When they put drum brakes on there utlity atv's? The front brakes stopped working the 2nd time I drove my recon after buying it brand new. Its a 2004 I bought when the 05's were released and the front brakes havent worked since I drove it off road through mud and water. I didnt bother trying to fix it because I knew it would happen again as soon as I drove it again. Come on Honda WTF were you thinking?

 

I guess they are shaving cost off the end of the Utes right now.

It seems that all the factories go through cycles where they spend money in one place or the other. In recent years with the "sport" ATVs being reborn they are spending money on the 450r......

And you have to imagine is it only a matter of time until we see a new, more modern engine in a 400ex, or maybe a 650ex or something. I know people have been saying that for years but the time was never more right.

Honda and everyone else was making better Utes and the sport side suffered for many years. Now there is added pressure to come up with a sporty 4x4, a side-by-side and who knows what else.

I'm not surprised at all to see a smart company like Honda take corners like a rear drum brake. I'm sure the quad stops just fine.

 

If i recall honda has always been **** poor on brakes in their utes. Highlifter makes disk kits for their forman and other utility ATVs I dont know if they make them for the recon you could check it out

highlifter.com

 

Sounds like you were not thinking. You knew what you were buying or you should have known. And then to say that you did not fix it! Did you even look to see what was wrong. I don't care for the drum brakes either, but they are not supposed to leak and you should have checked it. There are Thousands out there that are not leaking.

 

brakes? what due u need brakes for?

 

i have 600 miles on my 2005 rancher, and i havent had any problems with my brakes.....you should probably had it checked out there's probably something wong with it, bad seals or whatever.

 

although a high maintenance item. the drum brakes, at least the front work flawlessly. my brakes are underwater 90 % of the time and still work great. they just require maintenance

disc's are nice till you get in the snow and they freeze, park your bike come back and its like the parking brake is on

 

It amazes me people who defend mechanical drum brakes. Even Honda knows disks brakes are better, thats why most of the ATVs have them on the front at least now.

Only there most expensive Utility ATV they make the FourTrax? Rincon 680 has disk brakes all around.

Honda seems to always stay behind the curve, the where the last to go to selectable 4wd and are now just getting into liquid cooled motors , disk brakes and only offer IRS if you buy there most exspensive Utility ATV the Rincon onces again.

IRS,Disk brakes liquid cooling and IRS have been around for years and is old news now,,most other manufacturers offer all those options on there mid range ATV(Grizzly 400 for Ex. ) not just on there top of the line flag ship model.

 

Their is going to be a 650ex. The cc might be a little differant.

 

Well I just went out and took the drums off for the first time. There was a little mud in there but I think it was just residue from muddy water. They were out of adjustment also and the drums had surface rust on the friction area where the shoes meet the drum.

I used 2 cans of brake clean, my air compressor and got everything spotless. Then I cleaned up the rubber outer seal and used liquid silicone on it. Then I used light sandpaper and roughed up the shoes and resurfaced the drums so they were rust free. Put it all back together and readjusted them and now they will throw me over the handlebars. They lock up solid when I jam the front brakes hard just like when they were new!

Again I stress this is a poor design and they need to make the switch over to disk brakes! My friends 2005 Bruin 250 goes through everything I do and he has had no brake problems at all. He doesn't have to adjust them, clean them or even worry about them.