hello, was wondering if anybody knows about the es trannys in the hondas? am looking at a 06 rancher es for 4400 best price i cxould find. this will be my first atv and want to do it right the first time. has anybody heard anything good or bad about these atvs ecsspically the trannys. ty for any info sledge

 

My Rancher is an 05 so it's not that old, but I've not had any problems with it. If it didn't work, Honda would not keep putting it on ATVs. You'll read about people who have had problems or know someone who have had problems, but the vast majority never have any problems with the ES system.

 

thanks for the info steve that really helps. will be going in tmmrw to check them out. your have the 329cc and if so does it run good ty sledge

 

the tranny itself is the same almost identical to the manual shift transmission, the tranny is just shifted electricall by use of a shift motor mounted externally. There have been very VERY few problems with the tranny itself, it's the electronic sensors that cause most of the ES issues. Usually its the angle sensor, which is relatively cheap and a piece of cake to fix. Other times it's the shift motor, shift buttons or just plain consumer neglect and the clutch adjustment is never done.

I have 600 miles on my '05 with no problems at all. The engine is bulletproof for the most part, just do the maintenance in the owners manual and you'll be just fine.

 

i love my 2 wheel drive! can go almost anywere! though most mud holes. and fun as hell on the trails. as long as you keep the clutch adjusted the es works great most of the time. these quads are very dependable. now having said all that, im looking at a 650 king quad, i want a LOCKER! i love playing in mud!

 

Thats the best price you can find?! Southern Honda in Chattanooga has them for just over $3600. They are a volume dealer and not the only ones around. MSRP is only $4200.

 

I see this as two seperate questions, one about the Rancher and one about ES.

ES-lots of posts in here about ES problems. Average is about two per week......so it's buyer beware on that one!

The 2wd Rancher is a excellent and very capable machine. It will go most places my 4wd would, even over the big rocks. I give the nod to the 4wd only in the snow and a few extreme circumstances. No mud here in the arid southwest (thank God!), so no comment on how a 2wd would do in those conditions.

 

get a 4x4...

 

I've been very happy with my 2wd...haven't been able to stick it so far.

As far as the tranny goes, mine's two months old and the ES shift buttons have crapped out. The dealer's also replacing the angle sensor, as they got a memo from Honda to sh!tcan all the ones stamped "Made in Mexico".

 

That is not a great deal as far as the price but go ahead and go for the 2WD and if you want to later Warn makes a product to make it 4WD, I ride in 2WD 95% of the time but I personally would never give up my 4WD capability. It has got me out of some nasty situations [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]