I am in the market for a new bike and the foreman has caught my eye. I will be doing a lot of trail riding, hitting a good bit of mud, and some utilility uses (loading/unloading jet skis and boats, etc...), and a good bit of mud riding. I also plan to put some 26/27 ITP 589's, lift, and spacers. Would this bike be good for this? Ive been riding hondas for about 15yrs so i know a little about them, however i want some outside opinions on this setup. Please share any thoughts you may have on this.

 

I bought an 04 Foreman ES model in March 2004 for 5150.00 out the door, including tax title, paperwork, etc. I purchase mine in western Pennsylvania. I would say that an S model should be less than that. You can look on the web at www.abernathycycles.com for about the cheapest prices I've found. They dont ship quads, they are located in western Tennessee. Prices now are about 4500.00 for the same quad I bought in March. Pete

 

For reliability and dependability, and working, its hard to beat a foreman. But the ride quality, for trail riding is a bit stiff. Itll go thru mud and uphills just great, and it wont have any problems pulling bigger tires.
$5800 is alot for a 04 s. I see them advertized for 4800, and probably another 350 for tax and licence.

 

I've been really impressed with mine. No matter what kind of trail or job I throw at it , it seems to handle it with ease.

 

Which Foreman? I have come to think of the 450 as the "Foreman", but they also call the Rubicon a Foreman, and the old (appearently discontinued for 05) 400 as well. Sounds like you are probably talking about the 450? If so, it is a good old, time tested machine with a great reputation.

 

Well if you where here in Oklahoma I would sell you my 2002 Forman. (new teenage driver in house)

 

26's or 27's should work well on a Foreman 450. I think the rear 27's are a little lighter than the rear 26's. Aren't they (27 rear) 27-11x12 and (26 rear) 26-12x12? It's been a while since I've compared tires.

The only thing I don't like about my Foreman is it's squeaky season. (Recently entered.)

I move my boat around with my Foreman. It should work well as long as your boat isn't too big.

 

Fast trail-riding isn't going to be it's strong suit, however everything else you mentioned including oversized tires will be just fine. For some reason, I see an ungodly amount of 450 Foremans at a lot of mud bogs so that has to say something about their mudding abilities.