Hi all. Had a chance to take the Pilot out to Gorman on the weekend of 26 October to stretch its legs and get a feel for it. I gotta say it performed great out on the trails. I had a chance to do some brief WOT (Wide Open Throttle) stretches over hard dirt and sandy terrain and while it felt fast, it didnt feel much faster than my FL350. I have unofficially clocked the 350 at 66mph on hard somewhat level ground using a portable gps. Just wondering if i'm expecting too much or if perhaps the Pilot's top end isnt fully broken in given it's probably got around 4-6 hrs on it.. Anyways, would appreciate any thoughts. I've attached a pic to go the post.

Damn that place looks cool!

I googled Hungry valley, looks like some really varied terrain.

I gotta get out of NJ!

Pilot looks great any more pics to share of Hungry Valley?

Yes its an awesome place to ride! On rides throughout the park i've encountered everything from mountanous terrain to sand washes/gulleys and just about everything in between.Going back in a couple weeks and i cant wait!

Hi Hoser. I will make a point of taking some pics when i go again in a couple weeks and post them.

Theres no way my fl350 ever did 66,and Ive never got my pilot over 55
I've seen other people post better speeds but Ive never achieved them

64.1 is my record in my FL350. That's a little hairy when you ass is about a foot off the ground!

Rand

You got that right Rand! It was a harrowing run! After 60mph it crept up ever so slowly til it just wouldn't go more. Im gonna strap on the gps to the Pilot soon and see what it does.Cant help being a speed junkie!

give us a heads up of when your going we might be able to do a trip with you. whats the elevation there Ill have to down jet im sure

Hi Shouba. Barring some unforseen circumstance i will be going on Nov 23 -basically a couple weeks away.

Riding elevation varies from 3500ft to 6000 but my guess is i've never ridden above 4500ft elevation. Im running standard 140 jet with a Uni filter and uni-vented airbox.

I think it goes all the way to 9000 feet if you can still ride to the top of Mount Pinos!

Rand

Yes i think Mt Pinos is part of the park. I'd have to change jets to go above 5k ft

Rode there for years. Used to be able to ride to the river crossing to climb Mt. Pinos but I hear that they stopped that. :( Damn California restrictions. I went from a 140 to a 137 main jet and that seemed great for that area in my first Pilot when I lived in SoCal. Hope this helps.

Thnx for that info Mas. I have a 138 jet as well and was thinking changing to that in case i ride up higher. Better safe than sorry.

Nice lookin' Pilot there HondaHairy.
Is that bumper welded on? Any more pics?

Hello there down under bugeye. Good (bug)eye spotting the welded bumper. At some point before i bought the Pilot, the o.e.m bumper was replaced with the custom made one with a skid plate. When i bought the Pilot the bumper's paint was badly chipped and rust was developing under the chips. I completely stripped it to bare metal, primed it, sanded it smooth and my brother painted it. Finally, i had a local metal shop cut a new aluminum skid plate and another shop bend it. Here are some b4 and after pics to show the process

Ok I know i forgot to rotate the pic. My apologies.Here's the bumper right after painting.

And here the the aluminum skid plate is installed.

You should think about coming to Dumont in 2 weeks with us.

Perhaps in the future....kinda wary of the sand. Its has a tendency to make its way into everything and break things.

As long as you have a pre-filter on your air box lid, you will be fine.

Looks very substantial HairyHonda...and G'Day from Downunder.

Actually the fine powder from normal off road driving gets farther into components than sand does. Its just that you can see the sand particles a little easier.

Rand