The wrong button mistake really hurts

 

Can anyone tell me where Honda has stated or claimed you can shift with the throttle opened.

Not that I doubt any body but I have a hard time believing Honda would encourage shifting like that
and if so I would be more inclined to believe you could do so, if they say it was designed for such shifting

 

I just purchased a 450ES and I also read that you could shift while under full throttle...and while you can, it doesnt sound to good on the tranny not too mention when you hit the wrong button!!(I still have the LCD impression in my chest)

 

It lets me shift fine while driving except, won't let me go to neutral if I'm going over a certain speed... which I like. I'd hate to downshift past first by mistake.

When I first got it it shifted terrible... Guess it had something to do with me squeezing the clutch lever (oops brake lever) while shifting. You see, I've driven motorcycles for the last 30 some years and had a hard time getting used to an automatic clutch

Other problem is I almost always miss the button on the Recon. Sure would like an ES recon. Maybe I'll trade up from the Recon to a 2x4 ES Rancher next year... Don't know... the recon is pretty fun.

 

This is straight out of the owner's manual. There is a difference in what is recommended and what can be done. I think it's comes down to how you want to treat your investment. Notice steps 4 and 5.

SHIFTING GEARS

After starting the engine and letting it warm up, follow these procedures:
1.With the transmission in neutral, release the parking brake, but continue squeezing the rear brake lever.
2. With the throttle closed, press the upshift switch once to shift into
1st gear.
3. Release the rear brake lever and increase engine speed by gradually opening the throttle.
4. When speed increases, release the throttle and shift to 2nd gear by pressing the upshift switch once.
5. Repeat this sequence to progressively upshift to 3rd, 4th and 5th (top) gear.
6. To downshift, press the downshift switch once. Remember to close the throttle each time you shift to the next lower gear.

NOTE:
*The transmission cannot be upshifted from neutral to first gear when the engine speed is above 3,000 rpm or the ground speed is above 2 mph (3 km/h).
*The transmission cannot be downshifted from 1st gear to neutral when the ground speed is above 2 mph (3 km/h).
*If the electric shift system malfunctions, the transmission cannot be shifted by pressing the gearshift switches. See your Honda dealer. (In an emergency, a gear may be selected manually so you may move the vehicle. See Emergency Gear Selection & Operation, page
73 ).

 

They dont encourage it. You should be able to do the same on an S version. They probably dont encourage it since its probably not good for the quad. They also say dont go in more than 10 inches of water....but thats no fun.

 

i found that i keep hitting the electric start button on my 95 300 foretrax after riding the rancher. shifting the rancher while open throttle is not good for the machine, common sense should tell you that. although, if you had to go somewhere really fast and didn't want to shift the right way, i suppose you could shift without letting up on the throttle. i sure the dealers would love to fix your machine later on down the road. later -dana

 

my dealer would just **** it up more so i'd hafta biring it back and they could cotinue to bleed me dry.....

 

Greetings,

Regarding the downshift instructions from the manual (Rangercd 9/27), I am surprised that they want you to close the throttle when downshifting. If you let up on the throttle, the machine takes a pretty good lurch when you hit the down-shift button. The lower gearing pushes hard on the engine to run faster given the speed of the quad.

I read a post in here a while back that recommended blipping the throttle up a bit when down shifting so that the engine will be closer to the right RPM rate for the new lower gear. I've tried this and it makes for much smoother operation.