[00rancheres]

I was reading a review on the Rancher ES 4x4 and it claims this is one of the feature of the ESP...is this true?

 

[Redracer]

I would imagine so, I'm sure they added a sensor to know when to engage and disengage the clutch.

 

[submarine 300]

^^^^^Agreed Yep you can.

 

[tomgodd]

I have a buddy that does it all the time. 3 years and no problems yet!

 

[Wolf]

now i hear that the ES are terrible due to constant tranny probs, true/false?

 

[Helmut]

now i hear that the ES are terrible due to constant tranny probs, true/false?

I don't think all of them have problems, but I have seen a lot that does.

 

[tomgodd]

Agree^^^^^ I see alot of people posting of problems on this forum and others. My buddy had an agle sensor problem but nothing else. I have heard of all kinds of odds and ends. I would never buy one.

 

[00rancheres]

The one I bought has 3,000 miles and 600 hours. I know it was stuck in reverse and had to get fixed a couple of weeks ago. I hope it holds up well. I do not like changing gears with my foot; that's why the push button shift appeals to me. I would go with a belt drive automatic before a foot shift.

I bought a brand new 2001 Honda Rancher with the foot shift and two wheel drive in Oct. 2000. I hated it and sold it the next spring.

 

[Redracer]

I prefer the foot, but to each their own, right?

 

[Fourtrax]

Yep my father in law won't ride anything thats not automatic, but myself I like the manual foot shift. Its just a matter of personal preference.

 

[00rancheres]

^^^very true...

 

[submarine 300]

Yep my nephew likes the es because he can keep his feet dry when going through mud and changing gears.

 

[Helmut]

It seems like the ES models shift too hard or something. It just don't feel right to me when they shift. It feels like they don't shift smooth.

 

[00rancheres]

Helmut, they do shift hard. Upshifts are okay, but downshifts can be rough. I noticed this when I test rode the machine last week and when I rode it around today for the first time at home.

Also, foot shift or ES, its hard to change gears while holding a Jack Russell terrier on your lap!:icon_ goofy:

 

[polska12345]

My ES shifts only rough when am hitting the throttle on and off quickly/ in other words when am playing with it rough or hard. When riding normally even when accelerating hard, I have no issues up or down but I always release the gas when shifting since that's what am use to doing. I tried shifting with the gas on but it didn't seem as good (maybe its only me). In my opinion you wouldn't drive a manual bike or car and hold the gas all the time when shifting just seems rough on the gears and stuff.

 

[Helmut]

My ES shifts only rough when am hitting the throttle on and off quickly/ in other words when am playing with it rough or hard. When riding normally even when accelerating hard, I have no issues up or down but I always release the gas when shifting since that's what am use to doing. I tried shifting with the gas on but it didn't seem as good (maybe its only me). In my opinion you wouldn't drive a manual bike or car and hold the gas all the time when shifting just seems rough on the gears and stuff.

Yeah, I would let off the gas when I shifted too, if I did have a ES. It just don't seem right not to.

 

[Pain]

I don't think one should not let off the gas when shifting. I never have not let off the gas, since I was a kid riding auto-clutch mini-bikes....it just seems common sense that you would want to do that. At least, to me it does.

As for the problems with ES, I think the people who have problems come to post about them, and therefore you see more people posting about problems with ES instead of the ones without problems who don't come to post that they have no problems. That's the way it is on all forums.

I'm not saying there aren't problems with the ES, but I don't think the problems are so exagerated as one would think looking at the threads. Every new gagget you add will ad another possible problem, and the ES is just an electronic shifter on top of the foot shifter, so there is bound to be another layer of problems on top of it.

I'm certainly NOT trying to carry water for Honda, but in my opinion if there were so many problems above and beyond a 'typical failure rate' with the ES, then I think they would probably have fixed it, considering how long they've been making ES bikes.

Just like my dad used to say...."anything new and fancy is just something else that could break". Of course, there is always the "well, duh" factor to that logic, but......

 

[Helmut]

I don't think one should not let off the gas when shifting. I never have not let off the gas, since I was a kid riding auto-clutch mini-bikes....it just seems common sense that you would want to do that. At least, to me it does.

As for the problems with ES, I think the people who have problems come to post about them, and therefore you see more people posting about problems with ES instead of the ones without problems who don't come to post that they have no problems. That's the way it is on all forums.

I'm not saying there aren't problems with the ES, but I don't think the problems are so exagerated as one would think looking at the threads. Every new gagget you add will ad another possible problem, and the ES is just an electronic shifter on top of the foot shifter, so there is bound to be another layer of problems on top of it.

I'm certainly on trying to carry water for Honda, but in my opinion if there were so many problems above and beyond a 'typical failure rate' with the ES, then I think they would probably have fixed it, considering how long they've been making ES bikes.

Yeah, I would think that you would have to be right about that. ES is just extra switches, sensors, and shift motors. Anything electrical will eventually go bad, no matter what it is. A foot shift is going to be a little more dependable, but only because it don't have the extra electric parts to go bad. I guess it's a trade off. If you like the operation of the ES enough to outweigh the extra problems of the electric component failure rate, then I would say go with the ES. Personally, I like them as dependable as I can get them, so I will stick with the foot shift. It's not that I wouldn't have an ES, it's just that I would rather have the foot shift. I've rode the foot shift ever since 1984 when 4-wheelers were first manufactured and it just don't seem right changing gears with my thumb.

 

[Pain]

The only real reason I have one is for my wife. I don't personally have an issue shifting with my foot, and I'm sure she could learn to deal with it, but it's just easier. And, frankly, it's easier to sell to her if it has electric shift, so I'm taking the easy way out in that regard.

Now, I could get an automatic, but I don't like the automatics, so that's that. I should say that I actually DO like the automatic in the new rancher....the new automatic....at least from what I've read, and I'm waiting to read about it as time goes on.

Truth be told, I will probably end up with a side by side as my next machine, and by that time I hope Honda has something to compete with the Polaris Rzr. I'm not buying a 4x4 golf cart which is what most side by sides are, but the rzr is something I can live with....just on priniciple.

BTW, Helmut, I would probably say anything 'electro-mechanical' is more likely go to bad, due to alighment problems associated with such a beast. Electronics, in general, aren't the weak link in such things. I don't think you meant that, but just thought I'd clarify

 

[Helmut]

BTW, Helmut, I would probably say anything 'electro-mechanical' is more likely go to bad, due to alighment problems associated with such a beast. Electronics, in general, aren't the weak link in such things. I don't think you meant that, but just thought I'd clarify

Yeah, I'm sure you're right about that, because electronics themselves, are pretty darn dependable.