top of them (about 720 pounds total) several miles back to camp with no issues. I mention the weight because most of the time I have to haul their deer because they can't. It will climb with, go through mud with, and cross water with any of the other non shaft driven machines. The only thing the rzr will do that my Honda won't is run 70+ mph and I ride very few trails that require 70 mph. I truly hope you can find a way to make your base model Pioneer better. Good luck

This is the exact reason I bought the pioneer in the first place, I'm going to use mine or more than just to play, I'll hunt with it and haul wood with it quite a bit, and I didn't want a belt driven machine. I have no issue with the power, my biggest issue is with the way it rides, riding on rocky trails it was miserable.

 

[0860silverado]

This may be a dumb idea but here goes... My Polaris Ranger rode like it was on a cloud even when I would hit a giant rut or bump at scary high speeds. This was bone stock suspension. Does anyone know if Polaris shocks would fit on a Pioneer 1000? And would this make a P1K ride like a Ranger? If so, I'd like to upgrade mine too. The bone jarring ride is constantly shaking everything to a pulp and killin' my back!!!

 

[301]

This is the exact reason I bought the pioneer in the first place, I'm going to use mine or more than just to play, I'll hunt with it and haul wood with it quite a bit, and I didn't want a belt driven machine. I have no issue with the power, my biggest issue is with the way it rides, riding on rocky trails it was miserable.

Buy the shocks and a good set of tires and you’re good to go. Every one of these damn things has their own set of quirks and there is no do it all machine. The Pioneer comes close but Honda stopped just short of greatness. They’re all dusty, they’re all hot inside and they all cost too much but you’re $2500 away from having what no RZR owner can buy, a well suspended machine that will haul more than an overpriced cooler.

 

[GPR1500SC]

This may be a dumb idea but here goes... My Polaris Ranger rode like it was on a cloud even when I would hit a giant rut or bump at scary high speeds. This was bone stock suspension. Does anyone know if Polaris shocks would fit on a Pioneer 1000? And would this make a P1K ride like a Ranger? If so, I'd like to upgrade mine too. The bone jarring ride is constantly shaking everything to a pulp and killin' my back!!!

The Ranger's good ride comes from there suspension geometry if you look the rear a arms they are flat when the tire hits a bump the wheel goes straight up.
Look at the Pioneer the a arms angle down the wheels has to go out as the tire goes up there is your rough ride as simple as that, the higher you lift it the more the a arms angle down the rougher they ride lower your Pioneer and flatten the a arms the better they ride.
I had portals on and lower my Pioneer until the a arms where flat and it rode very smooth.

 

[Schmeg]

My alignment was way off from factory setting. It came 3/8” toe out. I set 3/16” toe in. After martlet rubber. I have an LE, so I have the Fox shocks. For a farm buggy, it rides great. I just took my Can Am wheeler out today fora 120 mile ride and beat the hell out of myself. My buggy rides,much better. I’m sure the Elias will Do well. Set your alignment, change out for descent rubber, you should be much happier. Yes, it’s painful to spend more.

 

[GPR1500SC]

Reflash ECU? Is there a thread on this?

there is no thread dedicated to tuning I had Zachery Morris tune mine and haven't let him dial it in because I like doing things myself that way I know how to fix it.
you can get a canned tune or do some data logs and get it dial in for your particular machine whitch is what I would do, there is alot of torque management wrote into Honda ECU that can be removed to make them more responsive.
I have met Zach and his wife and family rode with him on two different occasions down at Wolf Pen

 

[P1000_DLux]

I live in Washington but I have visited Virginia several times and the Terrain is much more harsh here in Washington and the Pioneer 1000-5 is a great machine. (Same suspension as yours) That said its not for everyone, my brother is considering buying a SxS and he has driven my 2020 Pioneer 1000-5 Deluxe. He doesn't like it. I love the thing. The deal is, especially if you are riding with people who all have sport machines you are never going to keep up. The power and suspension of the sport machines cannot be rivaled. Just like my brother will do, you should have opened that pocket book much bigger...almost double in most cases to go from a pioneer base to a tricked out turbo machine with long travel suspension. Just get comfortable with your ride and don't try keeping up with the crowd of sport guys... here is the silver lining....

They spent between 25K-32K depending on which one of the above listed SxS they bought and they will most likely jettison those rigs into trees or launch them off dunes they shouldn't have and you will still be enjoying the ride. Trust me some of the other guys I know are constantly wrecking their sport rides because they think they are flying tanks built to handle anything they can throw at it and are surprised when they break s*** constantly.

 

[P1000_DLux]

Side note though, your dealership could have definitely not setup the machine correctly and if thats the case it could be the issue, I will tell you that I have my machine full almost all the time and can rally the trails pretty good including the whoops and I don't have any complaints about the suspension.

 

[2Ladiesdad]

I live in Washington but I have visited Virginia several times and the Terrain is much more harsh here in Washington and the Pioneer 1000-5 is a great machine. (Same suspension as yours) That said its not for everyone, my brother is considering buying a SxS and he has driven my 2020 Pioneer 1000-5 Deluxe. He doesn't like it. I love the thing. The deal is, especially if you are riding with people who all have sport machines you are never going to keep up. The power and suspension of the sport machines cannot be rivaled. Just like my brother will do, you should have opened that pocket book much bigger...almost double in most cases to go from a pioneer base to a tricked out turbo machine with long travel suspension. Just get comfortable with your ride and don't try keeping up with the crowd of sport guys... here is the silver lining....

They spent between 25K-32K depending on which one of the above listed SxS they bought and they will most likely jettison those rigs into trees or launch them off dunes they shouldn't have and you will still be enjoying the ride. Trust me some of the other guys I know are constantly wrecking their sport rides because they think they are flying tanks built to handle anything they can throw at it and are surprised when they break s*** constantly.

Like I said I'm not trying to treat it like a sport machine, I know it's not and I didn't purchase it to be one. The stock suspension is rough, too rough to the point it gave me a headache riding 1/2 as fast as I felt I should have been able to go over some moderately rocky trails. At low speeds its fine at 20 mph it might as we have had steel bars in place of shocks. As far as opening my check book between all my friends (rzr 900s, rzr 1000xp premium, can-am x3 turbo and a talon) none of them spent over the 20K mark. It wasn't about the money spent I bought the machine I wanted because I'm not going to use it just as a go fast machine, I'm going to use it to work around the house with and use it hunting as well as some fun time riding. I could have picked up an rzr 1000 4 seater for about $1000 more than I spent on my pioneer, it was sitting right beside my pioneer. I didn't and don't want the rzr because it is useless to me for anything but having a good time.

 

[Russ989]

Like I said I'm not trying to treat it like a sport machine, I know it's not and I didn't purchase it to be one. The stock suspension is rough, too rough to the point it gave me a headache riding 1/2 as fast as I felt I should have been able to go over some moderately rocky trails. At low speeds its fine at 20 mph it might as we have had steel bars in place of shocks. As far as opening my check book between all my friends (rzr 900s, rzr 1000xp premium, can-am x3 turbo and a talon) none of them spent over the 20K mark. It wasn't about the money spent I bought the machine I wanted because I'm not going to use it just as a go fast machine, I'm going to use it to work around the house with and use it hunting as well as some fun time riding. I could have picked up an rzr 1000 4 seater for about $1000 more than I spent on my pioneer, it was sitting right beside my pioneer. I didn't and don't want the rzr because it is useless to me for anything but having a good time.

You’re riding on 27” tires, they don’t soak up much terrain. I noticed a huge difference after going to 30s.

 

[Isaiah]

some bigger tires will help it

You’re riding on 27” tires, they don’t soak up much terrain. I noticed a huge difference after going to 30s.

Me too.

 

[74UAFJ]

You’re riding on 27” tires, they don’t soak up much terrain. I noticed a huge difference after going to 30s.

Yep. I put some 29s on and it made a big difference with ride, and off road prowess...

 

[0860silverado]

The Ranger's good ride comes from there suspension geometry if you look the rear a arms they are flat when the tire hits a bump the wheel goes straight up.
Look at the Pioneer the a arms angle down the wheels has to go out as the tire goes up there is your rough ride as simple as that, the higher you lift it the more the a arms angle down the rougher they ride lower your Pioneer and flatten the a arms the better they ride.
I had portals on and lower my Pioneer until the a arms where flat and it rode very smooth.

I totally understand. Same exact reason my Silverado 2500 with a set of 2" front leveling torsion bar keys changed the ride from "firm" to "bone jarring"!!! Thanks!

 

[2Ladiesdad]

some bigger tires will help it


Me too.

I've been looking into larger tires, but I really don't want to make this machine any taller than it already is.

 

[Isaiah]

I've been looking into larger tires, but I really don't want to make this machine any taller than it already is.

Are you worried about it being top heavy ?