I read something the other day about fixing the reverse button so you did not have to push it down each time. I just got my wife an 03 rancher and would be interested in finding out more about this. Thanks.

 

couldnt you just clip it down?

 

Thanks for the response, but I am not sure I know what or how? Can anyone else shed some light on this. I don't mean to be dense and I guess it is not a big deal whether we change it or not. Just thought it eliminate a step for the wife. Thanks.

 

The button is for saftey to keep from accidently shifting into reverse while the quad is still moving , and it's easy to hit reverse when dowshifting ; a big time repair bill when this happen's ! .................williebee

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, my Recon is like this... the reverse button is nothing more than an interlock. When you push the button, you connect the brake lever to the reverse cable, then when you pull the brake lever, you are pulling the reverse cable and then you can shift down into reverse. Like I said, this might be completely different than yours, but I think they all work like that.

 

There's a couple of options. One, you can zip tie the red reverse button down so you only have to activate the hand brake to shift to reverse. The other option is to zip tie the reverse cable/lever in the engaged position on the bottom of the motor. If you do this, then there is no need to engage the brake to go to reverse. You can do this by getting your wife to engage the reverse cable and hand brake while you look around at the bottom back of your motor to see movement. Once located, you can zip tie it in the engaged position - very easy.

Obviously, the factory way is the most safe way to leave it. The next would be to zip tie the red button because you are still having to engage the brake. Zip tieing the lever on the bottom of the motor would be the least safe but the most convenient.

I read somewhere that there is no harm done by the revese lever being zip tied engaged as it is merely a safety lock-out and affects nothing else mechanically.

I dont know this, but I suspect that one would be much less likely to engage reverse on an ES model while traveling forward than on a foot shift model. This is because you have to be going very slow on an ES to down shift from 2nd to 1st (at least on mine - I dont know if this is the case on the foot shifters). So, your almost stopped when going to 1st anyway. Of course if you were in neutral rolling forward and hit reverse without stopping, that would be stressful on the gears.

In any event, mine has been like this (2nd method) for about a year and I've had no problems with it. It makes the bike much better, especially on tight trails or in the mud. When I let novices ride the bike I simply cut the zip tie so they cant mess it up.

Rodney

 

Thanks for the above info. This is the clearest picture and it makes complete sense. I will look at it physically and make a decision. Will probably opt for number. It still requires the brake being pulled... she doesn't have a problem with that it is just pushing the button and pulling and selecting etc.

 

I bought the coolest little device for the reverse button and it works GREAT...I'm not sure if I can post it here as I don't want to get in trouble from the moderators, but feel free to e-mail me and I'll send you a link where I got it (cheap too!).
mycomputerworks@bellsouth.net

 

It can't be cheaper than a zip tie.

 

Post the link.