I've got a '98 450ES that does not want to shift all the time - I end up having to use that stupid little bent wrench thingy they give away with the bike.
Someone told me my battery was weak, and truley, when the fan kicked on, it did not want to shift, so I got a new battery (the old one did loose its charge if it sat for a few days). This does not seem to be the problem, as it continues to do the same thing. Some times I can shift it, sometimes I can't. I can turn off the ignition switch, let it sit for a minute, and it will shift again when I start it back up.

Anyone had the same problem and maybe know a solution???

Thanks in advance.

I had a 99 450es that did exactly what you are talking about. I bought it used so I did not receive any bulletins from Honda about any possible problems. Check with your dealer for any recalls on the es. It is definitly something involved with the electric shift and not a trans problem. Almost everyone I know that has an Es has had trouble with it. I never found a cure for mine; I just sold it. Hope you get it figured out! mike

if your battery is draining look into the coil/ or for no better word generator for a light short. do you have a winch? if so is it wired to the ignition not allways hot? if wired allways hot that soleniod is allwas on......using vital electicity..........and like milkbone said chech into the dealer for a bulitin.......good luck

I worked on a friends 450 ES that did the same thing. I cleaned up the connections on what I assume was the shifter control box. Its in the front of the quad up under the plastic. Not real easy to get to. Its an odd shaped black box that is in a rubber mount, and has a real wide electrical connector on it. This one had some corroding terminals on it so I cleaned them up and put dielectric grease on them to keep it from happening again. It wasn't a well sealed connector, and the machine wasn't very old either. Getting the connector apart is the hard part there isn't much room under there to work in, was kind of hard to figure out the locking tab setup.

P.S. this machine shifted after restarting for a while untill it finally quit shifting for good. I've been told it hasn't miss shifted yet.

Good Luck,

Bill