My dad's 1986 foreman 350 had the starter go out about 15 years ago, and he's just been kick starting it ever since. I talked to him about it last weekend, and asked why he never got it fixed. He said he got a replacement starter, and it also died with 1 year after putting it in. He said he talked to a Honda dealer and they said there was a bad design for the starters that year, and they fixed it the year after. But they told him not to bother putting another new starter in because it would just break again within a year. I don't really know the details, but I just thought this was strange. Any thoughts?

 

MortisFK i had a 1986 Honda TRX 350 Foreman with full time 4wd and i had the same thing happen to me on the original starter it started dragging when it was about 3 month's old , i didn't know if it was the battery or starter so i took it to the local Dealer to have them to rebuild it ; after i dropped it off they called me the next day and told me the starter was burn't up to bad to rebuild it they said a new starter cost $200 and ask what i wanted to do about it ! And since i lost both leg's below the knee's in 1975 i told them i couldn't kick start it so put a new one on it ! When i went to pick it up they only charged me $179.00 + tax and labor , for the starter but they soaked me on some other thing's i didn't tell the to do ; an oil and filter change ( i had just changed the oil and filter before i took it in for repair's ) and they said we adjusted the brake's whitch were fine when i took it in ! The total cost was $279.98 i payed them and went home , i left it on the truck over night because i was going to do some scouting before deer season the next morning ; when i started loading my gear in the truck i saw a puddle of oil under the quad ! I had some bottle's of old dirty oil from the oil change i did a few day's before i took it to the dealer and thought one of the bottle's were leaking , but just in case it wasn't i pulled the quad off the truck and didn't see any oil but in the spot under the oil plug ; so i stuck my finger under the quad and felt the oil plug there was oil on my finger ! I thought the plug might be loose so i got a socket and rachet and started to tighten the plug i felt it start to tighten then loosen , the kid that did the oil change had stripped the thread's in the drain hole ; i called the dealer and told him about it and he said it was already stripped when i brought it in and he would fix it for $50 dollar's i told him he would fix free or i would take legal action's again't his Dealership and i ask why he didn't tell me the plug was stripped when i picked it up ! He refused so i went to a local industrial supply store down the road from the Honda shop , there i bought a $49.95 heli coil set and a $12.99 drill bit went home took the plug out and let the oil drain ; then i coated the bit with gear oil to help keep any metal shaving from getting in the crankcase ! Then i drilled out the drain hole, retapped the thread's and installed the heli coil ! Then i started pouring acetone through the oil dip stick hole to flush out any metal shaving's that might've gotten in the crankcase , put the oil plug back in and tightened it by palming the rachet till snug ; filled it with new oil and put in a new oil filter and i was ready to go ! I went ahead and did my scouting for deer season and it was a month before opening day so i went back to the Dealership and gave the owner a bill for the Heli Coil Kit , drill bit and my labor ; the total was $163.36 and i told him since he was a friend that i wasn't going charge him any tax on the labor ! His gaw almost dropped to the floor when he looked at the Invoice , it was a work order from my shop with my letter head : Larry's Small Engine Service and Repair ! And it also had a good friend of mine's Card attached to the invoice He was a Lawer who handled major and minor law suit's , i could see he was mad and at first he still said he wasn't going to pay ; but when i got out my cell phone and started dialing the phone number he said never mind i'll pay you ! ( Before i go on any further MortisFK i had to buy a new battery but the new starter the dealer installed on my 1986 Honda TRX 350 Foreman still work's as good as the day it was installed the only thing i've had to replace is the battery i've went through 3 batteries since 1989 and that is the same year i had to replace the starter ! So i would say there's something wrong on your dad's 350 it cound be something internal like maybe flywheel or ring gear or even the compression release valve isn't working right ; if i was your dad i would take it to a shop machanic that he could trust and have them check it out because i've never heard anything about one doing this , my cousin had a 1985 or 86' TRX 250 2wd and he never had this problem either ) ! Infact i sold my old 86' foreman to my brother in November of 2005 and it still start's with just a touch of the starter button just like new !.....And now back to the Honda Dealer...... He was the kind of dealer who wouldn't come down one penney under the MSRP price for anyone ! Needless to say i started getting my part's from my Friend who was the only Arctic Cat Dealer in North Ga. She would order a part for any brand motorcycle or atv i ask even if i didn't buy from her ! And to top it off she would charge me half the price that the other Dealer's charged , i guess that's why on Feb.-7th 2006 i bought a new 2006 Arctic Cat 400 FIS Auto 4x4 from her ; and she sold it to me at $100 over her cost and layed my fears were layed to rest about the belt driven clutch by her telling me that not one of the 400 auto's had been brought back in for a belt or clutch issue since she started selling them in 2001 ! She told me if the belt or clutch go's south on me before i get it payed off she would pay for it out of her own pocket , and i only got the 2 year warranty ; and i won't have it payed off untill 2010 unless i win the Lottery first ; now that's a good deal and she got me financed at 5.9 percent fixed rate financing ! That's alot better than the other dealer's offered me and it won't go up since it's a fixed rate , you can save even more if you pay off early ; that's the best deal i could find !
MortisFK if you've read this far i hope you find out about the starter for your dad's 350 these Honda starter's work fine and they last along time, at least the one i put on my old 86' 350 foreman has !

 

Thanks Williebee, I figured if these had starter issues Honda would have figured a way to fix it by now, being 20 years later. I doubt Honda would leave their customers to kick-start for 20 years. I'm guessing the garage my dad took it to didn't know fully what they were doing and just gave him a line of bullcrap.