P1000 Trailering with Honda soft upper doors

X50

X50

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I don't know the dealer in Charleston. Do you recommend them? If so, please elaborate.
I don't have any experience with them either. I was curious if you had a reason to avoid them.

I had to go to Charleston, S.C. to get our P1K-5 SE as no one closer had one on order.

The owner of the Charleston, WV store owns a few hundred acres for hunting very close to our farm. I don't know him personally, but some neighbors are good friends with him.
 
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HBarlow

HBarlow

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I would expect that any franchised dealer would have at least a competent service department . . . until I learned better. I All franchised dealers are not competent. I know from first-hand experience that some powersports dealers employ and fail to train and supervise incompetent techs.

My admittedly limited experience with current young 20 something year old American males is they are all supremely confident of their own knowledge and skill - even when they know nothing.

If I had not already established a good relationship with Lemon & Barnett Lemon & Barrett's Powersports - New & Used Powersports Vehicles Sales, Service, and Parts in Mineral Wells, WV, near Davisville and Rockport I would probably try the Charleston dealer at least once.

I wish I could use my nearby dealer. It would be a great convenience to have a capable and friendly dealership nearby that I could simply drive my buggy to for service, installation, or Honda parts.
 
Alaska350

Alaska350

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Update: I made it about 5 miles down the highway before the passenger side window blew out of the door groove and I had to pull over to remove the top half's.

Even if it didn't blow out of the frame groove I would have still pulled over and removed them because the clear plastic window part was under pressure the entire time since the pushed out about 4-5 inches. I tried it with my sliding rear window open half way and then all the way and it still looked like it was stretching the clear window parts before the passenger side blow out of the frame.

Not a big deal because it only takes like 30 seconds for each side but still would have been nice to leave them on. Might just buy the Honda hard doors next winter when I do the real heater install.
 
HBarlow

HBarlow

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I'm surprised by your experience. My P1K has made two round trips to my dealer om my trailer and one one-way trip when the dealer delivered it on an open trailer for a total of 750 miles at highway speeds of approximately 60 - 65 mph without any issues.

You didn't state how fast you were towing. That's a critical bit of information.

I thought about this while I was out driving my buggy to town on a two lane highway. I was driving with traffic at 40 - 45 mph. No billowing of my door uppers!

The buggies will run 65 mph which is also the maximum speed rating of the cheap, Chicom "Willpop" tires that are factory installed on probably 100% of utility trailers sold in the USA

I've only run mine up to 65 a couple of times but routinely drive it at 40 - 50 mph and never see any issues with my fabric upper doors.

I wonder if your windshield and back cab panel are actually Honda brand? Honda items will fit tightly up against the roof with thick rubber gaskets that seal.
 
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Alaska350

Alaska350

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I'm surprised by your experience. My P1K has made two round trips to my dealer om my trailer and one one-way trip when the dealer delivered it on an open trailer for a total of 750 miles at highway speeds of approximately 60 - 65 mph without any issues.

You didn't state how fast you were towing. That's a critical bit of information.

I thought about this while I was out driving my buggy to town on a two lane highway. I was driving with traffic at 40 - 45 mph. No billowing of my door uppers!

The buggies will run 65 mph which is also the maximum speed rating of the cheap, Chicom "Willpop" tires that are factory installed on probably 100% of utility trailers sold in the USA

I've only run mine up to 65 a couple of times but routinely drive it at 40 - 50 mph and never see any issues with my fabric upper doors.

I wonder if your windshield and back cab panel are actually Honda brand? Honda items will fit tightly up against the roof with thick rubber gaskets that seal.
I was towing it on my trailer at 65 mph with my Tahoe. I do have the door frame groove clip things installed backwards because my doors didn't seem to want to shut easily so I just thought the instructions were backwards but apparently not judging by other guys who installed them the right way. I will for sure flip these around but still will remove the upper doors when towing to avoid the any stretching of the clear plastic or panel. They clearly had a lot of positive pressure inside them judging by how they puffed up......maybe it was the way the wind came off a SUV verses a truck who knows but for the 600 bucks they cost its just easier to spend the 30 seconds to remove them instead of damaging them for now. I did try this will my rear sliding window closed, half open, and full open without any change. I do plan on taking them to a shop to have the zippers lowered all the way down so my window can unzip all the way so I can actually use the button strap.....right now I cant.

First pic is above user with clip installed the right way.
Second pic show how far the window unzips making the button strap useless.
Third pic shows how the zipper doesnt go all the way down which I will have modified so it does.

20211112 182113 IMG 9076 IMG 9077
 
HBarlow

HBarlow

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You didn't address the air flow part of the equation.

Do your windshield and cab back panel seal against the underside of the top?

As can be seen in your photo #1, the Honda roof is contoured for strength. The Honda windshield and cab back are designed with matching contours to their top edge and have a heavy rubber gasket on the edge to fit and seal against the roof.

The seal is not perfect but if the trop, windshield, and back panel are properly installed and pushed up tightly against the top they seal pretty well.

We tow the Honda behind my wfie's JEEP Grand Cherokee suv so air flow should be similar.
 
SH21

SH21

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Following this since I'll be installing, and hopefully trailering, the upper doors soon.

Has anyone unzipped and rolled the windows down during trailering? Made any difference?
 
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Alaska350

Alaska350

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You didn't address the air flow part of the equation.

Do your windshield and cab back panel seal against the underside of the top?

As can be seen in your photo #1, the Honda roof is contoured for strength. The Honda windshield and cab back are designed with matching contours to their top edge and have a heavy rubber gasket on the edge to fit and seal against the roof.

The seal is not perfect but if the trop, windshield, and back panel are properly installed and pushed up tightly against the top they seal pretty well.

We tow the Honda behind my wfie's JEEP Grand Cherokee suv so air flow should be similar.
I for sure made sure the back was in place correctly since it wasnt was not a solid seal piece like the front is so it was more concerning. I will check the front seal again this weekend but it seemed like it sealed up nice. I still need to seal up the dash openings better as well so they may be contributing to the positive air pressure at highways speeds. Thanks for the tip.
 
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Alaska350

Alaska350

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Following this since I'll be installing, and hopefully trailering, the upper doors soon.

Has anyone unzipped and rolled the windows down during trailering? Made any difference?
If you check my pics you can see my window does unzip but not all the way down so there is no way for me to use the securing button strap. Is yours like this?? I plan on have the zipper fixed so it zips all the way down or modify it so the clear part is 100% removable via a new zipper system that goes all the way around…..just need to check out a couple sewing shops.
 
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HBarlow

HBarlow

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I don't think we can make the cabs airtight, they weren't designed that way, but we can reduce air infiltration.
 
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tjoreo

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If you check my pics you can see my window does unzip but not all the way down so there is no way for me to use the securing button strap. Is yours like this?? I plan on have the zipper fixed so it zips all the way down or modify it so the clear part is 100% removable via a new zipper system that goes all the way around…..just need to check out a couple sewing shops.
It's kind of tight but if you open up the window and roll it pretty tight, the securing strap will attach to the button on the outside door. They sure could have made them another inch or to longer. On a side not when not in use I've learned to snap the button on the inside because when I had the window opened, I usually pulled it to the inside, but found I was getting a mark on the window where the male snap was rubbing. As far as the front upper door catch, a friend of mine was having trouble with his shutting, so we turned the bracket to the outside a little bit to ease with the door shutting. We regularly trailer ours forward with the doors on and see a little billowing but so far so good. We have the back doors also for the kids, but I get a little nervous about them opening because they lift up, so I usually attach a bungee cord between the two of them to make sure they stay shut.
 
Alaska350

Alaska350

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It's kind of tight but if you open up the window and roll it pretty tight, the securing strap will attach to the button on the outside door. They sure could have made them another inch or to longer. On a side not when not in use I've learned to snap the button on the inside because when I had the window opened, I usually pulled it to the inside, but found a was getting a mark on the window where the male snap was rubbing. As far as the front upper door catch, a friend of mine was having trouble with his shutting, so we turned the bracket to the outside a little bit to easy with the door shutting. We regularly trailer ours forward with the doors on and see a little billowing but so far so good. We have the back doors also for the kids, but I get a little nervous about them opening because they lift up, so I usually attach a bungee cord between the two of them to make sure they stay shut.
yeah I plan on flipping the clips and adjusting out as you mentioned but still will have the window zipper modified to either zip all the way down or to the point where its removable.
 
SH21

SH21

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If you check my pics you can see my window does unzip but not all the way down so there is no way for me to use the securing button strap. Is yours like this?? I plan on have the zipper fixed so it zips all the way down or modify it so the clear part is 100% removable via a new zipper system that goes all the way around…..just need to check out a couple sewing shops.
Mine are still in the box, so not sure at this point. I will be disappointed if mine match yours.

Does anyone else have the same issue as Alaska350?

I'm wondering if opening the upper door windows and possibly the window on my soft mid panel during trailering would allow the wind to "escape" rather than bow out the windows.
 
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Paul_R

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Dec 20, 2018
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Has anyone ever trailered with these still in place without damaging them? Max speed will be 65mph. I know the Honda soft upper doors have a tag saying not to because damage “could” occur but just wanted to see what the forum has to say. I have the Honda front glass windshield and the Honda hard rear panel with the sliding window if that matters. Thanks!
Just unzip the windows and roll them up. 30 seconds each and no worries.
 
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tcmann1961

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Feb 8, 2021
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Has anyone ever trailered with these still in place without damaging them? Max speed will be 65mph. I know the Honda soft upper doors have a tag saying not to because damage “could” occur but just wanted to see what the forum has to say. I have the Honda front glass windshield and the Honda hard rear panel with the sliding window if that matters. Thanks!
I roll down , and secure the side windows , and back soft window , when trailering . That allows air to pass through the cab without causing the doors to flex outward .
 
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ThomasRecknerJr

ThomasRecknerJr

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Has anyone ever trailered with these still in place without damaging them? Max speed will be 65mph. I know the Honda soft upper doors have a tag saying not to because damage “could” occur but just wanted to see what the forum has to say. I have the Honda front glass windshield and the Honda hard rear panel with the sliding window if that matters. Thanks!
I use a buggy cord to hold mine shut when hauling
 
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UCME

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Has anyone ever trailered with these still in place without damaging them? Max speed will be 65mph. I know the Honda soft upper doors have a tag saying not to because damage “could” occur but just wanted to see what the forum has to say. I have the Honda front glass windshield and the Honda hard rear panel with the sliding window if that matters. Thanks!
Howdy from Utah! I purchased these last year and love them! If I'm trailering my SXS around town, or to a location that doesn't require a drive on the freeway, then I leave them on. If I know I will be traveling on a freeway ( speed limit 80 in these parts ) then I definitely take them off. As you know it takes less than five minutes to remove them and for what they cost I don't take a chance. BTW I have the exact same windshield. Hope this helps.
 
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