Hi
i own 99 foreman 450 esp. the bike is going fine only some times it hard to get the gears with the esp, when i looked at it the gear shaft it moves with the button but the gear isa not selected. during the troubleshoot phase i noticed that if you turn the bike off in gear not in netural it was very hard to get in to gear. you may even have to have to get the manual gear level to get gears, Has anyone had any problems like this ( i have a HAYES Manual but it short on info in this subject) and if so how did ye fix them ??


"Keep her lit"

 

On any manual transmission machine, it is often difficult or impossible to shift gears when the machine is NOT moving. If you are standing still, try rocking the bike back-and-forth while shifting the gears. A better tactic is to just downshift through the gears as you are coming to a stop. This puts you back in 1st gear, and ready to go again.

 

There are a couple of things to try.
Is the battery known to be good? If you suspect the battery, have it load tested. Also look over the terminals at the battery, and if they are crusty or corrorded, clean them up, and file or sand off the corrosion , so the contacts are clean and shiney.
Next in the list, in the service manual, is to do the clutch adjustment. Its actually an adjustment which sets the amount of slop, or clearance in the linkage from the shifter to the clutch pack.
To do the clutch adjustment, have the motor warmed up, and then turn it off. On the forward side of the motor, will be a nut and a slotted screw, pretty much in the center of the round area. Loosen the nut, but dont take it off. Next, using a screwdriver, turn the slotted screw, CCW, until you feel resistance. From there, go back,CW, 1/4 turn. Hold the screw from moving, and snug up the nut.
Let us know if that helps.
reconranger, is right about being stationary and trying to shift. If its at all posible, you want to shift while the tires are turning, its because these trannys dont have syncros, and they need rotation to reliably shift gears.

 

Thanks guys
to answer the first one i do rock it and sometimes that works and again the correct way is to down gear to 1st and then to netural, and then next time i don't have any problems. thanks for your reply


to hondabuster
since i posted the mail my dad took it for a spin (66year old but a heart of 20) when he returned the gears were not working at all, he said that "he never even stopped the bike" and the bike stuck in 4gear. at that point it appears that there is no power comming to the switch (i have checked yet that tonights work) but from the wiring diagram it gets it feed from the cpu, now on reading the manual it states that if the cpu find some thing wrong with any componets in the circuit it will cut the power.
the battery is good will it has no problem to start and the lights work fine, the connection are ok
i did suspect the clutch because when you engage 1st gear the bike slightly jumps (not a smooth engage)
is there replacement parts in the clutch (Clutch plate) similiar a car?


and again thanks for the reply i will keep you informed on the outcome at least now i have a real problem not an intermitting one to chase

 

When the system suspects something is wrong, itll shut itself down, and thats why its stuck in 4th gear.
Use the handle, and shift it back to nuetral,then go key off, and back on and that should reset the computer. Then it should restart.
Too bad it isnt a 2002 or newer, because they have a code which flashes to tell you what area to look in.
Dont go thowing parts at it, cuz itll get expensive.
The clutch is probably fine...its normal for it to be abrupt, when shifting, or the idle speed could be too high.
Check all of the fuses under the seat, there might be one of them blown.
Did you do the clutch adjustment yet? Probably 90% of shifting problems on the es are caused by that.
Your best bet, if your handy with fixing things, is to get the honda factory service manual, or the clymers. They both have very good dianostics for this, and will step you though the steps, to find whats wrong. It gets pretty involved with checking for continuity and voltage, and i could try to step you though it, but the pictures and sketches in the book are what youll want to see.
But try going to neutral first...than do the key off and on. Then restart it, and see if its working intermitently again. Then do the clutch adjustment
If you have a voltmeter, check the standing voltage of the battery, it should be 12.3 volts and up. Then leave the voltmeter hooked up, and crank the motor with the starter...the voltage should remain above 10 volts during the cranking...if its less, the battery is dieing.
Let me know what you fnd.

 

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we are back in business thanks for all the help

Problem

Hard to get gears to finally no gears at all
start ok no gears (ES Buttons) appear to be dead


Resolution
lifted the sit and was about to check the fuses, when i spotted some thing that was not quiet right a small black box see picturesnull
it had been fixed before by someone else, when i looked at it i could see that the wire and connector were not right so i but on anew connector and the job is perfect

up and down the gears like no tommrow

so there we are thanks to ye all happy quad rider in ireland ;-)