Electronic Shifter Issue on '00 Foreman ES

New member, first question. Okay, my bulletproof '00 Honda Foreman ES has been getting finicky. When I turn it off, I'd better have it in neutral first. If not, it will not go to neutral by pushing the down button-unless it's idling. As you know, you have to have the Honda in neutral to crank it. So long as you're already cranked, it changes to neutral fine, but if you screw up and forget to put it in neutral when you turn it off (as my wife and daughter seem to frequently do) it won't go back to neutral when you turn the ignition key to on. To get it to neutral, you have to get out the emergency shifter thingy from the Honda toolbox and shift it manually. It's not the battery, I already changed that out. Any words of wisdom?