Lets talk transmissions

First, I really, really, really dont want to get rid of my Foreman for something else, but.....

For the 2nd time now, I have destroyed parts of my trans. I dont know for sure, as I never talked to the mechanic the first time, but I think the problem I have now is the same problem I had about 200 miles ago.

I was going through some pretty nasty but very wet mud, nice water mud mix that is tough to get through with out working real hard. I was in first gear and spent a good 3-5 mins working myself through this hole when it popped real loud, felt like it skipped a tooth or something in the trans.

The bike is now apart and the culprit has been found. At least 2, and maybe 3 gears are destroyed but its not the teeth that are having the problem, its the face of the gear where they are engaged. Without having seen the actual gears themselves yet, im only speaking on what the mechanic has told me. He described the face of the gear having a raised square that locks into another gear I think, the raised square part wore real bad and became circular. When ever a load is put on 1st hear it would pop or skip, the gear is not staying engaged as it should. I was also told the shift forks look worn as well, and these were replaced the first time I had this problem.

So...my question is, am I doing something wrong??? I have an S model and always let off the gas when changing gears, and I dont downshift into first going much more then 5-6 mph. I do a lot of rev matching when downshifting though, I press the shifter down, and rev the motor a little then put it in gear to keep the downshifts as smoothe as possible. Road race guys do this when going into turns to keep all there momentum up. Is this a possible reason for damages?? Do I just have a lemon??

I do have the 29.5 outlaws, and expect to break things with them, but I was hoping to break axles, and not internal transmission parts? The first trasmission failure happend when I ran less aggressive 27inch tires as well.

Ask anyone I ride with and I baby my Foreman quite a bit. But, I do spend a lot of time in the water, and I know it has to be hard on the machine to push all the water out of its way. Is this the reason for the failures?

For the Honda Technicians on the board, I could really use some help here. Any insight, espically to the workings of these transmissions would help so much.