My new ATV

[94Hardbody4x4]

Picked it up Sunday and went mudding the same day. It's a 2005 Honda Foreman 500 2WD. I payed $2500 for it with 1 or 2 years still left on the warrenty. Low hours. Yeah, one helluva deal. It has the foot shifter but automatic clutch(can't remember the name for that setup).

This is my first ATV and I love it. Can't beat a Honda. And I'll be honest, I've never been a fan of 2WD vehicle, I've never seen them as capable. But holy sh*t! This thing, with stock tires, was following my friends 4WD Foreman with 26" 589's almost everywhere! I was creeping through water up to the seat, pulls well in the mud and floats in the sand. The power is great and it's very quiet.

Mudfest is in a 2 or 3 weeks so I'll be ordering two 26" Mud Lites for the back with my next paycheck and figure something out for the front afterwards.

Heres the pics of after I cleaned it from a day at Back Lakes..............

[Fox17]

sweet bike and sweet truck.

[duroc825]

Just traded my foreman in for a sport bike. Had a winch on front and rarely needed it. Great all round bike i think. Enjoy it!

[klutchbuster400]

Noce, bike looks really good, J/w though, I thought all foremans were 4x4

[94Hardbody4x4]

Noce, bike looks really good, J/w though, I thought all foremans were 4x4

Nope. 2WD right here. 2WD are spec to the 4WD's minus the speedo screen and gauges.

I'm taking it to Hobart Sand Dunes sometime this week to test it out in the sand. I expect it to float like a boat.

[CABLEGUY1]

Nice bike and a great deal. You're right you can't beat Honda for durability.

[koh0001]

HONDA....gotta love them.  Sweet deal.

[MachineDog]

Personally the only thing I like about 2wds is you only really have to buy tires on the rear. lol On my Rancher if I put only rear tires on it would tear up the diffs because of gear ratios needing them to have the same size. Otherwise, don't get mudlites unless you plan on doing mostly trail riding and not as much mud riding, they don't clean out well and ball up. I actually had a choice between a Foreman 2WD, Rancher 4x4, and a 300EX and went with the Rancher because of 4WD. I don't need alot of power and don't need alot of speed, but I needed the traction compared to the old recon. Good luck with your new bike, Hondas last forever besides for the brakes.

[94Hardbody4x4]

Lol, yea, the brakes suck already. How do you tighten them up? I noticed the 2 wing nuts by the rear drum and 1 seems to be for the rear foot brake and the other is for the e-brake. I tightened them but it didn't do anything.

[Fox17]

yea those brakes SUCK!!!!!!!!!! on our rancher and recon they dont work. i would look into a hydrolic disc brake system for it (if you use the brakes).

[Fox17]

BTW you dont wanna sell the nissan do you? i love those trucks. if you ever do let me know.

[MachineDog]

Lol, yea, the brakes suck already. How do you tighten them up? I noticed the 2 wing nuts by the rear drum and 1 seems to be for the rear foot brake and the other is for the e-brake. I tightened them but it didn't do anything.

You can tighten the rears, but for the money you'll spend on future brake pads I'd recommend investing in a front disk brake conversion kit. Not sure how hard they are to install, so you probably will want a mechanic to do it unless you have a few buds that are good with stuff like that, a good long day, and a case of beer. Anyway though, don't use the rear brakes. They're service brakes, use the front brakes primarily and try to use engine braking to slow down as much as possible.

[Fox17]

yea i agree. the rear brakes dont help much. the front brakes allow for stoppies too . they are fun. i always look at it like you dont really need brakes. brakes are over rated. i had a cr 80 with barely any brakes (no rear and little front). im still alive. just my opinion.

[SpringHill Riderz]

That was a crazy good deal!  Hope you like it 

[94Hardbody4x4]

BTW you dont wanna sell the nissan do you? i love those trucks. if you ever do let me know.

Check out NissanOffroad.net and FloridaNissanTrailriders.com. I'm an avid member of both and they are great trucks.

BTW, I just broke my rear window! Dammit! This is the second time! I kept a thick piece of wood between the front of the atv and the window but it bent just enought to break it. O well, another $50 outta my pocket.

[Yamaha72]

yea i agree. the rear brakes dont help much. the front brakes allow for stoppies too . they are fun. i always look at it like you dont really need brakes. brakes are over rated. i had a cr 80 with barely any brakes (no rear and little front). im still alive. just my opinion.

Then your not ridng hard enough!! I know if I didn't have brakes I would have gotten into some terrible wrecks...

Nice bike BTW, Killer Deal...

[Fox17]

BTW you dont wanna sell the nissan do you? i love those trucks. if you ever do let me know.

Check out NissanOffroad.net and FloridaNissanTrailriders.com. I'm an avid member of both and they are great trucks.

BTW, I just broke my rear window! Dammit! This is the second time! I kept a thick piece of wood between the front of the atv and the window but it bent just enought to break it. O well, another $50 outta my pocket.

i will look into it.
my dad broke my tundras window loadin a rancher in it like 4 months ago. lol.

yea i agree. the rear brakes dont help much. the front brakes allow for stoppies too . they are fun. i always look at it like you dont really need brakes. brakes are over rated. i had a cr 80 with barely any brakes (no rear and little front). im still alive. just my opinion.

Then your not ridng hard enough!! I know if I didn't have brakes I would have gotten into some terrible wrecks...

Nice bike BTW, Killer Deal...

sure i am. whatever you hit will stop you. trees, fences, etc.

[Cory1020]

wow! thats a good deal. they cost around what, 4800, 5000 new? about the brakes, i looked into HL front disk brakes and all they had them for was 4x4s. i called them and everything, they way the are the have a hole for the cv axel. just make sure if you order one that they are for a 2x4. dont forget to seal off the pull starter if ur going through alot of water.

[94Hardbody4x4]

No pull start. At least from what I've seen.

Thanks for looking into that brake upgrade. The fronts work great, I can lock them up. But the rears are useless. The front is all I need though.

[MachineDog]

There is a pullstart just behind the engine on the opposite side of the exhaust. It should be accessible by pulling off a small panel by your feet.

[94Hardbody4x4]

Ahhh, ok. I rode a Bruin and the cover was off the oull start so I forgot about them having one.

How sealed up is it from the factory? Enough so I dont have to worry about it? I dont venture in water too often and if I do I always watch the 4x4's go first to see the depth. Last time I messed with water I had water over the dash in my truck.

[Fox17]

o man dont ruin the truck. that thing is awesome.

[94Hardbody4x4]

o man dont ruin the truck. that thing is awesome.

LOL, ruin the Nissan?! I can't kill that thing!  That 4-banger is bulletproof, I swear!

I've flooded the motor(pulled the plugs and it shot out about a gallon of water), fried the ECU when I sunk it, filled the starter with sand, broke all 4 tie-rod ends at once, bent 2 more after that, etc, etc, etc...

All in all, I've never spent more than $90 to fix it. The only NISSAN part to every brake that wasn't my fault was the water pump. And it wactually the gasket but the pump was only like $40 so i replaces the whole thing. It's got 130,000 miles of hell and has never let me down.

[Fox17]

we had one the same year but in red with blue interrior. it was unstoppable! had to sell it cause all of us wouldnt fit in it. my dad regrets sellin it.

[94Hardbody4x4]

Well, I wouldn't mine selling mine. I kinda plan on selling it my the end of this school year when I go to college. 13mpg city and 20 highway sucks for a 4-banger but I can't complain since I drive it like hell and it does go about anywhere.

Next vehicle will be solid axle up front and be fullsize.

But if I ever find a another Hardbody with the V6 I'd buy it and do the SAS that I always wanted to do with mine.