# Honda and other UTV demo ride today.



## plugger (Aug 8, 2001)

M y wife nd I went to an outdoor expo today that featured utv demo rides. I registered on the Honda site last winter and have been following those forums because I am going to buy a utv to add to the quads and mule we already have. The first machine we drove was the one I planned to buy, a p1000. At the end of the 2 mile ride we couldn't be happier to get out of a machine. The heat and gear whine left zero room for enjoyment. The ride was smoother than I expected, acceleration and power steering were good. I still have a 1988 wheeler and have always looked to Honda first. We have been around everything from dirt bikes to heavy construction equipment and this probably the most disappointing machine we have driven. The next machine we drove was a Can-Am Defender and it was impressive. The Yamaha Viking was fine but too big for our use. I have been almost anti Polaris but the Ranger we drove was surprisingly nice. After that we drove a Commander and wow! The last two machines we drove were the Can-Am Maverick x3 and the Polaris Turbo Razer. After driving the last two I think we will buy another used Mule for the farm and a true sport sxs for trail riding. I think sport utility is a oxymoron. I am not sure how Honda, who I thought had the best engineering and QC, could bring this to market and continue to sell them without a fix. I had heard about both issues on the forums but I didn't think they could really be this bad!


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## rnc9502 (Mar 26, 2009)

So you drove the Commander and wow! was this a good wow or a bad wow?

I bought a Commander last year, but looked at the Honda as well, never drove it though..
just curious how it compared to the Honda


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## woodie slayer (Feb 25, 2006)

wife is on her 2nd ranger we started with a 2009 700 cc then up graded to a 2014 900 cc
couldnt be happier..


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## plugger (Aug 8, 2001)

rnc9502 said:


> So you drove the Commander and wow! was this a good wow or a bad wow?
> 
> I bought a Commander last year, but looked at the Honda as well, never drove it though..
> just curious how it compared to the Honda


 It was a good wow. The speed was good and the handling on trails was very good. Of the sport utility the commander was the least utility but the leader on the trails. The can-am maverick x3 was just a rocket!


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## rnc9502 (Mar 26, 2009)

I went with the Commander because it was more sport than utility.. I wanted as sporty as I could get without going all in..


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## plugger (Aug 8, 2001)

This weekend was the outdoor expo in Baldwin and the atv and utv demo rides were great. Honda, Polaris, Can-Am and Yamaha were represented. They ran flights where you chose the machine you wanted to drive and they turned you loose. The course was about two milles with some road and some trail. They had sing up sheets and I didn't get the machine I wanted every time but I got a machine every flight and we stayed from about 10:30 to 1:30. I have been around a lot of older machines but the experience of driving the different brands one after another was eye opening. One of the reasons we were looking is my wife and I thought we might ride with a couple local groups that do trail rides. I learned that if the group was predominately sport machines it would not be fun to keep up with a utility machine. Even though the utility machines are 1000 cc and have a pretty good straight line speed keeping up with a sport machine, even when they were loafing, in the curves and whoops would be challenging. It was fun to watch my 30 something daughter, who has been to a couple performance driving schools, one on the Birmingham Speedway and one at BMW in Germany, push the turbo Razer and Can-Am maverickx3. The only machine that did not exceed my expectations was the Honda P1000. I had always thought Can-Am was like a couple of old girlfriends, fast, sexy, expensive and high maintenance. The Defender was a very solid contender in the utility class.


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## limige (Sep 2, 2005)

did you ride a wildcat?


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## plugger (Aug 8, 2001)

limige said:


> did you ride a wildcat?


 They had one but I did not drive it.


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

My parents just bought a P1000. Although they had it last weekend, I was too busy with other projects to take it for a ride. I really like the concept of a geared tranny vs the clutch.


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## Luv2hunteup (Mar 22, 2003)

Did they have a Duruxx to try out?


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## plugger (Aug 8, 2001)

Luv2hunteup said:


> Did they have a Duruxx to try out?


 No they didn't. They also did not have any 50 inch machines. I had hoped to drive a Honda p500 and a wolverine. I asked the guy running it if he could run back to Baldwin and get one and he said no. I also asked him where the jumps were because we needed some to adequately access the capabilities. The guy in front of me with the tee shirt that said, "Warning I am about to something stupid" said he wanted jumps too.


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## GrizzlyHunter (Jun 17, 2005)

Were you able to try out a Yamaha Wolverine R-Spec? They're pretty nice with an incredibly smooth ride. And Yamaha is will know for it's fit/finish and reliability.


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## plugger (Aug 8, 2001)

GrizzlyHunter said:


> Were you able to try out a Yamaha Wolverine R-Spec? They're pretty nice with an incredibly smooth ride. And Yamaha is will know for it's fit/finish and reliability.


 They did not have a wolverine. We did drive a Viking but it is not what we want. I asked why they did not have a wolverine, Honda p500 or the 50 inch Razer and the guy running the demo basically said because they tip over. I have a grizzly and Yamaha would definitely interest me. I think the Yamaha belt setup is the best belt setup out there.


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## GrizzlyHunter (Jun 17, 2005)

plugger said:


> They did not have a wolverine. We did drive a Viking but it is not what we want. I asked why they did not have a wolverine, Honda p500 or the 50 inch Razer and the guy running the demo basically said because they tip over. I have a grizzly and Yamaha would definitely interest me. I think the Yamaha belt setup is the best belt setup out there.


You are correct in your opinion that Yamaha's clutching is industry leading.

Whoever told you that the Wolverine tips over is full of crap. They're stable as hell. Now, the older Rhino is a different story. I've had both and the Wovlerine has the ride and quality of a Cadillac in the SXS market.


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## plugger (Aug 8, 2001)

GrizzlyHunter said:


> You are correct in your opinion that Yamaha's clutching is industry leading.
> 
> Whoever told you that the Wolverine tips over is full of crap. They're stable as hell. Now, the older Rhino is a different story. I've had both and the Wovlerine has the ride and quality of a Cadillac in the SXS market.


 If the wolverine had a bench seat it would be an option but my wife will use it a bit at the farm and she needs a bench seat for the dogs and when we both go to blood trail with a dog. Needing a bench seat seems to leave out the most fun options.


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## GrizzlyHunter (Jun 17, 2005)

I agree that the Wolverine would not meet your needs. But maybe you should look into a four seater.


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## Luv2hunteup (Mar 22, 2003)

I have a Wolverine EPS special edition. Fun toy but it can't keep up with the 1,000cc big boys. The box is big enough to haul a fawn or maybe a yearling doe.


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## Luckymike (Dec 1, 2010)

I wanted a 50" machine so we could stay legal on the trails.after a winter of research I settled on the pioneer 500.granted it's not quiet or as smooth as a rancher but the thing is a little beast.put bigger and better tires on it and its unstoppable.wife and I love it


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## sparky18181 (Apr 17, 2012)

plugger said:


> M y wife nd I went to an outdoor expo today that featured utv demo rides. I registered on the Honda site last winter and have been following those forums because I am going to buy a utv to add to the quads and mule we already have. The first machine we drove was the one I planned to buy, a p1000. At the end of the 2 mile ride we couldn't be happier to get out of a machine. The heat and gear whine left zero room for enjoyment. The ride was smoother than I expected, acceleration and power steering were good. I still have a 1988 wheeler and have always looked to Honda first. We have been around everything from dirt bikes to heavy construction equipment and this probably the most disappointing machine we have driven. The next machine we drove was a Can-Am Defender and it was impressive. The Yamaha Viking was fine but too big for our use. I have been almost anti Polaris but the Ranger we drove was surprisingly nice. After that we drove a Commander and wow! The last two machines we drove were the Can-Am Maverick x3 and the Polaris Turbo Razer. After driving the last two I think we will buy another used Mule for the farm and a true sport sxs for trail riding. I think sport utility is a oxymoron. I am not sure how Honda, who I thought had the best engineering and QC, could bring this to market and continue to sell them without a fix. I had heard about both issues on the forums but I didn't think they could really be this bad!


Went for a ride in the Honda 1000 and couldn't agree with you more about the heat issue. First words out of my mouth to my buddy was that I couldn't believe Honda hasn't fixed this issue. The heat was overwhelming. I have also been told,that there is t this problem with the Honda 700. Other than the heat I thought the features and performance was great.


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