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foreman 500 reliability issues?

57911 Views 21 Replies 15 Participants Last post by  eric
a friend of mind that works in the oil field had a fleet of them last year and had major motor problems with all of them. cases cranks etc. one was still under warranty and one rebuilt more than once. and in the end some were sold broken because it cost half price of a new one to rebuild. this year they are using 350's. they have alway used Honda for reliability.
any comments or concerns.
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I have a 2006 Foreman 500,I've heard about some problems with them but for me so far everything o.k. How were they used(abused)?I'm a mechanic for a living and I tend to over-maintain everything I own,so I never had any problems with any of my cars,trucks,atv's.The only trouble I ever had with a Honda is my wife's Recon ES.Every electric-shift part was replaced at least once.
Im also starting to wonder about the build quality, from what ive been reading honda seems to have cut corners in building this bike. Not good at all, guess well just fix as we go.
I bought a honda thinking I was getting an atv that I wouldn't have to work for several years, now i'm going on my second set of wheel bearings and it's not even a year old. Honda has really let us down on this one.
Honda may have let us down but i wouldnt trade it for any poloris i will just keep dumping my hard earned money into it why not you have to have some sort of hobby
O trust me this 4 wheeler isnt anywhere near as expensive as my old 78k5 that i was turnin into my wheelin toy. Thats why i have no prob dropin cash into the honda! and i wouldent have it anyother way!
I have had my 05 Foreman 500S since February of 2005 and so far no problems yet "Knock on wood" I have stayed up on all the maintenance on it and dont have anything leaking or anything worn out. I do take and wash it off real good after each and every mud run. I am always checking the air filter and air box for gas or oil, front and rear diffs for water, check the oil level and change the oil and filter regularly, and pull the front wheels off to clean the mud and grud out of the brakes and around the bearings the best that I can. I am very happy with my Foreman, Like Dirtyrider6104 said, I would rather dump money into a Honda then have a Polaris or any other Belt Drive piece of crap.
All of this I did not want to hear!!!!!!!!!! I researched and researched and bought what I thought was the best and now everyone's saying that the 500 has a lot of problems? Figures I have waited for so long to get a fourwheeler and now I "may" have a big pile of poop. Just great! I hope the problems listed above are because of abuse. I get mine stuck but when I'm stuck I'm stuck and get help out. I baby it is what I'm trying to say! I have been reading a lot of test rides in all the mags and they are not picking the hondas anymore for the best. What's happening???? I'm just ranting, I had a bad day and now someone is telling me my foreman is a pile.....
they are by no means a pile of junk. Some of the breakage ive heard of can a lot of the times be pushed along cause of the tires and style of riding. I know my 29.5s and lots of water riding are not making my foremans life easy. Its still a great machine, lot of bang for the buck.
I hope so!
Believe me these bikes will go through **** and back yes you may have to do some work to them but u wount be sorry you got one
my 450 is bullet proof
QUOTE ("Chevync20":1b7phk7y)
my 450 is bullet proof
The last of the great honda bikes.
QUOTE ("screg":1vd2l2zo)
The last of the great honda bikes.
And where is your big bad BF now??
hehe
QUOTE ("Truegrit":3l3782n1)
QUOTE ("screg":3l3782n1)
The last of the great honda bikes.
And where is your big bad BF now?? [/quote]


he likes to call it the "day spa"...for 7 weeks

my Honda works just fine....sitting in my garage and going to get the mail on Saturdays down at the end of my driveway with her flat tire. it doesnt break that way
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wow it's sounds like the end of the world in here. These are NOT unreliable bikes I have 1600 miles on my bike and have never had any kind of mechanical problem, and I do not go easy on it, it gets beat. I have replaced the wheel bearings and brake pads and thats it. how a whole fleet of bikes completely failed i have know idea but i suspect some outside factor it just doesnt add up.
I have a 2006 forman 500 S I bought in december and have 1000 miles on it and 100HR. It is boan stock. and I ride it like i stole it I have drounded it 4 times i ride in a loat of water & mudd, sand @ suberan estates in fl. I love my Forman I have not done enything to it but change my oil, filter & air filter. I change air filter every weekend ride and oil & filter every outher ride and check difes no water yet. great bike I am thinking of trading in my wifes rancher 2wd on one
about the fleet of broken Honda's. I talked to him again on Thurs. they had 4 or 5 on 2 different crews and he said these things get used and abused. aprox 1000kms a month. overloaded, and many different drivers, and some unexperienced. one Honda dealer told them the studs pull out of the cases from to many rpms when down shifting. they had one still running lifting the cylinder off the cases.
mine is less than a year with no problems yet. it has been upside down in the creek.
good luck and try to keep the rubber down.
Well there you have it. 2 many ppl ridin that dont know what there doin. Those poor hondas, can you imagin all the clutch dumps that were done on the tranny.
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