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

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