Snowshark is on the right track. My 2000 Rancher ES has broken three time. The first time sounds similar to your problem. It would start in N but after reving would not shift until the key was turned off. Eventually the speedo/odometer stopped working. It is directly related to the speed sensor on the side of the motor. Dealer replaced under waranty and all was fine.

Second malfunction was caused by a bad angle sensor. The rancher would not shift at all. The dealer replaced the angle sensor and a partial tore wiring harness. The tear in the wiring harness was caused by a frayed winch cable. Snow plowing is extremely hard on your cable.

Third malfunction was a loose conection to one of the sensors. The dealer fixed in one day. The first two malfunctions took the dealer four to five weeks each to fix.

I have obtained the service manual for the rancher and it is great. There is a step by step trouble shooting flow chart for the ESP. Voltage meter is all that is needed to diagnose problem on your own.

 

I would recommend a service manual to anyone. I received the one for the Rancher last week. It has all the info you will ever need.

It runs about $40 + $4 for shipping & handling.

 

I have a 2000 450ES that I purchased in July 99.My problem was similar in that my quad would lock up in gear and I'd have to shut down and restart back up to reset the system.If I let it cool down for 30 minutes to an hour, all would be well until the quad heated up again.In addition to this,my speedo was acting bizarre. All of this turned out to be related to a faulty speedo sensor (mentioned in a prev post) which faults the ES program. Since it was replaced under warranty, all has been well. The place I had my quad serviced tried replacing the angle sensor first but no luck. I've actually heard of several of these "speedo sensors" going bad.You may just have one of the bad lot...Hope you get it squared away soon...

 

I am experiencing the same problem with my Y2K 450ES. I backed up to a mud hole tonight to tow someone out.(Sportsman 500) Immediately after I went through it !!! I put bike into neutral and shut it off. Got off the bike and rigged the tow rope up. Hopped back on my bike ,, fired it up ,, and it wouldnt go into gear. I rocked, Reved, kicked , screamed and nothing worked. I then put the manual shifter on it and shifted it into first gear. Towed him out, and shut the bike off in 1st. 2 minutes later I turned the bike back on and the ES worked just fine from there on ! How strange. I have had this happen 3 times in my first 500km. The dealer told me also its normal. I DONT BUY THAT ! I think we should all send a letter to Honda and complain. The 450ES is an unbelievable bike but I think there is a genuine problem here !

 

we r having these problems too.....to i to the dealer for a service (the 450es)....took the front left wheel of and spat guards....took that sensor out on the side of the engine put it back on....no improvement...under the front fender is a big black box with leads going into it.....we separated that.....blew it clean (wasn't really ditry)....put contact cleaner on the points and put it back together.....no fix!....infact it made matters worse....the reverse light stays on...speedo is out....lock in gear...i noticed at and idle the bike speedo still says 6km.....this is maybe the source of the shifting problem because the bike won't shift to neutral if the bike still thinks its moving more than 3km/h....so there is something wrong with the speed sensor on the side of the engine....recommend you look at too....similar problem....i think the dealers pull the black box apart hasn't created any favours either....will pull apart and dry the contact cleaner out with an air gun

just my two cents.......you are not alone!!
go hard

 

Oh did the Sportsman run out of gas?

 

LOL good one Guy!

 

If it had run out of gas, I bet you would feel redeemed. But the sad truth is , he spends too much time either stuck or broke down with his Sportsman to run out of gas. " GOOD ONE KOSAIC "

 

lol

 

Have you even read the Topic yet? It says HONDA 450ES having shift problems. And then there are tons of people who replied and said they had the same thing happening with their HONDA. Oh ya, I have never seen a Sportsman stuck but I have seen my share of Hondas.