While hunting Elk in Utah this weekend, My cousin brought his new Rubicon out for the weekend he has around 80 miles on the machine, The problem that he was having is everytime he would put it in reverse it would cut out and barely run, when he would shift out of reverse into high or low, It sounded fine and drove fine although I didnt think it ran as well as it should have..(We raced it against my 2000 SP500 and the Polaris beat him by about 1 1/2 lengths while in D2 and It was more like 5-6 lengths in ESP mode). He told me it was running fine when he parked it last week, Im sure it isnt the jetting since he bought it from the local dealer here in my area, and it had been running fine ??? Any ideas on what he might check ? I was also a little dissapointed in how sloppy the shifter was, It and the little rotater **** felt like they were going to fall off, and seeing that other post it looks like some of them have fallen off. The Rubicon is a very competent machine in rough terrain, it has great trail manners and is very smooth and controlled, The Rubicon owner thought that the Sportsman had easier steering and a better ride, but hated the little things like brake chatter/snap on plastic panels that dont always line up etc...Who can help with his rough idle and poor reverse idle ?

 

Hmm... lots of things to comment on here.

Dying in reverse: How is the idle? Does it seem too low? It sounds like he is idling too low.

Racing the SP500: He has something wrong. This is something that I have done many times and 5-6 lengths.....not a chance. Has he taken the slack out of the throttle? Maybe its becuase of the idling problem. There is definately something wrong here for it to take a beating like that.

Shifter and controls: What was sloppy about the shifter? Which shifter are you talking about? A **** fell off due to a screw vibrating loose. Nothing a little "lock-tite" cant fix.

 

TEXMud, He did turn up the idle a little, When I first got to camp he said that it wouldnt even idle, he had it idling OK but it still was missing and I thought sounded terrible, he said it ran Ok once he started out going forward and when I drove it it seemed fine, Is there any type of electrical over-ride on the reverse like there is on the SP500 ? Both of the shifters felt very loose and sloppy, You really had to move the one that shifts from High-Low etc in order to get it to lock into a gear, I have not been a big fan of the SP500 shifters but Polaris has nothing over on Honda for crappy shifting, at least on this particular ATV, My SP500 has a much better crisper shift to it than his Rubicon.
And I agree, The 2 quads are very even in performance I have ridden a Rubicon several different times and there is probably 1/2 of a quad length between the 2 over a 150 yard race, and I feel the winner could go to whomever got the best start., But neither of us bought em to race, only to enjoy. I almost put a Rubicon in my garage when I sold my 450ES, but I loved this yellow on the Polaris and I thought I would give Honda a year to figure out the little problems that they will have with a new machine like that.
I would love to have the SP500 and Rubicon.

 

You might have him check the wiring harness from the shifter. On mine it ended up being pinched under the starter motor housing and this caused it to short out.When this happens it causes the computer to go into a default mode and only fires every fourth rev. The motor will still run, but its rough and has no power; it's basicaly to keep from harming the motor.

Tell him to be thankfull he made 80 miles. I only made it two miles on mine before it locked things up on me.

Also tell him to check the bolts on the rear rack,mine were about 1/16 of a inch to long and even though they were tight it was because they bottomed out in the holes.I ended up having to put in a washer for a spacer, problem fixed.

 

Sportsman500, I am not a mechanic so I am not sure what to tell you. Maybe some other more experienced people can help you. It does sound like something is wrong. As far as the shifters go mine function like a car. When you shift from neutral to drive there is a "spot" (for lack of better terms) where the shifter rests. Just like an automatic car. Push the button on the side to move out of the gear you are in, then let go. When it is in the right position it will fall into place and lock there. Funny you compare it to the shifting on a SP500, I cant for the life of me find the gears on one. Everytime I ride my friends, he has to come over and check to see if I am in the right gear.

 

Did any water or anything get in the Sparkplug cap on it? Is the sparkplug ok? check the easy stuff first then work towards the harder stuff.

 

A little hint: the D2 transmission mode is intended for torque while hauling a load, or towing. It also works for riding a 2nd person. D1 is the mode for performance, and that should be the mode used for normal riding most of the time. It still sounds like the motor wasn't running right, though. This bike uses a new spark plug with an iridium tip, which you are not even supposed to re-gap, because you'll damage the coating. I also understand they are expensive (because of the coating), and my dealer didn't even have any in stock yet. Mine is going in for the first scheduled maintenance, and I am gonna have them check the tuning, although it is supposed to be computer-controlled. My shifter also lost the bolts holding it on, and it too was notchy as hell, requiring me to tap the throttle before attempting to shift it from forward to reverse, etc. But I don't regret buying it, and it is an awesome ATV that does everything well. I am even waiting for the first snow, so I can use the plow for the first time....