After solving my shifting issues I want to start tweaking my foreman. The trails I go on are fairly rough, involve plenty of water crossings, many hill climbs, and definate body damage. Most of my friends have more powerfull quads so keeping up with them on open trails is sometimes tough also. Though I dont have a ton of money I dont mind spending on this. I ride atleast 3 times a week. My list of ideas is

Tires, Mine suck, maybe 26 inch instead of stock 25.
Sugestions?

Suspension, AD Boivin makes a kit for these that is supposed to dramaticlay help handling and comfort.
Other ideas?

Skid plates, I saw a set of plastic ones out there that was intresting, I do want to go with full skids, What brand is best?

Exhaust, No idea where to start here

Jet kit, Need this to make the exhaust worth it? I have built carbs for cars so fairly confident I can handle this.


Sorry for tons of questions. I dont know a ton about quads but have dealt with cars (am a mechanic) and snowmobiles quite a bit.
thanks

 

You have a lot of spending to do! If your stock tires are shot, then new shoes will give a huge boost in performance. Suspension is always a great upgrade, but as long as your shocks are in good working order, I would try the tires fisrt, and maybe add a slip on exhaust/air filter to give you a little more power to pull them. Rejetting a quad is fairly simple, there is a lot of good info on the HMF website, and they also make a quality product. Skids are a great idea, pretty much one of the first things I upgrade on my quads. You might want to look at Ricochet products.

 

26" Bighorns, Perfex kit(cheaper), richochet plates are good, HMF pipe, K&N filter, jets(not Dyno jets), and if you are having brake problems get rid of those front drums and go with some Extreme Products Discs.

 

Thanks for the ideas, Now where do I find these parts? any links?

I do have a lot of spending to do but I am used to building offroad trucks so this is like a dream when it comes to costs. Right now the brakes work decently, I did see the disc upgrade onlione somewhere and it will be added as soon as the stock drums start acting up. I cant figure why they didnt have discs stock.

 

Forgot to add, winch wasnt on the list because I already have one on the way.

 

Foreman dan has some great advice. Go to atvoutfitters.net. You can get their phone number on his website. Call Matt, the prices are usually cheaper than whats listed on his website. I deal with him all the time. As far as parts. HMF pipe (makes the most power but ungodly loud). As far as jets stay away from dynojet and use Keihin. You can get them through Honda or jetsrus.com. A perfex kit will really help the ride on that Foreman, I'm not familar with the kit your asking about. But if your having trouble keeping up with your buddies you might want to stay with a stock 25in tire to avoid the slight powerloss from the bigger tires.. The Foreman 450 needs all it can get. Theres a bunch of skid plates out there. But PRM is a very good kit.

 

Evferything sounds good except the bigger tires. Dont go with bigger than stock or you will lose power. 1 inch of tire will do nothing for performance except lose performance. You only gain 1/2 inch groung clearance so it is not worth the power loss because 1/2 inch is nothing.

 

Also until you get started with your planned mods. Heres a free one that works. Remove the 4 screws on top of your carb. Becareful they are soft and will strip easy. Just use a screwdriver that fits. remove top and remove spring. Count off about 11-13 springs counting the bunched up ends as one and cut. reinstall longer piece of spring back in carb. Becareful not to pinch the rubber diafram. Then go test. This doesn't make more power but really increases throttle response. This also works on Foremans, Ranchers, and Rincons. In most cases you can wheelie after this mod.

 

Thanks for all the tips. I will stick with a 25 inch tire (didnt think i would even notice any power difference with that small of a change) and will check out ordering some parts.

 

One thing I forgot to mention, you really don't need to buy a whole jet kit. The pipe manufacturer should be able to give you some jetting specs that are close, you may even be able to get thier recommended jet sizes with your pipe purchase. If you need anything else, the closest dealer should carry jets for your Honda, doesn't even need to be a Honda dealer.