Anybody own a Honda Pilot?

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jwheat · #1 Post by **jwheat** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:59 pm

Anybody own a Honda Pilot FL400R? If so, what do you think about it? I've been looking at some lately and I'm thinking about buying one.

Blasterboy11 · #2 Post by **Blasterboy11** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:32 pm

Ive driven one. Let me be the first to tell you, this guy had a CR500 all done up. That thing probably did all of 90 on dirt. Pulled wheelies too. But boy that thing is nasty when it rolls. It literally destroys itself until it stops. For dunes its sweet, but its tippy at high speed. Fun though. Ive seen people run a gixxer 700 and that thing RIPPED! There used to be a ton of forums but theyve diminshed over the years. I was looking at some before i got my dale. And one other thing, you have to wear a neck brace and arm loops, you get thrown all over the place in it. Its fun, if you have all the right stuff. What are they goin for these days? Last i looked they were about 7k for a decent one...

cannondale27 · #3 Post by **cannondale27** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 3:32 am

They are Awesome!I always wanted one but if you think there are mods for quads wait.Pilots have all kinds of wicked mods for you to spend $ on.

ozarkdaler · #4 Post by **ozarkdaler** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 3:44 am

I always wanted one to but, I think my head would stick up past the roll bars since I am 6'6". Odds are I would flip it and I would be dead. My brother had 2 of them when I was younger and I remember one did not have brakes and it always made things interesting.

jesshamner · #5 Post by **jesshamner** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 3:58 am

I looked into them too. They look really sweet but it seems like they are going for around $5000 in good condition. I think I would just rather have a Polaris RZR.

ozarkdaler · #6 Post by **ozarkdaler** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 4:04 am

My wife's uncle has an RZR and they are okay but jeez $12,500 I believe is what they cost.

Blasterboy11 · #7 Post by **Blasterboy11** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 4:17 am

You sit REALLY low in a pilot. The odyssey is a different chassis. And C27 is right, theres companies out west that specialize in pilots. I belive ATV1 used to trick em out. All PC'ed and chrome...Nice stuff. Its like driving a mini trophy truck, lol. I actally saw a pilot with a mini fiberglass body of a truck, it was really cool...

jwheat · #8 Post by **jwheat** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 1:50 pm

I've found them from low as 5900 all the way up to 15000. I just want one as close to original condition as possible. The Polaris RZR is ok, but I already have a 660 Rhino. I want something that I can take out and really cut up on and you just can't get the perfomance out of any UTV as you can the Pilot. I'll keep the Rhino for hunting and playing with the family and use a Pilot when I'm not hauling kids.

rayspeed · #9 Post by **rayspeed** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 4:03 pm

One problem with coming off of anything else and strapping on one of these is that you cant move your weight around on them so if you think about it you would not want to take any turns faster that you would on anythign else sitting straight up. You cant soak up anything with your knees so if you wanna go fast the need for great suspension multiplies . What that does not soak up will be felt in the seat of your pants, litteraly. I dont care what you do to those seats they will never be as cushy as you would like. There is also the fact that you cant just jump on it and ride, its more like crawling thru the window of a sub compact car and if that is not enough you gotta strap yourself in... correctly... every time. That takes some time to do so it is not for the impatient. Think about how much you get on and off whatever you ride... need something to drink you cant wear a camel pack... no cup holders or place for a cooler in there! Nature calls suddenly become a drawn out athletic event.
Wrecks can be much harder on your body than most people imagine especially if you dont use all of the safety equipment properly. Some people get this false sense of security with a cage around them thinking that they cant get hurt and tend to push it more than they should.

That said they can still be alot of fun... just possibly not in the way that most people would think and there are trade offs and other things to consider like the kind of riding and the places you ride. In my opinion it is best to ride with people that have similar equipment... if you are the only one with one of these you will be in the back probably struggling to keep up and beating yourself silly. Stops will take longer, you will burn a tank of fuel faster and if you break down there is no sport quad that is going to want to tow you. So your friends... tho they may think it is cool at first may find themselves getting annoyed with you or your eqluipment.
That is just my two cents!
Ray

jesshamner · #10 Post by **jesshamner** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 5:39 pm

QUOTE (jwheat @ Feb 13 2008, 08:50 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've found them from low as 5900 all the way up to 15000. I just want one as close to original condition as possible. The Polaris RZR is ok, but I already have a 660 Rhino. I want something that I can take out and really cut up on and you just can't get the perfomance out of any UTV as you can the Pilot. I'll keep the Rhino for hunting and playing with the family and use a Pilot when I'm not hauling kids.

I agree with you except don't put a rhino and the rzr in the same class. The rhino is nowhere close to the rzr in performance and handling. I guess you could haul stuff better with a rhino though. You can definitely "cut up" in the rzr. But you're probably right when you say that you can't get the performance of the Pilot...until you go with LT suspension. I like the idea of having 4wd in this area of the country too.

What was the stock top speed of the Pilot?

Also, Ray brought up a good point. I don't know if there is an aftermarket for the suspension but I don't want my spine taking the impact that the stock suspension can't handle.