P1000 Odd clunking

[MontanaBighorn]

After nearly two months of ownership, I finally got to take my P1000-5D off road yesterday. I have some praise and I have some criticisms, but ultimately I had a really great day.

Pros:
Effortless climbing. This dang thing climbs like a goat.
Deceivingly nimble. This does not handle like an 1,800# machine! I bet it would be outstanding on good reservoir shocks.
Power band very good. I rarely found myself wanting more power.
Stable footprint. Off camber riding was almost dangerously deceptive.

Cons:
I still prefer a good (anybody except Polaris) CVT.
Weird clunk in the bed when riding over bumps. Sounds like a worn dump latch or something, but it isn't the bed moving. Drove me nuts trying to find it and I never did.
The Bighorn 2.0s absolutely suck if you ride within 50' of a cactus. I now have several leaking tires.
The bench seat provides zero lateral support in fast switch-backs; I felt like I was sliding all over.
Inadequate passenger grab handles.

This Honda is certainly the most refined machine that I've ever owned and I give Honda a truckload of credit for designing it, but I'm going to need a little more time in the saddle before I'm able to fully determine if I'm going to leave my Rhino for it. Despite enjoying it fully yesterday, if I were heading out to Moab tomorrow I would (at least at this point) be more likely to take my Rhino.

...to be continued.

 

[Admin]

 

[Crow_Hunter]

View attachment 16076
After nearly two months of ownership, I finally got to take my P1000-5D off road yesterday. I have some praise and I have some criticisms, but ultimately I had a really great day.

Pros:
Effortless climbing. This dang thing climbs like a goat.
Deceivingly nimble. This does not handle like an 1,800# machine! I bet it would be outstanding on good reservoir shocks.
Power band very good. I rarely found myself wanting more power.
Stable footprint. Off camber riding was almost dangerously deceptive.

Cons:
I still prefer a good (anybody except Polaris) CVT.
Weird clunk in the bed when riding over bumps. Sounds like a worn dump latch or something, but it isn't the bed moving. Drove me nuts trying to find it and I never did.
The Bighorn 2.0s absolutely suck if you ride within 50' of a cactus. I now have several leaking tires.
The bench seat provides zero lateral support in fast switch-backs; I felt like I was sliding all over.
Inadequate passenger grab handles.

This Honda is certainly the most refined machine that I've ever owned and I give Honda a truckload of credit for designing it, but I'm going to need a little more time in the saddle before I'm able to fully determine if I'm going to leave my Rhino for it. Despite enjoying it fully yesterday, if I were heading out to Moab tomorrow I would (at least at this point) be more likely to take my Rhino.

...to be continued.

Please post more about your experience. Particularly related to the CVT versus DCT. I am currently trying feverishly to decide between a the P1000 and a Yamaha Wolverine. I think I would like the DCT transmission as I love driving around on my wife's Honda Recon with electric shift. However, my only experience with CVTs was with my brother's 2008 RZR 800 and his Sportsman 500 (in which I saw my first smoked belt trying to push over a small sapling going uphill in High Range while my Rincon just went over it. )

 

[MontanaBighorn]

my only experience with CVTs was with my brother's 2008 RZR 800 and his Sportsman 500 (in which I saw my first smoked belt trying to push over a small sapling going uphill in High Range while my Rincon just went over it. )

The Polaris CVT is very different from all others in that it goes limp at idle. This causes the belt to snatch abruptly every time the engine speed increases from idle and is very hard on belts. It also eliminates any real engine braking. Despite that they were first, I don't even consider the Polaris a CVT, I call it a PVT (Polaris Variable Transmission). The CVT on the Wolverine is an entirely different beast.

That said, the Honda and the Wolverine aren't comparable machines at all because they are designed for different purposes. The Wolverine has essentially no bed and what it does have doesn't dump. If your intended use is strictly a recreational trail machine I would probably buy the Wolverine. If you intend on doing any work, I would probably buy the Honda 3 seater. A much more appropriate comparison would be the Honda and the Viking instead of the Wolverine.

My preference for CVT is just that; my preference. I'm still trying to determine if the CVT is actually superior to the DCT or if I prefer it because that's what I'm used to owning. I'll most certainly continue to update as my opinion grows/changes from more data after having more time in the saddle.

 

[Crow_Hunter]

The Polaris CVT is very different from all others in that it goes limp at idle. This causes the belt to snatch abruptly every time the engine speed increases from idle and is very hard on belts. It also eliminates any real engine braking. Despite that they were first, I don't even consider the Polaris a CVT, I call it a PVT (Polaris Variable Transmission). The CVT on the Wolverine is an entirely different beast.

That said, the Honda and the Wolverine aren't comparable machines at all because they are designed for different purposes. The Wolverine has essentially no bed and what it does have doesn't dump. If your intended use is strictly a recreational trail machine I would probably buy the Wolverine. If you intend on doing any work, I would probably buy the Honda 3 seater. A much more appropriate comparison would be the Honda and the Viking instead of the Wolverine.

My preference for CVT is just that; my preference. I'm still trying to determine if the CVT is actually superior to the DCT or if I prefer it because that's what I'm used to owning. I'll most certainly continue to update as my opinion grows/changes from more data after having more time in the saddle.

Having a dump bed would be a nice feature but not a requirement. (Actually reading on another thread, the P1000 isn't actually what I would call a dump bed ) I have a dump trailer/cart for loose stuff. The bed would be for hauling things that I really don't care if I dump or not, like sticks and beer bottles that jerks throw in my yard or hauling the dogs or a chainsaw or stuff like that.

Now I wouldn't turn down a dump bed, for sure. But for my uses, the dump feature would be used very seldom. My utility function would mostly be parking on a hill, with the engine running, getting out, grabbing an armload of sticks, putting them into the bed and moving up to the next pile of sticks that fall off the big hickory tree/big pin oak and then taking them to the brush pile and throwing them in.

I am concerned about the DCT transmission in this type of environment.

ETA: But don't let me derail your thread. I am really interested to hear more about your experiences, particularly with the DCT vs CVT.

 

[amc019]

The Yamaha CVT Clutch system is far superior than any other CVT system in my opinion, but you won't find a comparable machine to the Pioneer from Yamaha. The Wolverine is underpowered as is the Viking, and the additional HP is worth the sacrifice of no CVT in my opinion. You'll learn to enjoy it I think.