My buddy had a 350 odyssey when we were young teenagers! We would pile 3 of us in it and whoever sat on the top drove! We would take off down country roads to girls houses and try to get stink finger! I rolled it once and landed back on the tires and kept on a goin! Fun times!

These were a blast to ride. Back in 89', Honda loaded up an 18 wheeler full of these and brought them out to Buttercup Sand Dunes in California. They unloaded them, then set up a big canopy over the top and set a table out and a guy with a clipboard. We were all curious about this, so we went to check it out. Turns out they were really pushing these and they were giving out test rides. They signed up groups of people for a 1/2 hr ride, following a guide out into the dunes and back. They wanted people to ride them hard to prove how durable they were. They sure got their moneys worth with our group. I was a pro ATV racer at the time, so you can bet I was gonna ride it hard. We all had one of the best times ever out at the dunes that weekend. We really beat the crap out of those Pilots and they didn't break. My brother even managed to roll his end over end and no damage was done. If you can find one, buy it, no matter what the cost. It's worth it.

Every time I see a Honda odessey I think of bubba lol great video Tony!

I was hesitant to watch at first..but you clearly hit a home run.with your informative look back on the Odessy. Not many people could pull this off as well as you did. Rhanks

Honda was way ahead of their time. Reminds me of the Transalp and Africa Twin. People had no idea what kind of machine they were looking at. Adventure bikes are huge now.

The "Salisbury" transmission was a belt drive CVT same as what's on most ATV's today as well as snowmobiles. Salisbury was a particular manufacturer of that system consisting of a drive (primary) clutch a belt and a driven (secondary) clutch which worked on centrifugal forces to "shift". At the time Comet and Salisbury were the dominant manufacturers of those clutching systems

The stupid thing is… The Honda Odyssey and Honda Pilot were both sand buggies, and now they are both family cars.

Better than a Razor in my opinion

I had a 77 when i was a kid in Alaska in the 80's . It was such a cool machine i could ride it summer and winter . Of course once the snow fell we all switched to our snow machines , such good memories .

The Odyssey was way ahead of it’s time. If only it would have had rear suspension, that thing would beat you up out in the desert. 40 years later the side by sides finally caught on.

Ive owned a 250. But always wanted a fl400❤️

Thanks for doing this video. I’ve always been intrigued by these machines!

Not sure how your channel isn't more well know. I just discovered your great "history of" videos and im totally addicted

If they came out with one now and todays technology with a manual clutch Thing would be one bad ass lil krosskart

same here.. its was a dream to have a pilot 400 it was so cool...

I have a super clean 85 and I love it

I like videos like these and I was researching the details of the pilot tonight. The other results pale in comparison. Great work here. All the technical description is what I ordered with the meal.

Tony, thanks for doing the Odyssey story. Nice work. I was working at a Honda store when these came out. So much fun! I had worked overtime and the boss let me have the FL250 for the weekend. Monday morning I was ordering replacement fenders as I rolled it ass over tin cup. Thanks again.

I've got a 1977 Fl250 and I love it

Hi Tony! I always enjoy the content you have and the perspective you bring with great enthusiasm for a sport we all share. Back in 1978 at my hometown area, a guy started a Honda Odyssey rental setup named "Odyssey Land" where you could rent his yellow Odyssey's (I believe he had about 10 of them) and run on his land/track. He had a figure 8 track setup with a wood bridge built in the middle of the track, we would hit the bridge at full throttle and launch off the top and bounce off the balloon tires all the way down the other side of the ramp! The insurance must have been very expensive to be renting these rigs to the public as he closed it down for good after only running it for two years. I have not driven the Pilot version but I would have loved to, just like you mentioned it was a very expensive rig at the time.

Honda fan boy here never new about these wow probably cuz I was born in 92 your doing great work

Still waiting for the Fourtrax 250r video

I wish the factory would make that beautiful car again

Way ahead of it's time....

What a treat to come across your video. Very well done. The part about nearly being 400 pounds makes sense now. I just moved my 1979. I was surprised at how chunky the thing was. I should post that video soon. tHanks again for your video!

Entertaining and informative as always !

These units really need to brought back ! Along with more affordable snowmoblies ! Fun video, thanks ! 👍😎

These things were da bomb and made an easy 70 mph. They were also very serious machines

My dad used to have the Honda Pilot. Bought it from a gas station attendant and it is by far the most thrilling ride ever. You could take it out on roads in Ohio and it would be fine. Fast fast fast fast

Words cannot express how much more awesome these are than the current side x side utv's. The new ones are almost the size of a trophy truck. Seriously, just get a racing buggy. I would think these would sell like crazy now. I would not change the looks at all from the Pilot, keep the red an everything. Well have one like the Odyssey with the white plastics, red and blue accents and gold wheels as well. These just look so much more fun.

One of the most underrated channels on KZfaq

I'm 6'4 and feel like a giant in my fl350. Doesn't help I have a rotax twin cylinder 670 swapped in so my seat is all the way forward 🤣 The steering wheel is in-between my knees.

Growing up my Dad bought an 83 FL 250 in the early 90's when I was kid. In 94 he bought the FL350 and in the spring of 95 the FL400R Pilot. Those things were awesome and to this day I wish I would've held onto them. I always rode a CR125 for the most part. In 1997 Dad called ATV Racing in AZ and purchased the CR500 conversion kit for the Pilot. He had the engine pulled and shipped to them for the build and it was insanely fast after that upgrade. It almost doubled the HP if I remember right from a stock one. I bought it from him in 2006 Like an Idiot I sold it in 2010. Of all things I've owned over the years it's the one thing I severely regret selling. I'd love to get another one and swap it with the Rotax 670 engine and the long travel suspension kit.

I wish i still have today my '85 350 was sooo fun to drive...but the pilot was my dream! :)

I bought a fl350 about 7 years ago not knowing that the fl400 existed, rode the fl350 for a couple of weeks until someone mentioned that Honda had made a Fl400 and that it was a total upgrade and a monster compared to the fl350. 2-3 weeks later i bought me a fl400 for 3000 of which i thought was a lot of money back then. The fl400 was 5x the machine that the fl350 was. sold the 350 and kept the fl400, short lived sold the fl400 and jumped into my first porsche 914 a 1973 2L. still have my 914 today, after regretting selling my pilot, i ended up buying another fl400 to keep. always looking to buy one more as prices just continue to go up.

My pops has a fl350 since I was a lil guy … just sits out back of my childhood home rotting 🤦🏻‍♂️ 🤞🏻 one day , hopefully I’ll get to bring it back

Good show.

thanks Tony, i had a manco dingo (poor kid's odyssey) and always wanted one. nice review!

Fantastic information. I always wanted one but just could afford dirt bikes in the late 80's. Thank you for the information on all the different models.

Loved the Honda Odyssey & had lots of fun on friends Machines, one had a like new 83FL250 that the original owner bought to ride on the beach along with a 3 wheeler but before he even got to ride it they outlawed riding them on the beach and they sat unused in his garage for almost 20yrs. He traded a lawn mower for it & I helped get it going again, just about everything that was made of rubber dry rotted, used new JD 212 Engine mounts that were built better then the stock units and only needed to file one of the small mounting holes to make it fit. Another friend bought a 350 Oddy, a 350X and a 250SX new in 85 and he still has all 3 and he took great care of them and they look and run great. Another buddies Nephew at 12yrs old got a 1990 Pilot brand new for Xmas, you said they were almost 6K and our dealer was getting 12K and couldn't get them fast enough and that's what his dad paid for it how crazy is that.

Great video. My 85 FL350 has been sitting in a barn for 30 years. I should sell it so someone else can have the fun time I had. Great machines. Dont remember ever having problems, just fired up and go!!

When I was a kid we had a FL350 and I had a friend the had a Pilot. They were so much fun at the Pismo Dunes.

This is my dream ride for off road also 1989 was sick and could and still can be fixed up to be a beast

I had and drove 1 slightly modified and improved Most fun I ever had. Made my special "Rocket Fuel" (two stroke mix) with extra boosters etc. added in. : )

I remember the top ends needing to be replaced on the 1985 FL350R because of problems with piston seizures. I remember reading that the exhaust port bridge was the culprit due to overheating and bulging inward toward the piston. The replacement top ends were 78.5 mm bore instead of the original 80 mm. My local Honda dealer had one of the new 1989 FL400R Pilots on their showroom for I think 3 or 4 years before somebody finally bought it. It was pricy for the time and at least where I was located, not many people may have had a place to actually ride it.

These are much better than the Odyssey and Pilot we can buy now. The new crop of sporty long travel suspension UTVs are great because it’s a mini rally car and a tiny trophy truck in one package

So this is what my boss was talking about. Cool.

Way cool man we had two of the 250 350 and a pilot I think you're exactly right they were over $6,000 and they're still going for $6,000 I'm sure that's why they didn't sell that many I think a Honda easily could bring it back and they would sell put either a 450 four-stroke or used the XR 650 motorplay some fuel injection on it they would sell like wildfire

I wish I had one assembled and new

I've got an oddy350 had it for long time absolutely love it wish they would reproduce them

I’m so glad at how lucky I am at under 18 I get to enjoy my own fl350

I had the 83... Boing Boing Boing!!! lol I always wanted the pilot

You did a great job on this history of the odyssey. I own 3 of the FL350's and I'm a member of a large odyssey site. (Not sure if I can put a plug in here -- LOL) You did make a few errors on this vid about the FL350 and the FL400 but only a couple minor ones. I think they only made the FL350 for one year because of all the problems. You are correct when you said there were recalls. The problems are like you said: Transmission - you will blow the box if you land with the power on. You will also blow your AB bearing if you do the "driveway tune up" because the transmission is a splash lube system. It gets no oil unless you're driving. DON'T idle or rev it for long periods. Engine - It over heats and you melt a piston if you don't run AVGAS or race gas. The pump gas detonates because of the lack of air cooling. The engine is behind the seat so basically no air. The side air scoops don't work. Honda had a recall on those to -- bigger. Starter - the starter will fill up with oil. The oil comes from the counter balancer area because this area is vented to the starter side and therefore eventually the oil migrates to the starter. There is a fix if you know how. Suspension - the rear suspension had a major issue. The spring rate was WAY to stiff and therefore you basically had almost no travel. You have to replace these springs for a lighter set. Other - To the best of our knowledge on the oddy site we know they sold over 12500 of the FL350 based on the serial numbers. If you look at the pictures you posted you will also see that the triangles on the front J arm suspension is missing. These were added later (I believe) to prevent you from bending those J arm mounting points when you hit something. You also said in the video that the Pilot had front disc brakes. That's not true. But you were talking fast and probably boo boo 'd. Good work.

With the UTV scene nowadays I believe the Odyssey would be a very welcomed vehicle today. Especially if it's set up with King travel suspension. I remember seeing these as a kid, and wanted 1 so bad. The 1sr one I saw was the 85. I was 9 at the time. I had my little 5hp single seat go cart. You know the type I'm talking about. I would dream about getting 1 of these over my little go cart. Plus the UTV's today have a much higher center of gravity so something like this with the rider sitting much lower would be a big benefit to the cross country ability of the machine.

I didn’t know they made an 1990 pilot cool love this channel good job

I bought a new 1987 at Boubuese Valley . What a blast !!

I have one of these in my garage along with my rm85 and yz50

Awesome video do a video on The Ol Manco Dingo Off-road Buggy they were fun buggies as well

Good idea, imagine honda bringing back the oddyessy atv !!!!!!! ? With the modern technologies now, think about it, all us generation X guys would all over that ! Just from the memories of these things, I also agree with you, keep it atv size !

That shot at 20:08 is just iconic

Polaris makes a high performance 1 seater as well. My buddy has one and it's super nice and has a 15,000$ price tag to show for it. I just sent him this video.

We wanted a go cart when we were kids, so my dad got us an odyssey. It had no compression. We put a top end in it. We didn't know the previous owner cranked the idle way up because the lack of compression. When My Dad first started it after the rebuild, the thing took off on its own, so my dad grabbed the back of it and it drug him accros the yard till it hit the barn 😂 we we terrified of it ever since.

I love watching your videos bud. I do get thrown off when you say “Kay-heen” when you pronounce keihin, I’ve always heard it pronounced “key-en”. At first when I watched a video a few months back I was confused and thought it was some carb that wasn’t produced anymore 😅. Either way, I LOVE getting the history on so many different machines. Keep the videos coming man. Do you have any historical videos on the LT250R, LT500R, or Tecate 3 and Tecate 4?

Idd buy one if they came out again

I remember looking at a pilot at the dealership. It looked cool ass hell!!!! But then I saw the price tag. $4999.00. In 1990!!!

I would love a Pilot. I was watching KZfaq videos of people putting CRAZY motors in them.

I also have a 85 350 thing still rips but the damn fenders broke off jumping it

They did bring it back technically as the Honda Talon. I own one, they are insane.

My dad had one of these when I was still a very young kid. I wanted SOO badly to drive it but he ended up selling it. I only remember seeing him drive it a handful of times, it was constantly broke. I remember asking him a few years later why he ever sold it and he just said it costed more to keep it running then it was worth. We just had 4 wheelers from then on out. Still live the looks of these things tho

It's an Elsinore! The original head looks pretty much like that of an MT 250, with cooling fin clearance for the high pipe. With the new reverse gear, the 350 had the added weight and problems of an actual transmission, as opposed to a fwd only centrifugal clutch.

Best mini dune buggies ever

I had a sweet Honda 250 odyssey for what it was , it had the single square headlight on the roll cage...

The pilot failed because we were in a recession. People had less cash to spend unlike in the early , mid 80s.

love how honda used malcom smith

Thats my friend Wayne Cook in the honda fl 250 picture

I still have two FL-250's and 1 FL-350 and the atc killer the 85 250r trike

You rode one once? Now your a expert!

The Polaris Ace is a modern Honda Odyssey FL250 the Polaris RS1 is a modern Honda FL350

Barracuda buggy is closest thing I have found like these old buggys on steroids.

I have 4 honda fl350s with 670cc rotax engines and custom long travel suspension. I'm on the east coast (Maryland) Also look up Rolling W Ranch, they're a short course offroad track in western PA that had a pilot/oddysey/utv class we raced in for a few years 2010-2014. Alot of the races are on youtube.

Honda didn't do a lot of promotion on them eitherI think have a big part to do with it to the why they didn't sell that many

great job bud!! ya the new UTV's are way over-engineered and overpriced.

I have a fl350, 350x and 200x

I worked at a motorsport events company in the early 90s and we had a fleet of Pilots. They were quick, great fun and pretty reliable. Customers loved them and so did we when they went home... 😁

Still looking for one

Salsbury means CVT belt transmission like scooters. See Foster Salsbury.

I saw a cherry Pilot go for 35 grand recently. I thought it would top out at 15 to 20, but the bids just kept going up.

Had one

what does the FL stand for in the model numbers ? thank you anyone.

i agree with you they should be in todays market, if i had the money i would either buy the name or design a US model. right know everyone is into outdoor off roading.

I think in order for these to sell well today, they'd have to be at a price point that parallels entry level quads. With the only clear advantage being safety (which is probably not a point that manufacturers would care to push). But I think it's still a hard sell, because for the footprint that thing puts in your garage or trailer, why wouldn't you want room for 2 riders? I'm sure that sounds twice as fun, to most people and makes parents feel a lot safer, when they can ride along while their kids are operating it (especially if it came with an e-brake handle and kill switch, right in between them).

I wish they would come back out with the Honda Odyssey and the Honda pilot I've only found one Honda Odyssey for sale and somebody snatched it up before I could haven't seen a Honda pilot for sale yet it's almost like they're not even out there anymore or somebody bought them all up and are sitting in a storage somewhere or in a barn rotting away

I'd buy a pilot right now! 👍

Have a 1990 fl400 pilot in nice shape I never under stood why they did not sell when people are paying over 30 k for the side by sides disabled people liked it since all the controls are on the wheel

id like to see the history of the honda xr 400r

I have a 84 and it has never overheated. I'm guessing the reason people had problems with them overheating is they used cheap oil

Do you have anything on Kruse Racing Odysseys and championships in 90s aatva racing series BREWER driver

Bring the pilot back but with a 750 cc high performance engine. I buy one in a heartbeat

At 20:18 what is the yellow Suzuki called next to the odyssey and the banshee

I live in Texas too. I would love to have a Pilot or Odyssey like this. How do I find what y'all are selling?