I bought a 2005 Foreman (TM model) last week. I rode it for the first time this past weekend and have a few questions.

Firstly, the foot shift linkage has way too much travel before it engages the gearbox. I wear a size 12 boot (so we're not talking about a dainty foot here) and had to actually lift my leg in order to engage the gearbox. There is so much travel in the linkage that I can't just push up under the shift lever with the toe of my boot to shift gears as on previous Honda ATVs and bikes. Since it was a PITA to shift, I mostly just rode around in too tall of a gear all day. The Foreman didn't complain though as there seemed to be enough torque to tolerate being in too tall a gear.

Question 1: Can the shift linkage be adjusted to shorten the travel? I've done this on my street bikes but never on an ATV.

Secondly, the Foreman seems to be very cold natured. Even though temps were in the 50's all day, any time I had to restart the Foreman after sitting for over 10 minutes I'd have to use the choke and let it warm up a couple of minutes or it'd die. I'm guessing the carbs on new ATVs are set lean to comply with air emission regs.

Question 2: How do I go about adjusting the air/fuel mixture so that the ATV will run a little richer? Again, I've done this on my street bikes but not on ATVs.

Thirdly, starting out in first gear is a waste of time. Like you don't already know that. So I began starting in 2nd gear and missed a shift to 3rd probably 4 or 5 times when I allowed the rpms to get too high. What I noticed was if I let the rpms go past the normal shift point, when I would let off the throttle to upshift, the gearbox would not respond. This usually happened when starting out in 2nd gear and trying to shift to 3rd. I'd then loose speed and engine rpms and have to downshift, but come to almost a complete stop before the gearbox would allow me to shift.

Question 3: Did Honda design it this way, or is it something that needs to be sorted out by the dealer?

Lastly, about the choke. It will not stay out for more than a few seconds before it returns to the off position. For some reason, when I pull the choke out, it immediately starts to slowly recede back to the off position. Since my Foreman takes a few minutes to warm up, if I start out with the choke engaged and then have to come to a stop before the engine warms up, it'll die on me.

Question 4: Is there an adjustment that can be made to choke cable to stop it from turning itself off or is this common to all ATVs?

I apologize if these questions are answered by reading the Owner's Manual, but the Foreman is kept at my brother's farm 4 hours away so I don't have access to the manual right now. Incidentally, the dealer where I purchased the Foreman is also 4 hours away and was closed yesterday when I was up that way so I didn't get a chance to visit with them about these issues. Besides, I'm guessing I'll get a straight answer here and would like to know if other 2005 Foreman owners have had similar issues.

Oh yeah, other than the minor issues above, the Foreman performed beautifully. Lots of torque. Comfortable ride. Even over river rocks in a dry creek bed the ride was not too harsh. Pretty stingy on gas too. The steering is much lighter than our Polaris 4x4s and even the Polaris 2x4. That was much appreciated on the twisting Ozark Mtn. trails we rode Sunday. The design of body panels and fenders really work well as I stayed dry even when running for 50 to 60 feet at full speed through 8 to 10 inches of water. The best part was after checking cattle there was no cow poop on me! Way to go Honda. I guess my only real gripe would be the design of the reverse mechanism. Why does Honda continue to use this design. What a PITA it is. Every time the group had to back up, they were always waiting on me as I was the last ATV in the group!

Thanks for your input.

 

Since your quad is new, these are all issues that the dealer should fix for you at your first service. Any new rig I buy, I take it to the dealer for the first oil change and have them make all the adjustments to jetting, carb tuning, and cable adjustments. As stuff is broken in it needs to be adjusted then its usually good from then onwards.

 

1. I'm not sure if the shifter can be adjusted for travel. They tend to be stiff to shift until broken in, especially when just started.

2. Regarding mixture adjustment, it is pretty similar to any other CV carb. I believe there is a pilot screw on the bottom of the carb, on the engine side of the float chamber. Various aftermarket companies offer rejetting kits that would likely come with directions, a variety of jets and needles, and suggested selections for applications from stock to high flow filter/muffler. It sounds like yours is a LOT more cold blooded than mine. As I recall these are equipped with an electric heater in the carb to improve cold weather performance. Perhaps yours is messed up?

3. I also start mine in 2nd gear, unless I'm in something soft or going up a grade. From your description of the shifting problem, I'm not sure you actually missed the gear. Quad transmissions generally differ from motorcycles in that there is a clutch that will not engage unless the shifter has been allowed to return to it's centered detent position. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but often new ATV riders will sometimes accidentially bump the shifter or hold the shifter off of it's centered position... I also wonder if you could be hitting 4th when you thought you got 3rd when you talk about the engine bogging down?

Anyway, the transmission should shift if you are anywhere close to the normal operating RPM. I wonder if you may have a slightly bent shift fork or something. Having the idle too high will also cause shifting problems.

4. Sometimes pull choke ***** have adjustable friction, by rotating the round housing (not the ****) on top of the dash. I'm not sure if the **** on the Foreman is like that, as I lent my bike to some friends who have it out of state at the moment.


Anyhow, if I were in your shoes, I'd go visit the dealer and discuss both your issue with the transmission, and the cold blooded issue. I bought a new enduro once, that was really cold blooded and would stall sometimes when you crack the throttle off idle. The dealer mechanic richened the idle mixture a bit, and put a shim under the needle (free of charge) and it helped quite a bit. Maybe they will do something similar for you.

Shifting, and cold weather ridability will both likely improve as the machine breaks in, but it sounds like yours has some abnormal issues...

I do hope you get these issues sorted out, and that you enjoy the new machine.