SSreda4

Hydraulic added....

As well as this plug on the top corner (note the o'ring seal on this one too): Doesnt that say t-40? New cover prepped and ready to go back on: You'll note that on your cardboard some bolt holes are missing...that because some hold both covers and go through both gaskets. I have lined the gaskets up in this picture so you can see where they overlap: Here's my artwork: So for the two main gaskets, i do a prep with a gasket prep disc on a pnuematic grinder, then a super thin layer of Ultra Black RTV, then the gasket, then another layer of RTV. Works everytime. Ready for assembly. Reinstall everything and this is how she should look: Dont forget to seal your kickstart cover. Thoughts, comments, suggestions? As an FYI, that was a Moose Racing U joint that broke (part# 1205-0201). Pure junk.

Undo the rest of the perimeter bolts and this is what she looks like opened up: Note, I've already pulled the output shaft in this picture. I was inserted into the hole in the bottom left of the engine. And here it is all bugared up: New next to old, the gear just slides off and transfers over. Here's our old cover, we need to move the electrical switch and wiring over to the new cover, as well as the output shaft bearing. Mine just fell out for some reason, but required some hammer tapping to insert it into the new cover which was odd. This sensor located bottom center must be transfered: -------------------

Here's what you'll find under that black cover. I believe this is a 17mm. An impact gun zipped it out. Notice the long bolt has an O'ring seal on it. Inspect it and replace it if necessary. Mine looked fine. Next is the crap on the bottom of the cover. The two electrical connectors simply pull straight off, and the cable and brackets will need to be unbolted. The bolt holding the black bracket is a dual use bolt, meaning it holds the bracket but is a critical fastener for the cover as well. The one holding the silver cable bracket is not. Here's what's under the kickstart cover. This is how your ATV makes its own electricity. Basically, an alternator. The backside of the cover itself: --------------------

Ok so I propped it up, swingarm already removed, to get ready for teardown: Note its no longer sitting on the rear jackstands because I hooked a chain hoist to the rear and lifted it by the rafters. Made it much easier to roll under with my stool. This is pretty basic. Pull the driver's side tank plastic off, oil fill cover, and complete airbox assembly. That's basically it, you can see the entire rear of the engine once that is removed. Make sure you have all the right parts: Before we turn any more wrenches, you'll notice your two gaskets have nice pieces of cardboard protecting them. Lets use those as drawing boards and trace them. Then punch the bolt holes with a screwdriver and you have a handy place to store your bolts since there are several different sizes that will come out of this cover. Now we are at the business end....let's start by pulling the 4 bolts that hold the kickstart cover on. This cover has no gasket and no sealer. I recommend you use some rtv when it goes back together. You can never be too careful. ---------

I'm gonna tag this thread with Foreman 500 secondary gear reduction. Im doing that because on the 500s the secondary gear reduction is accomplished by changing the gear on the output shaft and the smaller gear directly above it. So this could be very useful for someone doing that procedure as well. So let's start from the beginning. It was a great day to ride at Highlifter, and we set out into the woods. Not long after a heard a huge clunk and the bike lurched forward when giving it gas. I was able to engage 4wd and the front tires pulled me back to the trailer. There was some awful noises along the way however so I knew something was torn up pretty good. I cut the driveshaft boot off and found this: So I went ahead and took the swingarm off and this curious little guy fell out: When I dumped the swingarm out, this was in the driveshaft tunnel: I also noticed the output shaft was bugared up, and the rear case was cracked a little, so I ordered up some parts. Output shaft 23611-HP0-A00 $43 Rear crankcase cover 11340-HP0-A10 $136 (comes with 91201-965-000 o'ring pre-installed) Kickstart cover gasket 11396-HP0-A00 $11 Rear cover gasket 11395-HP0-A00 $13 Output shaft seal 91205-HM7-003 $10 Optional but I did not order: Kickstart oil seal 91202-HP0-A01 $8 --------------------

The o-ring that seals your bearing plate to your axle tube is plain not gonna stay in place without some help. The bearing needs to be lightly tapped on the axle, so apply some rtv of choice just to hold it in place while you position your bearing. Here is the bearing plate, caliper bracket, and line bracket mocked up: Here's another issue with this kit. The turn cam that drives the caliper closed is dry, I think it needs grease. Rotate it out of the caliper, add the grease/lube of your choice and re-insert. Also, the long bracket needs two things done, remove the powder coat out of the hex hole at the bottom, and two: remove the powder coat out of the slots, otherwise this will not go together. Hey at least the tolerances are nice and tight. Threw the disc and caliper rear bracket on after the touches: Another issue, focus on the castle nut. They supply you a very thin washer, well its not thick enough. You will need to add 1/4" minimum in washer thickness or the disc will slight left and right because the castle nut runs out of threads before its tight. I put their wider washer first, then my thicker one next, then the castle and it worked perfect. And this is fully assembled and adjusted. Huge improvement. My driving impressions were: Good stopping power. If this was your only brake on the machine you could get by easily. I'd say it stops as good as a perfectly functioning drum setup, the difference is, this wont hold water and stop working. Should be easier/cheaper maintenance and upkeep also. Win/win. EDIT: Added hydraulic to it. I started by buying the generic 68" ATV brake cable off ebay. It was about $20. Anything longer then that and price goes up quite a bit and is hard to find. Turns out the stock brake line is about 80". So yeah, it didn't work. Here's what I had going for me: $24 generic driver side master, revised bracket, new caliper/pads: Came up slightly short: Turns out for "scooters" there is a longer cable for about $30. Well before I knew about that I bought an AN line from Russel. I converted the brake fittings to AN, used straight couplers, and a prefit, pre-made brake line so it was all plug and play. Perfect fit, and remember I have the 2.5" longer 450 swingarm. I bought solid washers also instead of the oring stuff that SuperATV provided. I was even able to keep my winch control on the drivers side: Impressions: Stops incredible after about 3 pumps. I think the master is not strong enough to make this caliper do the full amount of work its capable of. On the first pump its a decent braking amount but not enough for an emergency move...by the third pump, its got impressive stopping power. I may change to a name brand master and see if that makes it better.

This smelled like straight cow manure. Apparently it had been hiding in there for some time: And this is the drum, besides being wet, overall in good shape (750 miles) What hides beneath is a mess. There is stuff growing in there.....absolutely due to owner neglect. With the pads moved out of the way: Dis-assembly complete. Now its time to install the new stuff.

This is the new bearing part number, already assembled: For those not that familiar with the outboard drum setup on the 500 foreman, this it. A little closer pic: You'll notice from this pic I had to cut a stud off so I could get a wrench on the castle nut. It would not budge otherwise as I didn't have the correct sized socket. This was stock as assembled by Honda and 8 years old. You can see the dust cover seal has already taken some punishment, and would be a high failure point due to constant clay mud and water intrusion.

This is part number: RDBK-H. Fits: TRX300 2x4 1988-2000 TRX300 4x4 1988-2000 TRX350 RANCHER 2x4 2000-2006 TRX350 RANCHER 4x4 2000-2006 TRX400AT RANCHER 400 2004-2007 TRX420 RANCHER 4x2 2007-NEWER (with Solid Rear AXLE, not IRS MODELS) TRX420 RANCHER 4x4 2007-NEWER (with Solid Rear AXLE, not IRS MODELS) TRX400 FOREMAN 4x4 1995-2003 TRX500 RUBICON 2001- NEWER TRX500 FOREMAN 500 2005-NEWER So we start it off, everything was packaged nicely. Full color instructions....nice touch: Disc looks sturdy:

Bump this back up.....

Bump this back up....

Bump this back up....

Bump this back up.....

Back up....

This is a gasket prep disk, it removes just a touch of material. It's perfect for removing built up crud on the shafts. The grease we'll get to in just a second. The grease you'll use to hold your triangle 3 ball bearing for your shift clutch as you re-install the engine cover. Spring goes out per the service manual. And when its all done fill er up with this junk.

See this staked nut??? You don't have to fool with it. Clamp your new clamps exactly here, and remove one clip at a time. As you remove one rotate the clutch around and re-clamp and continue to remove until all of them are off. At this point you can remove the old springs and replace with the EPI setup. To reinstall the front plates you will re-clamp and install the C clips one at a time again, reverse of removal. Notice in my pic the purple EPI springs are already installed. There's a reverse lock-out lever, and it will need to be positioned like this: Please notice that black screen. That catches debris from engine wear. Pull it and clean it. There's a shift lever that will need to be positioned like this: remember the mark on the case and the mark on the shaft will line up like on this pic: For the kick-start the mark will need to face 12 o'clock. You will hook the spring up top, then spin the shaft around and lock the tang inplace in the bracket. Super simple. Back to why my kickstart came off in my hands. Well apparently debris/paint/corrosion add up and cause an increase in shaft outside diameter and it doesn't want to come through the cover. To fix this before re-installation I buffed the shafts down. Here they are shined up and thinned down some. I did both the reverse shaft and the kickstart.

I ordered an EPI clutch kit from Highlifter for my 300 Fourtrax. I had already installed one on my 500 Foreman and enjoyed it so much I figured the little bike needed one as well. Being as I had already installed one, I assumed this one would be cake. Well it was, but I found Highlifter's instructions to be severely lacking for a potential novice. I wanted to make this thread to describe some of the shortcomings of their instructions. So this is what you've purchased: Honda Clutch Kit And the UPS man was kind enough to deliver it on time: Follow the instructions, you'll remove a kick start, an oil fed line, and some perimeter bolts, yada, yada. And you'll end up with this: However, Highlifter says don't remove the kickstart. Well, you shouldn't. But, in my case, there was build up on the shaft and it would not let the cover past, so the kick start falls apart in your hands. Tough luck because the instructions don't guide you further. But, I will. Let's forget about what crumbled in your hands and lets focus on the clutch first. It says un-stake the nut, use a puller and remove the whole clutch assembly....Really Highlifter? It did not say that on the exact same centrifugal clutch on my 500...Why would you suggest this on the 300? Don't wanna buy a special puller? Don't wanna un-stake a nut? Well you've come to the right place. We are gonna get it done without all that stuff. You are gonna want to go to your local Harbor Freight and buy these welding clamps:

Looks rough for 2k.

Each exhaust valve gets its own port and header pipe. They merge into one later down the line. One carb, splits into two runners, then the larger of the two splits again to feed the 3 intake valves. The bottom side of the rocker cover. The rockers are shaft mounted to the cover. One of the intake rockers actually opens two of the valves and it is controlled by one really wide cam lobe. So, 4 lobes total to open 5 valves. Interesting. MLS headgaskets getting the copper treatment Reassembled, fresh oil, cleaned the entire cooling system and whaddya know. Same exact problem. Open her back up and what do we see: So she ended up getting a new cylinder head. To ensure I can keep close tabs on the coolant temp I ordered a Summit gauge, and used a Glowshift universal pod. The original sending unit fed a dummy light. So I exchanged it with the sending unit for the Summit gauge. It's located in the thermostat housing. Ironically they do not fit these engines with thermostats. This engine likes to run 170-180 from what I've seen. I've put a few miles on it since being back together the last couple of weeks and I can say without a doubt, this is the nicest and fastest chinaman 4 wheeler I've ridden. With the CVT trans, it's like having a big as* torque converter. From a dead stop, it stalls up quickly to 4200 rpms, and that seems to be the "variable" section where the gearing expands, you accelerate quickly and the top end really comes alive. It tops out around 55mph and probably 6500rpms.

The front diff Pulled the valve cover. The contraption bolted on the front of the cam sprocket is the compression release. How it works is simple: The weights on the front pivot and are held in place with spring tension. They are connected to a shaft that runs inside the hollow cam. When they are in a "resting" position, the shaft activates a knob on the backside of the exhaust lobe. When this knob is raised, it blips the exhaust valve open during the compression stroke relieving some of the cylinder pressure. At the point the rpms raise above cranking, the spring force is overcome allowing the weights to pivot which pulls the knob back flush with the exhaust lobe's smooth side thereby preventing the compression to be released. You can see the holes in the cam for oiling here. The pressurized oil is carried to the cam journals by a hard line that is on the exterior of the engine. The brass lines at the top are EGR. It has a frame mounted pump. With the camshaft removed, you can see the freeze plugs. Typically these would exit the engine but these exit into what is essentially the crankcase. These were replaced with new ones in-case these leaked. I pulled the cylinder head, the black thing sticking out is the adjustable timing chain tensioner. In this pic you can also see the oil filter, starter, and front driveshaft. I pulled the cylinder and it got a new base gasket. I wanted to fully inspect it for cracks/issues. 5 valve cylinder head. 3 intake, 2 exhaust. It has an MLS head gasket.

Well let's start from the top. I mentioned to a family member I was wanting to pick up a few more 4 wheelers. He mentioned he might let loose of a 700cc that he had just purchased due to back problems and not being able to ride anymore. I asked what he was looking to get for it. He said $1500. So, naturally I loaded the trailer up and went to look at it. I took it for a test ride and it rode really well for about 15 minutes then overheated. I checked the dipstick and the crankcase was filled to the brim with milky oil. He said the shop he bought it from replaced the head gasket and it was supposed to be fixed. He said forget the money just take it with me and see if I could get it fixed. So, she came home with me. 686cc single cylinder, CVT transmission, 75 miles on the odo, 750lbs dry, 33.5hp, liquid cooled, electronic 4wd with electronic locking front diff, 4 wheel independent adjustable suspension, winch etc. etc.. This bike is modeled very closely with a Yamaha Grizzly 700. The teardown begins Winch, horns, and radiator Looking from the passenger side, header, cylinder head and water outlet. The black cover at the bottom covers the CVT section of the trans. From the rear...interesting, it has a single pinion brake on the rear where the front has brakes mounted at each wheel. From the driver side, oil fill cover, cylinder and head, coolant overflow, and pull start

Rough night, tons of tasty beverages involved. Well you might have seen my thread on my new Zilla mud tires on my 700cc 4 wheeler. Well after 3 solid days of rain me and a buddy decided to go see what we could go get into. We left out about 2am and took off down some dirt roads near the house. We went into an empty grown up lot (est 10 acres) and went a path we have been down a dozen times before. I guess I miscalculated our path and we pummeled down past a 6ft tall concrete culvert with the 4 wheeler on top of us in a shallow pool of old rain water. I estimate it was about a 10 ft drop off straight down. We immediately flipped the 4 wheeler right side up and after choosing an appropriate path out, it started and took us home. Here's what she looked like the next day: Damage was front and rear racks, brake handle, and sticky throttle. Remember where I said sticky throttle???? Well as I went to put it in the garage later that evening, I blipped the throttle while I wasn't hanging on, did a backflip off the rear rack and watched the 4 wheeler drive itself into the kids swingset. Damn it. Well I've got a new swingset coming and spent a few hours repairing and cleaning the bike and she looks like it never happened.

Took a trip to Highlifter park. Honda only had to be winched out once but I picked and chose my battles. The one time I winched I really had no choice but try it bc there was no other route.