I am considering purchasing a 2001 Foreman500 Rubicon. I was told today that the 2001 was a bad year for that model and to stay away from the purchase. The problem areas were the wiring harness allowing moisture to penetrate and also the transmission. Any truth to this?
Dave

 

the rubicon and the foreman are two totally different machines! they are both great in there own ways but different!

 

I guess I'm a little confused. The side of the atv read Foreman and under that Rubicon. Please explain.

 

Its kinda the Z28 of the Foreman's. Frame and body are Foreman. Motor and trans mission are Rubicon. The Rub is a 500cc and the Foreman is a 450.

 

Ah, I'm getting a lesson here! So this sounds like a good atv? Now back to the original question, do you know if the 2001 was a bad year for this atv? thanks for the input.

 

There were some problems with the '01 models. The oil pressure relief valve inside the oil pump would fail and not feed oil to the tranny (oil would still be fed to the top end and rest of motor however). This in turn would cause the auto tranny unit fail. A quick oil pressure test will verify the condition of the relief valve. If caught in time, the relief valve/oil pump ***'y can be replaced w/out replacing the tranny unit. Unfortunately the oil pump is inside the cases and complete engine teardown is required for servicing.

I have not seen any wiring problems in our shop. Its possible other dealers may have seen this but we have not.

BTY, Honda used Foreman on everything from the old original 350 4x4s, the 400 and 450 4x4, the new 500s and also the Rubicon.

 

Thanks for the info. Based on this, would it prevent you from buying one? If I do is there anything I can do to help prevent these problems from occuring, such as timely oil changes?