Is the ES reliable? I have heard that there are a lot of problems with the ES.

 

Stay with the "S" I believe you will have fewr problem down the raod. I just bought a 2002 450S and it is really easy to operate. I have never operated an AUTO tranny before but I could'nt get rid of the foot shifter..hehe

 

I have been shifting with my left foot on a Honda since 1969 and while the ES model seems to work with shifting with your thumb it still doesn't seem quite natural.
I would stay with a foot shift model as long as they make them.
Chet

 

For me I would probably get the ES. I like to ride my 4x4 in water & mud a lot, and I hate having to stick my foot in the water to shift into reverse or change gears.

However I really can't say if the ES is reliable because I don't own one, but I seem to remember reading about how the first ES models had problems and then Honda redesigned them. Maybe someone who owns an ES model knows this for sure?

 

RAPTORYFM660r

Dude, it's a small wrold. I live just up the road in Jasper.

 

Yes I know where that place is I have been there a few times. Went there to compare prices when I was purchasing my honda's. My wife's parents are from Jasper and her mother lived not far from where the old Dairy queen was right on the main strip there. Right now I am in Evansville for the winter but I will be back in the sticks roaming Pike county this coming spring at our place near Winslow.
Chet

 

Go with the S model-keep your left foot happy and use your thumb to freakin' hang on. No little wires, sensors, switches or circuits to fail, just steel gears splashing around in oil.

 

If you buy an ES there's a foot shifter included in the tool kit, and you can shift with your thumb or your foot.

If you buy an S then you're stuck shifting only with your foot.

 

thenewfiebullet,
I thought they just included the shifter in case the electrics went out.
Chet

 

You're right, that's why it's there. But the point is, it's there. With the S model they don't include a thumb shift incase you're in deep cold water, or when you're stuck and not on the bike.

With the ES you always have the option. With the S you don't.