Anybody have a Honda Pioneer 500 UTV?

  • TheFamousGrouse
    St. Paul, MN
    Posts: 11573
    April 25, 2019 at 1:50 pm #1852966

    Looking for feedback from owners on the Honda Pioneer 500 UTV.

    ONLY interested in the 500 due to its narrow width. I would like to get a UTV, but we have so many ATV width trails in the woods that standard and supersize width UTVs are a non-starter. I’m not spending the next 5 years re-cutting trails so I can drive a UTV down them.

    This is strictly a work machine for the hunting farm. I won’t be doing recreational riding, this is just rapid transit for buzzing around the farm getting stuff done. I have a full-size tractor and loader so the UTV won’t be pulling implements.

    How do you like the Honda 500 machine? Any issues or complaints? Any bad weak or failure points?

    My understanding is they have a user selectable “auto” tranny mode or a manual mode where you paddle shift. Is this the case and was this always on them or did this start in a certain year?

    Please, no “Get a Brand X instead” or “you’ll regret not upsizing to the 380 HP turbo diesel UTV for more power” replies. Not interested in any other brands or models unless there’s some other maker that I’m missing that’s got a <50 inch wide model.

    Many thanks.

    onestout
    Hudson, WI
    Posts: 2698
    April 25, 2019 at 3:13 pm #1852980

    The 500 has an automotive style trans with a torque converter that shares oil with the engine. They are known for not starting well if at all in cold weather.

    crappie55369
    Mound, MN
    Posts: 5757
    April 25, 2019 at 3:24 pm #1852988

    you will regret not upsizing to the 380 HP turbo diesel UTV for more power

    311hemi
    Dayton, MN
    Posts: 742
    April 25, 2019 at 3:40 pm #1852995
    crappie55369 wrote:

    you will regret not upsizing to the 380 HP turbo diesel UTV for more power

    Sign me up!

    dbright
    Cambridge
    Posts: 1862
    April 25, 2019 at 7:45 pm #1853040

    I have not drove a 500 but I can fit my Pioneer 1000 down a ton of trails I would of never thought I could. The sales guy I bought mine from could not stop talking up his 500 pioneer.

    TheFamousGrouse
    St. Paul, MN
    Posts: 11573
    April 25, 2019 at 8:13 pm #1853047
    onestout wrote:

    The 500 has an automotive style trans with a torque converter that shares oil with the engine. They are known for not starting well if at all in cold weather.

    Appreciate the reply. So does running thinner oil like a 0W-30 do anything for the problem? I’d assume the issue is the cold/thick oil on the torque converter slowing then engine’s efforts to turn over?

    dbright wrote:

    I have not drove a 500 but I can fit my Pioneer 1000 down a ton of trails I would of never thought I could. The sales guy I bought mine from could not stop talking up his 500 pioneer.

    Well that’s good to know. Hondas are not nearly as common as Polaris or other brands. Many thanks.

    Grouse

    gixxer01
    Avon, MN
    Posts: 639
    April 25, 2019 at 8:24 pm #1853050

    FIL likes his. The <50″ was his selling point also. Getting them into reverse seemed cumbersome to me.

    dbright
    Cambridge
    Posts: 1862
    April 25, 2019 at 8:27 pm #1853052

    The pioneer 500 is not a auto type transmission unless they changed it in the past few years. It has a similar setup as the old Foremans. The 700 has a 3 speed and torque converter. The 500 is a 5 speed that can be shifted with paddles or auto.

    onestout
    Hudson, WI
    Posts: 2698
    April 26, 2019 at 7:09 am #1853074

    Running thinner oil would help and I believe is recommended. Beyond that though hondas are not good at their cold weather fuel curve mapping. I have 16 foreman and while it does start you have to cycle it several times to get it to start. They had bigger issues on the older models. A friend of mine was a tech at a dealer and people brought a lot of them back that wouldn’t start in the cold. IMO not acceptable in the day of efi.

    TheFamousGrouse
    St. Paul, MN
    Posts: 11573
    April 27, 2019 at 11:15 am #1853285

    Ones, is it like a complete “won’t start in the cold” or is it just hard starting but eventually you can get her going?

    The ATVs sit in a shed at the farm. It’s not heated but at least they’re inside all the time when not being used.

    I don’t use an ATV a lot in the winter, probably a couple of times a month. Is this a deal buster for the Honda?

    Grouse

    onestout
    Hudson, WI
    Posts: 2698
    April 27, 2019 at 12:07 pm #1853294

    The 500 with that trans will not start without a jump or boost of some sort if not used enough, a battery tender would help a bunch. Mine has a hard enough time without all that oil having to turn over. I have always been a Honda person but they have never been good at cold starting, any of their engines. That being said there are ways to overcome it for occasional use. I have an extra car battery and jumper cables just in case. Also my experience is with ATV’s and a smaller battery, maybe they use a larger battery in the utv and it will start more reliably. I just know I’m not the happiest with how mine starts and I know the dealers had a lot of icefisherman complaining they couldn’t get them to start on really cold days on the ice. With keeping it inside and having a booster pack or something just in case it should be fine. Sorry if I seem to be jumping back and forth but it will depend on the situation. I don’t have power in my shed and was ok this winter, if you can use a tender that would help.

    Pike1401
    Waconia
    Posts: 54
    July 16, 2020 at 8:52 am #1957654

    Did you end up getting the Pioneer 500? I’ve been looking at picking one up for ice fishing this season. The cold start issues noted here have me questioning that a bit…

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