The Green Goat
LGBTQ Compliance Officer -Lotta gays in this place
Lifetime Member
Supporting Member
Welcome to the official build thread for The Green Goat. It's been a long haul, but we're finally here.
-Backstory:
The story of how I ended up with a P52 is kind of ironic. I started off having no desire to own one; didn't even know what they were. I originally inherited a MY2000 Honda Rancher from my stepfather. His son, my stepbrother, was the original owner of it. It had clearly lived a life of misery, being beaten on and generally neglected by my stepbro in his younger years. About 6 year ago my stepfather somehow acquired it back. It sat in a barn, rarely seeing the light of day, and never worked when my stepfather went to use it; we chalked it up to lot rot. So, he pawned it off on me since I had recently purchased a house and could/would use it frequently for yardwork and such. Little did I know, his problems with it not running would become my problems with it not running.
I made several trips over the next couple years to the local powersports shop. They'd charge us $500 here, $800 there, claiming they had 'fixed' it. The sumb**** never did run right. On one beautiful fall day, I finally had enough of its shenanigans. I was under a time crunch to overseed my yard and that MFer wouldn't start....again. Enough was enough. I was ready to set it on fire.
I pawned it back on my stepfather and told him I was done with it; I'm going to buy something new and reliable. He sold it, not running, for $1000 to one of his employees. I was shocked. Never would I have thought that thing would bring in even $250 in its current condition. Take the money and run!!!
So the search was on for a replacement. I'm not particularly brand loyal, but I did have several Yamaha and Kawasaki dirtbikes and ATVs when I was a kid, so I started my search there. I liked the Kodiak 450s. Kawasaki had nothing I was impressed with. I also looked at Rancher and Foreman, because, why not? On a whim, I started wondering if a UTV could fit my criteria. I knew a little about side by sides years ago when I was younger and into keeping up with this stuff, around the time the Yamaha Rhinos were about the only thing out there. I didn't want something 'big' since I would mostly be using it around the yard. I also had the thought that if I was going to get something, I might also get back into riding just for the enjoyment of it; something I had put aside as the adult years progressed and life got in the way.
I used to frequent Wayne National Forest in my younger days and knew that it had a 50" width restriction. So if I was going to also throw UTVs into the mix, it had to be on the smaller side. I did as most people do and looked at Polaris. Their stuff was flashy, but I was never impressed with their reliability from my numerous encounters with them year ago. In September 2020, I stumbled upon the Pioneers on Hondas website, and the P5. I liked it! What a neat little machine! Small, nimble, geared low for work, (well-maintained) Honda reliability, metal gears, no belt, and an odd little rack on the back. I was sold. I wanted one.
From there, I did as I always do; I researched everything I could. I wore Google out for the next month. I came across this site and never left. What a wealth of information! It was also somewhat poor timing on my part, because I also came to find out that a new, updated model was on the way. One whose details were being kept secret for now. Fast forward a couple months of agonizing waiting and it was finally revealed. An updated version was here, and it came with a bed. Perfect!
Fast forward again >>> more waiting. When were these things coming out? January? Nope. February? Maybe. I put a deposit on one from a dealer that didn't sound very confident on getting one anytime this Spring. Great, another missed yardwork season. I had to have green, as I also planned on using it for hunting and didn't want it to stick out like a sore thumb in the woods. Turns out, green seemed to be the least produced color. Just my luck.
So, I waited some more. I called every dealer in Ohio every two weeks. I checked ATVtrader at least 2-3 times every day just hoping for something new to pop up. If I wanted a red, blue, or camo, I could have had one pretty quickly. I noticed a green one listed in Western Pennsylvania but figured its probably already sold. I was super busy with work and there was no way I would have time to go get it, even if it wasn't already sold. I had a free day from work coming on a Saturday. I decided to call this dealer on Friday, just to see. To my astonishment, it wasn't sold. Sweet Jesus, don't sell it, its mine and I'll be there tomorrow.
Drove almost 4hr one way, got there 15min before they closed, signed the paperwork that was already ready for me, handed them $11,200, and loaded it onto the trailer. Freaking, Finally!!! 6 months after discovering and perseverating over the little P5, I had one of my own.
-Backstory:
The story of how I ended up with a P52 is kind of ironic. I started off having no desire to own one; didn't even know what they were. I originally inherited a MY2000 Honda Rancher from my stepfather. His son, my stepbrother, was the original owner of it. It had clearly lived a life of misery, being beaten on and generally neglected by my stepbro in his younger years. About 6 year ago my stepfather somehow acquired it back. It sat in a barn, rarely seeing the light of day, and never worked when my stepfather went to use it; we chalked it up to lot rot. So, he pawned it off on me since I had recently purchased a house and could/would use it frequently for yardwork and such. Little did I know, his problems with it not running would become my problems with it not running.
I made several trips over the next couple years to the local powersports shop. They'd charge us $500 here, $800 there, claiming they had 'fixed' it. The sumb**** never did run right. On one beautiful fall day, I finally had enough of its shenanigans. I was under a time crunch to overseed my yard and that MFer wouldn't start....again. Enough was enough. I was ready to set it on fire.
I pawned it back on my stepfather and told him I was done with it; I'm going to buy something new and reliable. He sold it, not running, for $1000 to one of his employees. I was shocked. Never would I have thought that thing would bring in even $250 in its current condition. Take the money and run!!!
So the search was on for a replacement. I'm not particularly brand loyal, but I did have several Yamaha and Kawasaki dirtbikes and ATVs when I was a kid, so I started my search there. I liked the Kodiak 450s. Kawasaki had nothing I was impressed with. I also looked at Rancher and Foreman, because, why not? On a whim, I started wondering if a UTV could fit my criteria. I knew a little about side by sides years ago when I was younger and into keeping up with this stuff, around the time the Yamaha Rhinos were about the only thing out there. I didn't want something 'big' since I would mostly be using it around the yard. I also had the thought that if I was going to get something, I might also get back into riding just for the enjoyment of it; something I had put aside as the adult years progressed and life got in the way.
I used to frequent Wayne National Forest in my younger days and knew that it had a 50" width restriction. So if I was going to also throw UTVs into the mix, it had to be on the smaller side. I did as most people do and looked at Polaris. Their stuff was flashy, but I was never impressed with their reliability from my numerous encounters with them year ago. In September 2020, I stumbled upon the Pioneers on Hondas website, and the P5. I liked it! What a neat little machine! Small, nimble, geared low for work, (well-maintained) Honda reliability, metal gears, no belt, and an odd little rack on the back. I was sold. I wanted one.
From there, I did as I always do; I researched everything I could. I wore Google out for the next month. I came across this site and never left. What a wealth of information! It was also somewhat poor timing on my part, because I also came to find out that a new, updated model was on the way. One whose details were being kept secret for now. Fast forward a couple months of agonizing waiting and it was finally revealed. An updated version was here, and it came with a bed. Perfect!
Fast forward again >>> more waiting. When were these things coming out? January? Nope. February? Maybe. I put a deposit on one from a dealer that didn't sound very confident on getting one anytime this Spring. Great, another missed yardwork season. I had to have green, as I also planned on using it for hunting and didn't want it to stick out like a sore thumb in the woods. Turns out, green seemed to be the least produced color. Just my luck.
So, I waited some more. I called every dealer in Ohio every two weeks. I checked ATVtrader at least 2-3 times every day just hoping for something new to pop up. If I wanted a red, blue, or camo, I could have had one pretty quickly. I noticed a green one listed in Western Pennsylvania but figured its probably already sold. I was super busy with work and there was no way I would have time to go get it, even if it wasn't already sold. I had a free day from work coming on a Saturday. I decided to call this dealer on Friday, just to see. To my astonishment, it wasn't sold. Sweet Jesus, don't sell it, its mine and I'll be there tomorrow.
Drove almost 4hr one way, got there 15min before they closed, signed the paperwork that was already ready for me, handed them $11,200, and loaded it onto the trailer. Freaking, Finally!!! 6 months after discovering and perseverating over the little P5, I had one of my own.
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