Home Forums Gear Horses and ATV's Yamaha Viking or Honda Pioneer

I'm selling or trading my 2018 Polaris Rzr 1000 xt for something a little more suited to hunting and want to know what you think of the Yamaha Viking and the Honda Pioneer 1000.

Uncle has the Pioneer - it's okay but LOUD in the cab and very hot in the summer. So loud you can't talk to one another easily going down the trail.

IMO - I'd be looking hard at the Rmax 1000 from Yamaha long before the Honda.

I've got a Yamaha Rhino that's the same way. You have to wear hearing protection if you're traveling over 10 mph. I'll be looking at a Polaris between Christmas and New Year.

The new RMAX is quite the upgrade over the old Rino's.

I'll give it a look.

Many of the Rangers in our camp are super quiet on occasion. Just a faint whining noise from the diffs and transmission when attached to the back of the Hondas pulling them back to camp..........

I think I will be staying away from the Polaris Ranger. I had a 900 and it did ok but I wasn't impressed. A third option I was just looking into is the Can Am Defender hd8 or hd10. How do they compare to the Honda and Yamaha. Kawasaki has a great warranty but don't know much about them.

Having my '18 Teryx LE4 now almost 3 years....

Best warranty in the business---3 yrs

4300 miles now or so...not a single issue/problem

Cab noise ? yes.......dependable ? yes fuel mileage ? 18-20 on a good day

4 seater vs 2 seater ? Make a good decision on that....I prob could have used a 2 seater instead of 4

None are perfect..just a note too...Teryx 800 motor holds 4 qts of oil...easy to service machine

Battery location is only gripe

Thanks for the information on the Kawasaki. I will put that on my list to try out. I'm would be torn between the 2 and 4 seat. That is why the bench seat on some of the others would be nice. Most of the time it is just me and one of my boys.

X1000. The RMAX will most likely be my next SxS.

Same - some work things need to settle down but next.

I mean - I'd LOVE the 190hp Can Am race car but the RMAX fits more needs, quite honestly.

I have 2 Yamaha 2015 Vikings good reliable work related UTV, The ones I have are loud .. It is also not a very fast machine. I have heard the new ones are a lot more quiet than the old ones. Also heard the RMax is quite the machine but have not tested one yet.

Looked at the Viking and the Pioneer 700-4 four years ago. Went with the Honda. Just traded it in this week on a Pioneer 1000-5. The 700 just didnt have the ground clearance and suspension travel for some of the places we hunt. I figure I would have had the same issue with the Viking.

The Pioneer 700 had 1900 hard miles, but not a single issue with it. The bed on the 700 had more than enough room for hunting gear and a quartered elk. The 1000 cargo bed is a few inches wider, so even more of a good thing.

I'll always have a SxS or Toyota something on my spot of Earth

This trail on your SxS or quad will make UR azz pucker

about 1000' drop in less than a 1/4 mile

Loose......rocky & full of gullies

I bought a Rhino 660 in 2007 new. It was, unfortunately, the last year of carbs. Had I waited a few months I would have gotten the EFI.
The Rhino was hands down the best machine I've ever owned. in 14 years of ownership I bought two batteries, a carb rebuild kit, a spare carb just in case and the usual oil changes. It got very hard to start in winter a couple years back and after the carb rebuild the idle seemed to not hold well. I got a good (very good) offer for it couple months ago so I sold it. Have not replaced it yet because I can't decide what I want.
Looked at Honda Pioneer but wasn't thrilled. Looked at Tracker (Textron) from Bass Pro. It seems like a well built machine but not the best value IMHO. Everyone I know is happy the their Ranger and I have my sights set on one. Would have pulled the trigger already except for the sales guy kept telling me they couldn't deal because COVID was making inventory tough to meet demand. Think was he had a warehouse full of the damn things!
The Yamaha machines I've owned rank number 1 for me and the Honda stuff a little behind that. Polaris, which I owned a 500cc ATV around 2001, was the absolute worst. If it were not for the hundreds of happy Ranger owners I've talked to I would stay far away from anything that looked like a Polaris.

Has anyone put the Can Am Defender hd10 xt to the test. Beat the crap out of it and survived? I think I am going to rule out the mid size 4 seat models because most of the time it would be me and one other person and I would use the cargo box more often. From what I have read on reviews and on here I like the Kawasaki Teryx 2 seat, Yamaha Rmax 2 seat, Can Am Defender hd10 and Pioneer 1000. I owned the Polaris Ranger 900 about 4 years ago and it was ok. Never put it to any hard use as I only had it for 6 months but wasn't that impressed with it . Maybe the new models are better.

@shoots4fun What should Tracker do to improve the bang for the buck of the 800sx?

@rdd What is your priority list for the SxS? Knowing what you’re looking for will help us help you compare models.

I would like a machine that I can use for hunting and some recreation. Have a box on it big enough to stuff a deer into. Also built well enough to handle some of the trails while out hunting in the in Colorado or Wyoming that I don't want to beat the living crap out of my truck on. Being reliable is at the tops for me. For an example. This last year I hunted an area that had about a two mile long section of road that was very narrow and a lot of large rocks and ruts just to get back to the area where we would walk back into about 3 miles. When I scouted the area in the summer I used my Polaris Rzr 1000 and it took about 20 minutes to travel that section of road. In my truck it took about another 30 minutes and a trip to the body shop to have all of the tree branch scuffs buffed out of the truck when I got home.The Rzr is fun but is not a very good machine for hunting.

Tikka has had great service from his Kawi, and the Hondas have proven themselves over the years. I've owned Yamaha and Honda products and can say that I've never had one strand me yet. I've seen one Yamaha at camp have to be towed back due to mechanical failure, can't count how many Rangers have had to be towed. The only Honda I can remember in 10 years at the club that had to be be rescued, was due to operator stupidity. He managed to roll a soft tire off the rim in rutted soft clay. My Pioneer 1000/3 is perfect for my needs, fast enough, plenty of torque and had good ground clearance. The only thing I could improve on would be upgrading the shocks. The suspension travel is adequate, but the damping could be improved on.

Quick trip today before the weather front rolls in......

Cold/wind & snow coming in

Tikkanut I wish I had some country like that close by to enjoy. Where I live it is flat farm land with a lot of pivots. Can’t wait to get back out in your area when my wife and I visit her parents down by Saint George.

I'm 5 hrs NE of St George

two different worlds.......4K' higher

A fraction of the people impact

I'll stay here....even if the wind is howling tonight

my lunch spot today

I was looking at the 500 Tracker. Overall I liked it but you get more machine for about the same $$ with a Ranger 570. The Tracker 500 didn't even have a 12V outlet in the dash. At the time I started looking they had the $500 gift card deal on them but the accessory packages (even the basic one) were, IMHO, over priced.

Yamaha all the way. Only weak point is belt for which they give 10 years warranty. Honda on the other hand, well they made some good stuff in the 90s.

I had the same choices in mind you did and I went with the Honda Pioneer 1000/3.. I've put 2500 trouble free miles on in the last two years with her.. Put about 350 of them on out in the Dinosaur country and up in the mtns, rest were flatland coon hunting in the midwest FWIW..

If i was going to go with a belt driven machine it would be the Yamaha.. I had an 07 Rhino that was a tank and a solid machine, but tippy, loud and not the most comfortable.. Being said, the Viking is a big step up, but still a belt driven machine.. My only concern on that platform.

The Honda: Great machine and the reliability is great and it's about bullet proof if you aren't stupid or unlucky . Been both on the same trip before, but not with the Honda!!

Honda Cons: Loud and hot, same as all the rest i have ridden in (Yamaha, Polaris, Kawasaki to qualify) unless you've added a sealed cab, heat and air or heavily modded the engine compartment.. I put a significant amount of reflective foil insulation under and behind the seat, added a vent with a cover for cold weather in the firewall and the machine is tolerable for noise and heat now in the summer time. Great in the winter.. Took about four hours of packing, stuffing, cutting and tweaking.. Makes the machine a whole lot better. I've ordered a set of tube style doors for warm weather that will finish the process off.. I have a soft cab on mine and it exacerbates the negatives in warm weather.. I run a split windshield to boot to get airflow thru the cab in summer. Cold weather and coon hunting the soft cab is a life saver and quite enjoyable.. I run a Mr Buddy golf cart heater in the cab if I'm sitting for any time period and it's real cold.

Thanks for all of the information from the fire memebers. I did get my Polaris Rzr sold and the money is in the bank. I think at the top of my list is the Honda Pioneer 1000/3. Second would be the Can Am Defender hd10. The only reason it is in the running is because of a local dealer and I haven't heard anyone say negative about the heat. I wish the Yamaha Viking had an updated motor to match up with otherwise a great machine. i guess if I can find a good price on the Honda it will be a done deal and then I will just have to see how much of a problem the heat is. If it is I will be picking the brains of other Pioneer owners for mods.

Can you share the details on this? Curious about the parts you used and location. Thanks!

Their repeated issues with front diff seals on the new Talon and the forums are FULL of guys with 300 miles or less and grenaded transmissions on the Talon as well. Yeah - I know, shift gate mod and make sure the adjustment cable is PERFECT and no transmission issues but given that the SxS are supposed to be rough off road machines - they need to be okay when things aren't 100% perfect because that's what happens on the trail/desert etc. Transmissions being junk in 100 miles or less - no bueno.

I thought the transmission on the Honda was supposed to be one of the good things about them . Do both the Talon and Pioneer have the same transmission?

Having A transmission is good, IMO over CVT although a CVT has been around on sleds forever.

Apparently if you don't have the shift select cable adjusted perfect - it causes the trans to fail and rapidly. That's a "maintenance" item and not warranty. A good dealer should take care of you but it's pervasive enough that a dealer could go broke taking care of everyone. Talon and Pioneer I believe have the same engine.

Have a pard with a 4 seat Talon - been pretty decent but he's super religious about his adjustments/maintenance.

Run anything hard enough and you'll have issues - just for my dollar, I tend to have and see less issues with Yamaha over Honda and those 2 a whole ton less than other makers.

Sock Puppet, I'll take a pic when I'm out in the pole barn next.. Dealing with the stupid Wuhan flu right now and not real mobile...

Sock Puppet,

the vent goes just to the right of the gas pedal in the center of the cabin.. It's a Honda part - you can see the cut out for it, my dealer ordered it for me when we were talking about heat issues.. Pics aren't much, first time i've been in the pole barn in a week.. This Covid [bleep] is for the birds..




summer vent

Thank you, sir.

Just ordered a 2021 Honda Pioneer 1000/3. Couldn’t find anything used that wasn’t almost new price