Just picked up a new 2015 500 Rubicon Deluxe (Black) Friday afternoon which is my first quad ever. I have had dirt bikes and motorcycles all my life, but never even sat on an ATV. I also picked up a new 2015 420 Foreman for my teenage son with both models having EPS, DCT and IRS.

After two mornings of riding and 50 KM under our belts, all I can say is how much fun the bikes are and how forgiving they are. The first morning was on some flat trails in the nearby woods to get a feel for the bikes. This morning, we ventured a little further and took in some muddy and water-soaked trails across some local farmland.

Common sense goes a very long way in making it back home safe and sound, but the technology in the bikes is amazing. We both have been using DCT auto shifting (ESP) and are quite happy. There have been some of the clunky shifts under power that I’ve read about, but nothing to surprise either of us and we hardly notice anymore after two days. The dealer told us Friday that we should see a lot of ESP improvement after a little break-in and the first oil change. Either way, I’m really happy with the auto shifting allowing us to focus on riding and getting a feel for the bikes.

The IRS suspension is unbelieveable. I have nothing to compare against, but the ride with the IRS and EPS is so compliant. We have very rocky and tree root strewn trails with lots of wet mud and have had no issues in tracking on a straight line. The only complaint my son had was that the 420 seat is a lot firmer than on my Rubicon and I have to agree. It’s too bad Honda didn’t make the 2" foam additon across the board, but hey, he’s young and can handle it. :laugh:

As for power, the 420 keeps up perfectly with the 500. We have maxxed out at 60 km/h just because we aren’t really used to the physics of how the bikes handle under different situations. No issues with takeoff power for either bike and the "under powered" Honda engines have all the power we need for riding the trails we have available.

The dealer was too busy with sales/service on our first long weekend holiday so we did not get our winches or AMS Slingshot tires installed yet. I made a mistake about 15 minutes into my first ride of trying to ride across a 10 foot "swamp" and brought up solid. I tried diffloc and rocking the bike, but no luck. Luckily, we had a tow rope and my son was finally able to get me out after about an hour and after putting a lot of fallen tree trunks under the tires. :icon_ cry:

Overall, I am so pleased with the ride, quality and finish of both bikes. I would have liked more storage for some additional tools and gear, but simply strapped a waterproof sports bag to my rear rack. I have owned Honda motorcycles and cars and take Honda quality and reliability as givens. Can’t wait to get the tires and winches installed so we can go have some messy fun.

Thanks again to all forum members who responded to my posts and other user posts about the same models.

Jeff

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im running a pro circuit stainless steel header and a big gunevo R series slip on im using a dno jet kit with stage one and 2 jets in it. the directions say to use the dyno jet needle on groove 4 for below 5000 feet (im at 451 feet) then it says to use the dyno jet main adapter dja001 and to use main jet dj118 with an after aftermarket exhaust below 3000 feet an to set the a/f mix scew 3 turns out this dose not work at all iv checked to make sure i did it right over and over iv adjusted the needle height and the a/f mix screw with any combination you can imagine nothing really works any one got any tips? my machine ran 100% perfect be for here a pic https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f…6626465&type=1

I’ve been looking at getting a new Honda with automatic transmission. I see that most of the automatics have an switch that gives you the option of automatic shifting or shifting manual with the push buttons. Is this just a gimmick, or do people actually use these. If you have an automatic Honda, what % of time do you use the manual shifting mode? Or do you always just drive in auto mode?

Need to get a frame for a customer for his 03 foreman 450 es. What are the differences between es frame and s frame? Or could I use an es frame from a older model?

I have a 300 Honda I don know the year of it iam guessing 96/97 ,, sometimes it will fire and sometimes it won’t when it does start up it will continue to start as often as you won’t to start it,, but sometimes just no fire at all I put a new CDI box on it and it did not fire at all put the old one back on and it started up ran good until the next time I tryed to start it ,, I charg the battery and it started but now it’s back to fireing sometimes again… Any help or advice or help thanks in advance..

I have a 300 Honda I don know the year of it iam guessing 96/97 ,, sometimes it will fire and sometimes it won’t when it does start up it will continue to start as often as you won’t to start it,, but sometimes just no fire at all I put a new CDI box on it and it did not fire at all put the old one back on and it started up ran good until the next time I tryed to start it ,, I charg the battery and it started but now it’s back to fireing sometimes again… Any help or advice or help thanks in advance..

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Hello

I am new here. My new rubicon 500 2015 is being delivered today. I opted for manual without ES. My last atv was a fourtrax 350 2003. I have never had power steering. I have read mixed reviews. I like to keep things simple and the less i have to fix down the road the better. I will be doing mostly trail riding. I just can stop thinking if i made the right call for me not getting it. I hate to not like the bike because of it. I would like to hear from more experienced people what there thoughts on ES are?

Hello

I am new here. My new rubicon 500 2015 is being delivered today. I opted for manual without power steering. My last atv was a fourtrax 350 2003. I have never had power steering. I have read mixed reviews. I like to keep things simple and the less i have to fix down the road the better. I will be doing mostly trail riding. I just can stop wondering if i made the right call for me not getting it. I hate to not like the bike because of it. I would like to hear from more experienced people what there thoughts on ES are?

A newbie to ATVs and this site so any help at all will be appreciated
I just bought a 1986 fourtrax 350 in an auction for 200$ it said "runs needs battery!! So I took a chance and bought it. Changed the 30 amp blown fuse with a 20 amp (that’s what the manual said) Got a brand new battery in it and some gas and it sure started up drove it for 100 yards and tried to shift and it died
Could not get it started tested the fuel pump and no gas coming out so I rigged a gas tank from my riding mower on the back to have a gravity feed, it started right up and I drove it for a while (I tell you it is addicting) went back next weekend it started up I drove it for while (it even backed up for me in revers) when I stopped and tried to down shift it died now when I try to start it sometimes the fan/high temp lite come on like it should but when I turn the key to start it I hear a cicks and nothing happens OR when I tiurn the key there is nothing at all (no fan light or oil temp) but it seems lik there is a click somewhere under the seat
More info: the Run switch and Start switch on left handle bar are missing and I assume somehow bypassed
I was able to start with kickstart once when the key only produced a click!
I enjoy tinkering with stuff but by no means a mechanic and I think this is a sound and fun machine that was screwed up by someone like myself!
So any help would be appreciated