Honda Pioneers

[dj1701]

Was looking at Kawasaki Mules, now I am kinda liking the Honda Pioneers. Was looking at the 520, then the 700, now I might be in love with the 1000 Deluxe. Anyone have experience with these.

Thanks
Dave

 

[RalphVa]

Hard to find Honda units around here. Not sure how they are on going down hills. Think they're geared but must have centrifugal clutches because no second pedal.

Went with a Kubota RTV 520, delivered today, because it has a hydrostatic drive system. Retards very well on hills.

 

[Rdrcr]

I have a Pioneer 520. It’s fantastic. I bought it for recreation purposes but, I use it way more on my property than I anticipated. It’s a great machine, I highly recommend it.

It fits through all the tight spaces in my heavily forested and hilly property. Stock ground clearance is good and if you wish more ground clearance, larger tires and/or wheels are readily available. The traction is really good, but the turning radius isn’t great though. The transmission shifts hard and aggressively when new, but begins to smooth out after the first service. The ride can be a little rough with the small tires and factory shocks. However, if not not traveling quickly, you’ll hardly notice.
The gearing is super low so the transmission is always busy shifting at low speeds. Top speed isn’t great but, very few complain about it.

Overall, it’s a great SxS. You can’t go wrong with any of the Honda Pioneers.

Mike

 

[MSU 21]

Bought a used 1000 with 600 miles. Really impressed. The noise is much less than my old Polaris. It doesn’t handle mud as well as the Polaris did. The Polaris had mud lights vs stock on the Honda. It does shift hard as Rdrcr said. Power steering is great. It doesn’t have much storage space in the cab. The gas pedal could get tiring on long rides.

 

[tradosaurus]

I bought a 2019 Honda Pioneer 700 new. We test drove a Kawasaki and felt the Pioneer rode better.
If you have the money just go for the Honda Pioneer 1000.
My 700 tops out at 43 mph and gets noisy reaching that speed. But we mostly use ours around our property. The dump bed comes in handy.

 

[Boss 302]

Probably can't go wrong with Honda, I am currently waiting on a new Can Am defender to arrive.

 

[Rdrcr]

I bought a 2019 Honda Pioneer 700 new. We test drove a Kawasaki and felt the Pioneer rode better.
If you have the money just go for the Honda Pioneer 1000.
My 700 tops out at 43 mph and gets noisy reaching that speed. But we mostly use ours around our property. The dump bed comes in handy.

I'm not sure about the 1000 but, the P520 is also really noisy at top speed (mine does 42 mph with my wheel/tire setup).

Mike

 

[Code54]

Had a 500 and it is a nice machine but very small and a bit tippy on the hills. I have run a 1000 a lot and it is a very nice machine, good trail rider and overall solid. I own a Mule FXT Pro - a BIG machine that hauls betters than a Pioneer 1000, rides great but is not the best on trails due to its size and lower clearance

 

[2515R Dude]

After long reserch a bought 1000 because it has a true gear, not a belt driven trans.
I have it for over 2 years now, more than 1,700 miles so far.
Since it is a true gear, not a belt driven, it jumps a little till you get used to it.
Extremely strong machine, i tow a 14' trailer full of wood up to a very steep hill with no problem as long as wheels hold the ground, but 4x4 helps in such situations.
Had 2 issues, a neutral switch gave a ghost ($17 and less than 10 minutes work) and an idle valve stopped working, no replacement needed, just cleaned it with carburetor cleaner and reinstalled.

 

[BuggyMasters]

Had the 700. Not a bad machine but it made me nervous with the 3 speed auto grand regarding how expensive it would be to fix. The belt drive machines are way cheaper and easier to fix. Also the pioneer had a notable lack of suspension travel.