P1000 Polaris...

[Plongson]

I was in town at the hardware store today and walked next door to the Polaris dealer, just curious and window shopping. Man, they have some nice machines. Great showroom appeal and they sure look impressive. BIG wheels and even BIGGER machines. Pretty much gone are the little UTV's, they may as well be SCORE race vehicles. High horsepower and high dollar too.

To tell the truth, as nice as they appear, I got home and ripped around in my P1K and have no regrets. I REALLY like this Pioneer. Now if my name was Bill Gates, I'd have two or three different machines, but looking at the Polaris lineup, I am right back to my original choice... The P1K5 has back seats, a place for my three dogs and enough room to haul camping gear for a couple of nights under the stars, plus the Pioneer fits in our toy hauler.

 

[Admin]

 

[Mudwing]

Plus, it says Honda on it!

 

[rkwerner]

I was out on the trail and met up with two individuals with top of the line Polaris RZR 1000 Turbos (~$25,000 each). While I know I wouldn't have been able to hang with them on the trail one had a belt blow up which damaged the aluminum cover (~30 hours on it). The other was on his third machine. He only has a Polaris because he likes his dealer. He told the regional rep when he was picking his up from the shop again that this will be his last. He plans to buy a Can Am next.

 

[Smitty335]

I was in town at the hardware store today and walked next door to the Polaris dealer, just curious and window shopping. Man, they have some nice machines. Great showroom appeal and they sure look impressive. BIG wheels and even BIGGER machines. Pretty much gone are the little UTV's, they may as well be SCORE race vehicles. High horsepower and high dollar too.

To tell the truth, as nice as they appear, I got home and ripped around in my P1K and have no regrets. I REALLY like this Pioneer. Now if my name was Bill Gates, I'd have two or three different machines, but looking at the Polaris lineup, I am right back to my original choice... The P1K5 has back seats, a place for my three dogs and enough room to haul camping gear for a couple of nights under the stars, plus the Pioneer fits in our toy hauler.

Hey I really like my Honda, wish they would fix the heat issue though! Needs a real skid plate and shocks, got both!

 

[elkguide]

Ridden with both the Polaris and Can Am and while both seem to be nice, I'm sticking with my Pioneer.

 

[dilligaff82]

I was out on the trail and met up with two individuals with top of the line Polaris RZR 1000 Turbos (~$25,000 each). While I know I wouldn't have been able to hang with them on the trail one had a belt blow up which damaged the aluminum cover (~30 hours on it). The other was on his third machine. He only has a Polaris because he likes his dealer. He told the regional rep when he was picking his up from the shop again that this will be his last. He plans to buy a Can Am next.

Blowing a belt that fast is more than likely the result of abuse or misuse due to inexperience (running in high when it should be in low)

 

[Plongson]

Can you imagine the stress on a belt drive machine with 168 frigg'n HP and 114 lb/tq? If the wheels don't wann'a turn, something has to give...the belt??

Even their naturally aspirated 1 liter has 100HP. What happened to our Honda's barely squeaking out 72HP, and is there much more in there hiding waiting to be tapped?

Maybe Honda has the P1K de-tuned because they know the limits of this clutch design...if so,what a shame.

 

[BeerMonkey]

Blowing a belt that fast is more than likely the result of abuse or misuse due to inexperience (running in high when it should be in low)

Thats exactly what i was thinking. probably never broke the belt in and was hammering on it constantly. Dont get me wrong Polaris has A LOT of issues that should have never happened, but i think the majority of all the "problems" that rzr owner have come from low talent lights or just not being smart.

 

[rkwerner]

Blowing a belt that fast is more than likely the result of abuse or misuse due to inexperience (running in high when it should be in low)

Can you imagine the stress on a belt drive machine with 168 frigg'n HP and 114 lb/tq? If the wheels don't wann'a turn, something has to give...the belt??

Even their naturally aspirated 1 liter has 100HP. What happened to our Honda's barely squeaking out 72HP, and is there much more in there hiding waiting to be tapped?

Maybe Honda has the P1K de-tuned because they know the limits of this clutch design...if so,what a shame.

Thats exactly what i was thinking. probably never broke the belt in and was hammering on it constantly. Dont get me wrong Polaris has A LOT of issues that should have never happened, but i think the majority of all the "problems" that rzr owner have come from low talent lights or just not being smart.

I would say the problem most likely had to do with improper break-in (I don't know what is required) but based on the way they were riding I highly doubt the machine had an issue of being in high when it should have been in low. They were making the trip from Wisconsin to the Tip of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan back to Wisconsin. When the belt blew he was doing 70 on a railroad grade. The force of the belt breaking broke pieces off the aluminum belt cover. The other RZR had had the same issue and the cover had been welded back together after his belt had blown. My concern is that the belt is considered a wear part, the aluminum cover should not be damaged by the failure of a wear part.

As far as more power the engine and transmission in the P1K is the same platform as the Africa Twin motorcycle which is rated at 93.9 HP so there is more power to tap. That is part of the reasoning for the rumored Honda Talon Sport. All manufactures do the same thing, one of my sources at Polaris told me they detuned the RZR 570 engine when it came out because they were selling the RZR 800 at the same time and the newer, more efficient, and lighter 570 was faster.

Pushing the edge of engineering design is fun... but I like to not be the one paying repair bills.

 

[BeerMonkey]

I would say the problem most likely had to do with improper break-in (I don't know what is required) but based on the way they were riding I highly doubt the machine had an issue of being in high when it should have been in low. They were making the trip from Wisconsin to the Tip of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan back to Wisconsin. When the belt blew he was doing 70 on a railroad grade. The force of the belt breaking broke pieces off the aluminum belt cover. The other RZR had had the same issue and the cover had been welded back together after his belt had blown. My concern is that the belt is considered a wear part, the aluminum cover should not be damaged by the failure of a wear part.

As far as more power the engine and transmission in the P1K is the same platform as the Africa Twin motorcycle which is rated at 93.9 HP so there is more power to tap. That is part of the reasoning for the rumored Honda Talon Sport. All manufactures do the same thing, one of my sources at Polaris told me they detuned the RZR 570 engine when it came out because they were selling the RZR 800 at the same time and the newer, more efficient, and lighter 570 was faster.

Pushing the edge of engineering design is fun... but I like to not be the one paying repair bills.

The belt break in is just heat cycling the belt. if you dont cycle it you will decrease the life of the belt and or glaze it. Are you sure his belt cover is aluminum? factory should be a plastic cover. these belts are like a tire with Kevlar belts etc in them they typically dont just snap like a rubber band its more of a shred. just sounds like he had some other kind of issues going on.

I am really surprised that there is not more tuning available to the pioneer world, especially with other models having the more powerful layout.

 

[rkwerner]

The belt break in is just heat cycling the belt. if you dont cycle it you will decrease the life of the belt and or glaze it. Are you sure his belt cover is aluminum? factory should be a plastic cover. these belts are like a tire with Kevlar belts etc in them they typically dont just snap like a rubber band its more of a shred. just sounds like he had some other kind of issues going on.

I am really surprised that there is not more tuning available to the pioneer world, especially with other models having the more powerful layout.

Hmm. I didn't actually see the damage but the belt definitely broke aluminum. The owner was a pipe fitter and had welded the other guys rig when it broke in the same manner. He was pissed because he thought he thought he had lost pieces but he found them before he got back on the trail.

 

[Plongson]

IS THERE ANY AFTERMARKET TUNING for the P1K's??
Hondatech??

 

[Smitty335]

Hmm. I didn't actually see the damage but the belt definitely broke aluminum. The owner was a pipe fitter and had welded the other guys rig when it broke in the same manner. He was pissed because he thought he thought he had lost pieces but he found them before he got back on the trail.

Hugh? How did he get back on the trail with busted belt? Did he have an extra belt?

 

[CumminsPusher]

IS THERE ANY AFTERMARKET TUNING for the P1K's??
Hondatech??

You can get a engine programmer and an exhaust system. Yields a few hp. I don't see the aftermarket world opening up too much for a non sport machine. If Honda offers this motor in a sport version things will swap over to a degree

 

[lee]

You can get a engine programmer and an exhaust system. Yields a few hp. I don't see the aftermarket world opening up too much for a non sport machine. If Honda offers this motor in a sport version things will swap over to a degree

I thought I saw something where some one was swapping in a few Africa Twin parts to improve performance.
I got the impression it is not a direct swap so waiting for the sport SxS might be easier (if your really, really patient).

 

[ohanacreek]

I thought I saw something where some one was swapping in a few Africa Twin parts to improve performance.
I got the impression it is not a direct swap so waiting for the sport SxS might be easier (if your really, really patient).

If I were a betting man, I wager the 1000 will be in the sport when they release the Kraken. I'm just hoping it also has a turbo and a sport clutch that happens to be interchangeable with the Pioneer.

 

[CumminsPusher]

I thought I saw something where some one was swapping in a few Africa Twin parts to improve performance.
I got the impression it is not a direct swap so waiting for the sport SxS might be easier (if your really, really patient).

A couple guys are but it's not a simple cam swap unfortunately. Personally I think the power delivery is set up different because of bike hp/tq and how it's laid down may be different so I guess we'll see. Couple smart minds at work on this though!
I can't possibly imagine a ton more hp to those clutches, s*** would be always blue inside even the good ones

 

[Smitty335]

A couple guys are but it's not a simple cam swap unfortunately. Personally I think the power delivery is set up different because of bike so I guess we'll see. Couple smart minds st work.
I can't possibly imagine a ton more hp to those clutches, s*** would be always blue inside even the good ones

And chasis has limitations, big time!

 

[ohanacreek]

And chasis has limitations, big time!

It is a utility machine.

 

[Smitty335]

If Honda is going to get into this market, the chasis is going to be more like the RZR 1000. Swing arms in the rear, beefy front a arms and good shocks, be just like Honda to come out with a sport with self leveling shocks, HA!