2015 Honda Pioneer 500 - All Honda with a Touch of Ferrari | ATVConnection.com

 

A 1010 lb SXS using the underpowered 28hp OHV 475cc Foreman motor! Why does it have small 24" tires?
With a little 4 gallon gas tank you will have to carry gas cans at all times.

Sounds like a flop like the Yamaha 450 Rhino was , to much machine for the motor.

I thought the 39hp 680 Rincon motor in the Big Red SXS was underpowered as it is, but atleast this new 500 has a low 1st gear and a higher tow capacity then the Big Red and its 3 speed slush box.

 

Weird looking thing... ATV rear, Pioneer front that's jacked too high. I like that they used the 5 speed too. Has some good low gearing. Seems like non-adjustable shocks out front??? At least it has adjustable rear suspension!!! Small suspension travel numbers, and small engine. Good to see another 50" width side x side.

 

Not a higher tow capacity. The pioneer is rated a 1500 lbs towing and 1000 pounds in the cargo bed. The 500 seems more like a beginner utv and the price reflects that. Does seem underpowered though but I like the idea of a 5 speed with paddle shifters. They should apply that to a more sporty package now. Supposedly honda is not done revealing utvs, we will see

 

The 570 Rzr will destroy this thing in sales. They're close to same price and the rzr has way more power.

 

My son and a buddy's son rented RZR 570's out in Marysvale, Utah to ride the Paiute Trail. They did very well considering we were riding at altitudes up to 10,000 ft. Honda always seems to leave me scratching my head saying, "What were they thinking?"

 

We are talking a 2k dollar difference so the rzr is definitely is a different league, they pretty much made a utv for the 12-16 year old demographic. Similar to what a 250 class atv is. I'm sure at the price point it will sell but not a competitor to the rzr

 

I guess the 570 Ranger would be a better comparison. It costs less than the 570 Rzr, msrp about a thousand more than the new 500 pioneer. The low price is the only thing that might save the 500 pioneer. The 570 Ranger still has more power than the 700 pioneer though so in reality its a much better value. I honestly think the only people that will buy any of the new pioneer models are people who only buy Hondas. Compare them to anything else and they just don't measure up. At least Honda is trying, Suzuki has never even attempted to build a side by side.

 

I'd be willing to bet Honda figures this is a great machine for everybody. Either they don't do the R and D that other makers do, they have engineers with no imagination, they don't listen to the ones that have an imagination, or all of the above.

 

I think the reasoning behind the Pioneer 500 is a side by side that will fit on 50" trails. We ran into a lot of them on the Paiute Trail and there are a lot of them here in New England. But, without something like the Polaris 570 or 800 or the new Arctic Cat with the 700 it's not as competitive.