If Price is not a issue I would look at a whole new ATV. The 500 Foreman is the least powerful 500 Utility made with suspension thats only a touch better than your old 98 450 Foreman. I had a 2001 450 Foreman which I sold due to lack of power and comfort and I ride a 07 500 Foreman alot (see Pics)which reminds me to much of my 450 except slicker looking plastic. 500 Utility Comparison

Don't have to take it from me 08 500 owner reports.

Add Power steering yet it has same rough suspensions,underpowered motor and Drum brakes? Priorities are out of whack at Honda.

 

Well, I'd say that you really need to find a way to try one yourself.

Too bad the dealer you are looking at doesn't do test rides.

I don't think it would be very fair to go somewhere else for a test drive, unless you give them a chance to meet the price and make the sale...

 

Another thing, would it matter if i upgraded in tire size? Like, would it affect the power steering at all? Make it less affectful?
For some reason i keep thinking that if i go to a larger tire, the PS wont work as well if i stuck with the stocks or something stock sized?

Maybe i'm just insane.

 

Well wait, i know all about the suspensions and what the competitors offer. As i said i know alot about ATV's and as you can see, i've had my expierences with bigger ATV's (Sportsman 500 and 700) and i loved my Polaris'. I heard nothing but bad things about them but i purchased one anyway and never had any real problems with them. And i will buy another Polaris sometime in the future.

Now as i said, i know what EVERY brand has to offer, but i've made my mind up on a Foreman ES. I know they don't ride near as good as IRS quads but i'm about to be 19 and thats not an issue to me. I'll be going off to college in a year or two and i want to have something back at home thats dependable, will last a long time, has Electric Shift (i LOVED my Rancher ES and its my favorite feature offered by ANY manufactuer), and has decent power.

Its been a year since i got 'rid of my Sportsman 700 and since then, when i ride (which is pretty seldom now), i ride with Foreman 450's. I grew up on Foreman's and have a tremendous amount of respect in the dependability Honda's have to offer.

I always wanted a 450 of my own but since they moved up to a 500 thats just made me want one more. Now there's on with PS and im wondering which one to get.

800$ is not an issue because i will get the FOREMAN that i want. Eventually i plan on trying out all the brands that I LIKE but for now, i want a Honda, and im going to get a Honda.

 

Well, like I said, if you want a Foreman with ES, go get one.

If you aren't sure about power steering, go ride one, or as you say money isn't an issue then just get one with power steering.

As far as bigger tires go, I don't think it will effect the power steering.

There have been threads over at High Lifter about breaking the 1st gear. Seems to happen with quads with very large tires who run in the thick stuff. I would think if you went 26 or so, you wouldn't have any issuses.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>I always wanted a 450 of my own but since they moved up to a 500 thats just made me want one more</end quote></div> The new 500 is only a 475cc thats why you will not notice a power increase over your 450.

The New 420 Rancher which is really a 420cc for real is a interesting looking bike if I was looking at another Honda. It comes in E.S also. For less money it has EFI and probably a better ride (cant be worst) and more get up and go than the 475cc 500 Foreman.

 

Yeah i wouldn't go any bigger in tire size than a 26. But yeah i've considered the Rancher 420 but i like the looks, power, 3rd headlight, PS (if i get it), of the Foreman. I had a Rancher 350 and i enjoyed it alot but its time to move up.

I've pretty much already made my mind up on the Foreman. And the 450 was only 433cc so thats over a 40cc increase. But as i said, the 450 has enough power for me so i know the 500 will.

 

OK, I'm gonna preface this post with this. No laughing! :-)
I own an 08 Rancher and an 07 Formeman, both purchased within the last month brand new from the dealership (brookhavenhonda.com in Brookhaven, MS ::shameful plug:[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]. The Rancher is mine and the Foreman is my wifes (Remember, no laughing!) and I personally like the ride, handling and overall performance of the Rancher. The Foreman does seem to have a little more low end torque than the Rancher but as far as performance in the mud and on the trail as well as off the line, the Rancher takes the Foreman hands down. Oh, the lights are also a little brighter on the Foreman but I'm not sure that is what I would base my decision on. If I had it to do all over again, I'd probably not get the Foreman and talk my wife into the Rancher. It was a difficult decision because I got the Foreman for $5000.00 with free camo and the wife decided she wanted it over the Rancher so there you have it.

Now, I can't comment on the PS but for me, the extra $$ is just not worth it but that's just my .02 cents. I'll take my change now.

 

The magazines all rave about PS, but more for the fact that it acts like a steering damper, than that it assists you in steering. (If you are so weak that you need assistance in steering, you don't have any business running around on a 600+ pound quad!)

I have always felt that any quad can benefit from a steering damper. Seems to me that PS is overkill if that is all you are trying to accomplish. Utilities are already larded up with all kinds of "features" (that just drive up the price). Adding one more that does something you could do with a simple little steering damper doesn't make sense to me.

 

I gotta agree with Reconranger on that. I've thought about putting a denton damper (or some other) on my Foreman, but haven't gotten around to it.

If it would tame kickback, that would probably be adequate for me. The fact that I haven't put the time and money into doing it probably indicates that kickback isn't that big of a problem that often.

Also, speaking of lighting, I added a Foreman 3rd headlight on my Rincon and in addition to adding more light I think it really improves looks, plus it stays fairly clean when the lower ones get splattered with mud...

I wonder if the same can be done to a Rancher? Has anyone done it or looked in to it?