[shadetree]

I have never owned a brand new atv ?, newest atv I have is still being built !..lol. but if I was to complain about anything ?, it would be Honda not using disk brakes all the way around on their atvs !. they should have dumped drum brakes years ago !. power and speed does not bother me one bit, at my age ?, I could care less, now..maybe back in my teens ?, then yeah..i'd want this !..lol. my only other complaint ?, is I wish they would make the front and rear racks better ?, like put something on the paint to keep stuff from sliding all over ?, maybe make them with a short basket type, with skid resistant surface ?.

 

[shadetree]

Full set of gauges would be cool. Hell even just a tach would be handy.

why would you need a tach on a semi-automatic motor ?, that's like having it in my automatic transmission in my '00 Silverado ?, freaking useless for the most part.

 

[shadetree]

Setting the idle speed.


Rick

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

been doing it this way by ear for 20 years, don't need some fancy gauge to tell me how to set the idle ?..lol. surely you can tell if it's idling to high ?, or to low by sound, or stalling ..right ?..lol.

 

[shadetree]

the more bells and whistles , the less reliable , the more stuff they put on them , the more things to break , I am for keeping it simple

agreed ^^^^, simple works !.

 

[shadetree]

Yes, certainly, doing it by ear is perfectly suitable. But that's not the point. The use of gauges is no different for most of us that add big tires or a winch to our bikes. My stock tires would have been fine and I have only ever needed a winch one time but those thoughts never crossed my mind when thinking about buying them.

Rick

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

tires will help you when your in that spot to call on them, same goes for a winch, you will need it, sooner or later ?, a gauge that tells you if your engine is idling to high ?, come on !..lol. all that is, is a fancy gadget , SHOWING you, where your idle is ?, it's not needed one bit, but for looks ?...yeah, I could see ppl wanting it . the less parts I have on my atv to keep working ?, the more I don't have to worry about fixing..lol.

 

[shadetree]

There's a word here in the UK, 'KISS', Keep It Simple Stupid.. Simplicity is tried and tested, it never fails, high tech gadgets and gizmos always go wrong at the most inconvenient times.
Temp gauge, fuel gauge, job done ;-)

you need less coffee, your double posting !..lmfao.

 

[shadetree]

Full set of gauges would be cool. Hell even just a tach would be handy.

why would you need a tach on a semi-automatic motor ?, that's like having it in my automatic transmission in my '00 Silverado ?, freaking useless for the most part.

So you would be fine not having anything other than idiot lights and speedometer on a pickup?

I know I'm not. I use my truck as it was designed. To pull trailers, plow snow, haul my four wheeler. I like to know if my plow is causing it to overheat or draining the battery down. Same thing with the trans temp.

What difference does it make if it had 1 gauge or 10? If a gauge fails it's not like you will be walking home lol

never said anything about the idiots lights ?..I SAID TACH !!..LOL. no automatic tranny should have a tach, unless your stickily working by the book ?. you don't need a tach for an automatic transmission ?..it aleady knows when to shift while in D, correct ?, it also has tow mode, knows when to shift then ?, a tach is worthless on a automatic, heck, I never even used it when I was driving a standard transmission truck ?, if you can't shift gears by ear ?, you don't need to drive a standard !..lol. ever wonder how many truck drivers ( real truck drivers that drive over the road ) use their clutch ??. I know a lot that never touch it, cept when in town ?..lol.

 

[shadetree]

So you would be fine not having anything other than idiot lights and speedometer on a pickup?

I know I'm not. I use my truck as it was designed. To pull trailers, plow snow, haul my four wheeler. I like to know if my plow is causing it to overheat or draining the battery down. Same thing with the trans temp.

What difference does it make if it had 1 gauge or 10? If a gauge fails it's not like you will be walking home lol

never said anything about the idiots lights ?..I SAID TACH !!..LOL. no automatic tranny should have a tach, unless your stickily working by the book ?. you don't need a tach for an automatic transmission ?..it aleady knows when to shift while in D, correct ?, it also has tow mode, knows when to shift then ?, a tach is worthless on a automatic, heck, I never even used it when I was driving a standard transmission truck ?, if you can't shift gears by ear ?, you don't need to drive a standard !..lol. ever wonder how many truck drivers ( real truck drivers that drive over the road ) use their clutch ??. I know a lot that never touch it, cept when in town ?..lol.

If you didn't have a tach on your CVT auto you'd never be able to find out what your shift out RPM is, or your redline, or like I said earlier it's REALLY helpful to know what RPM your at when your trying to make a fuel map. You seem to be fixated on the "fact" that you only need a tach to know when to shift, and is therefore useless with an auto transmission, and that is a ridiculous conclusion to come to IMO.

Have you ever had the speedo fail and had to drive by the tach readings? lol Guess not.....

nope, my speedo's never failed on my trucks..lol. as for what and when to shift on a auto ?. well smart guy...that's what the damn ecm is for !..lol. as I said, unless your working on your truck by the book ?..the freaking tach is useless !. is for me anyway, you want one ?, by all means..get-r-done !, me ?, nope..don't care for that extra crap that servers me no reason for being there, other than taking up space for my idiot lights ?!.lol. and wth has redline got to do with a tach ?, when your shifting by ear and feel !!..lol. wow mac, surely your smarter than this ?!..lol.

 

[shadetree]

#1 I don't care when to shift an auto, like I said, how can I find out my shift out rpm for tuning my clutches in a CVT auto without a tach...
#2 I don't often work on my trucks, I have had speed sensors fail, I have had to guess my speed by rpm, which I wouldn't be able to do with no tach. We of course are talking about ATV's, but you keep bringing up your truck sooo?
#3 Yes I do do a lot of things "by the book" I've never used a tach for setting the idle mainly because I prefer to run EFI machines which do not have an adjustable idle speed.
#4 "What does a tach have to do with redline" Well, for starters how would you have any idea that your redline RPM is without a tach? Higher RPM means faster wheel speed, how do you know your getting your money's worth out of a rev box without being able to look at real world numbers. I know I operate on space ship technology here but say I go into the tuning on my machine and add another 500rpm to the max RPM, how would I ever know if I got it without a tach?

Arguing over how you don't need a tach is foolish, you'll never buy a new Honda anyway, so whether they dedicate 1" of the screen for a RPM readout or not shouldn't make much difference to you. But I tell you what, if Honda ever does start putting tachs on, and you somehow end up getting one, feel free to put a piece of tape over the RPM section and don't forget to come back here and brag to us about how you don't need a tach....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

fine, i'll speak of Honda atvs, hows that ?, you will never see Honda put a tach on their atvs , why ?, because they program the shift points into their ecu's..thats why !..lol. in case ya missed it ?, most all newer atvs are controlled by the computer, sensors for the most part, which controls the ecu. again, I don't need a stupid tach for a semi-auto tranny on an atv ?, you may need it ?.as for the redline crap ?..it's built into the ecu rev limiter..no tach needed..lmfao.

 

[shadetree]

As far as tuning goes Mac is right Shady, a tach is very necessary. Take a track car to the dyno and the guy will tell you to take your car home and bring it back when you have one fitted!

anddddddddd, that's where and why I said if your going by the book ?!. sure, a tach needs to be there, how else you going to know the rpms when testing ?. but for a atv ?, come on, most utility atvs does not call for them, simply because Honda or anyone for that matter build the rpm curve into the ecu/pcm/c.d.i. ?,so it knows when to change gears and all that crap for the automatic trannies. for a semi-auto clutch, which most have these days, you don't need a tach. but what ever.

 

[shadetree]

So you would be fine not having anything other than idiot lights and speedometer on a pickup?

I know I'm not. I use my truck as it was designed. To pull trailers, plow snow, haul my four wheeler. I like to know if my plow is causing it to overheat or draining the battery down. Same thing with the trans temp.

What difference does it make if it had 1 gauge or 10? If a gauge fails it's not like you will be walking home lol

never said anything about the idiots lights ?..I SAID TACH !!..LOL. no automatic tranny should have a tach, unless your stickily working by the book ?. you don't need a tach for an automatic transmission ?..it aleady knows when to shift while in D, correct ?, it also has tow mode, knows when to shift then ?, a tach is worthless on a automatic, heck, I never even used it when I was driving a standard transmission truck ?, if you can't shift gears by ear ?, you don't need to drive a standard !..lol. ever wonder how many truck drivers ( real truck drivers that drive over the road ) use their clutch ??. I know a lot that never touch it, cept when in town ?..lol.

Well if an auto truck doesn't need a tach then why does it need all those other gauges?

And being you brought up "real truck drivers". I drive trucks. 8-10 speed mostly but have run a few 18 speeds. 6 wheelers all the way up to 22 wheelers. Starting out in construction you don't get assigned one truck. You get whatever piece junk is left. And that changes daily lol. If any of them tell you they've never used the tach they're full of sh*t. Every truck is different. Different manufactures have higher or lower rpm shift points depending on the torque curve. Sure once you get some miles in it you don't need the tach and can go by ear.

Then there's progressive shifting. Which is used to save fuel while on the way to highway speed by over the road truckers. You need to use the tach for that or else you're defeating the purpose of it. Unless they have a perfectly tuned ear and can tell rpm differences of about 500 rpm lol

And as far as the clutch goes, the reason they don't need a clutch is because they've used the tach to find the the proper shift rpm and then learned the sound from that. I don't need to use the clutch. But if I'm loaded heavy I might. They put it there for a reason. And if it makes easier on the trans then why not use it? When your at about 90k lbs banging gears hard can leave you stranded.

'' why does an auto truck need all those other gauges '' ?, are you for real ?, or you just trying me ?..lol those other gauges are there for a reason !. they tell you how hot your engine is ?, they tell you what your oil pressure is ?, they tell you if your charging system is ..well..you guessed it...charging !!. they tell you your transmission temp ?, shall I go on ?...lol. I drove many small pick ups, and both I could shift without using the clutch !!. not sure how you drive ?, but you learn a few things as you get to be my age !..lol. shifting gears does apply to a tach ?, but !!!..you do not need a tach to shift !, if you know the engines rpms ?, the sound it makes once it reaches that rpm limit..BY EAR !!, then you could shift all day without a stupid tach, prove me I am wrong !..lol.

 

[shadetree]

I think a Tach would be great, and a simple thing OEM"s can add, and many, all the more so that have belt drive atv's could use as a tool to do clutch tuning!

BUT since I grew up riding MX bikes and almost NON ever had a tach, and all were manual shift machines, I know you can get by without one

but again, I think the point here, adding a TACH< is a simple thing, that OEM"S could do., and can ONLY help and make there product look more put together!

I think most of the new modern digital gauge pods they make, it would be even easier for them to have one too?

I won't argue that it would be fancy to have a tach built into the meter ?, but answer me this, why would you need a tach for a semi-auto transmission ?. for a sport atv, with a manual shift ( like using the clutch lever to change gears ) then sure..i can see it !. but for semi-auto transmissions ?, i'm sorry, I just don't see it.

 

[shadetree]

SHade I can answer this real easy for you
because some people are moron's
I will bet there is a TON of people that ride semi auto honda 4x4 atv's and rev the crap out of them well past what would be the RED area on a tach before shifting them

I have seen several posts on this site and others of folks asking WHEN they should shift and or how to know when to shift
I gather some are NEW folks that JUST don't know, and some are well again MORONS that cannot figure out a motor screaming means its time to shift
a TACH, or even a shift light, would do this, buy giving them some info on WHEN to shift(in case the light bulb over there head doesn't come on HAHA)

SO< with this, I can justify WHY a tach should be on a semi auto trans ATV

for guys looking to squeeze the MOST out of every shift too, getting right on the cusp of the red line before shifting, will get you the MOST performance out of the motor/trans
say if your racing in a local hare scramble( on a spur of the moment entry)
knowing this infi on red line and what your atv CAN or cannot do STOCK( or maybe for the guys that add shift kits /clutch kits) can help MAKE you a better racer, or just in general trail rider

I know me and you are PAST the days of wanting to RACE down trails
BUT there honestly is many good reasons to have a tach on an ATV period, regardless of the type of trans

NOW< also, what abouut helping KNOW when your motor is going SOUTH on you in power, if you USED to pull "X" RPMS in "X" gear and do "X" things, and now cannot, a tach will SHOW you your loosing power
hard to see small power loss when you ride something ALL the time, slow goings are easy to over look , like if you ride someone else over your's you Might notice things faster

as small changes taking place on YOUR atv, many times are harder to FEEL, due to they happen SLOWLY, and untill they effect things MORE< you can miss small things

a TACH again can help here as well

SO

SORRY Shade a tach has more pro's than con's and NO reason they don't have one
almost every thing you ride /drive should IMO, its just a tool like temp gauage or what ever
there only there to HELP

trust me, if my motor is '' slowing down '' i'd know it !, lol, don't need a tach to tell me something is wrong with my motor ?. I deff agree about the moron part !, seen a guy the other day at my buds place, test driving a trx300fw, I bet he had 25k rpms ?, and still in first gear !..lmfao. I was surprised he did not blow the motor up ?!..lol. I am not saying some ppl don't need it ?, personally ?, I have no use for a tach on a semi-auto transmission, then again, as you said, at our age, speed is a thing of the past..lmao.

 

[shadetree]

Well if an auto truck doesn't need a tach then why does it need all those other gauges?

And being you brought up "real truck drivers". I drive trucks. 8-10 speed mostly but have run a few 18 speeds. 6 wheelers all the way up to 22 wheelers. Starting out in construction you don't get assigned one truck. You get whatever piece junk is left. And that changes daily lol. If any of them tell you they've never used the tach they're full of sh*t. Every truck is different. Different manufactures have higher or lower rpm shift points depending on the torque curve. Sure once you get some miles in it you don't need the tach and can go by ear.

Then there's progressive shifting. Which is used to save fuel while on the way to highway speed by over the road truckers. You need to use the tach for that or else you're defeating the purpose of it. Unless they have a perfectly tuned ear and can tell rpm differences of about 500 rpm lol

And as far as the clutch goes, the reason they don't need a clutch is because they've used the tach to find the the proper shift rpm and then learned the sound from that. I don't need to use the clutch. But if I'm loaded heavy I might. They put it there for a reason. And if it makes easier on the trans then why not use it? When your at about 90k lbs banging gears hard can leave you stranded.

'' why does an auto truck need all those other gauges '' ?, are you for real mac ?, or you just trying me ?..lol those other gauges are there for a reason !. they tell you how hot your engine is ?, they tell you what your oil pressure is ?, they tell you if your charging system is ..well..you guessed it...charging !!. they tell you your transmission temp ?, shall I go on ?...lol. I drove many small pick ups, and both I could shift without using the clutch !!. not sure how you drive ?, but you learn a few things as you get to be my age !..lol. shifting gears does apply to a tach ?, but !!!..you do not need a tach to shift !, if you know the engines rpms ?, the sound it makes once it reaches that rpm limit..BY EAR !!, then you could shift all day without a stupid tach, prove me I am wrong !..lol.

Well, your not replying to my post there shade....just so ya know LOL

ahhhhhhhh crap, I thought that was you mac ?!..lol. my bad, long night last night, I am tired, not enough coffee yet, sorry, . ( fixed it )..lol.

 

[shadetree]

SHde, a few yrs back a buddy of mine had two 400 foreman and as did I, and he wanted to take his THEN girlfriends oldest boy out riding with us,
so, he claimed he taught the kid out to ride, shift and all that, a 16 yr old boy, that RODE a MX bike with a manual clutch

well, the kid drove the foreman in second gear all day long, never KNOWING< or so he said that he had to shift it?
he never shut it off and was in second gear when my buddy gave it to him to ride
we rode about 25 miles up and down hills, and all he did was FULL throttle it every , where to TRY to keep up
we thought he was going slow, due to new to atv's LOL
was super dusty, so we all kept a good distance to NOT eat dust so much, and with helmets on, we couldn;t hear that poor motor screaming

SO< as I said, a TACH,
MAYBE seeing the RED line and lights a blinking would have helped, NOT SURE on this kid!! he wasn't sop bright!

but its NOT the first time I heard of NEW RIDERS not SHIFTING, PERIOD, or just not shifting when needed , or ???

a tach would just be another tool to help teach a rider to ride better
not all riders grew up on tings like we did to know better, and HOW to use our ears to tell us things going on or to do while riding!

and in todays world of SO many blasting music while riding, I doubt nearly as many are learning WHAT A motor sounds like , to KNOW when it NOT running right or when to shift too??
you would almost think that so FEW wear helmets they would actually hear better, learn there motors better, but??

I agree bro !, as we grew up ?, we learned how to LISTEN to our engines ?, when to shift because that poor ole motor was screaming to us..hey dumb azz..shift gears !..lmao. the human ear is a built in testing gauge !, listen to what you hear ?, and you would be amazed as to what it's telling you !. you can also tell when to shift when you feel the atv,motorcycle, car, truck..whatever ?, is not going any faster ?, then you FEEL the engines result so to speak ?, this tells us, hey dummy...SHIFT !..LOL.

 

[shadetree]

I know my 01 Rancher doesn't have brake lights, but my 04 Rancher does, whether 04 was the first year for it with the remodel, or if they got it in 02 or 03 idk. The Rincon had them in 03, Foreman 450 might have got them in 02? Either way, any new Honda ATV you buy today will have them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

my '03 trx450 foreman does not have brake lights, not that I remember anyway ?, I will have to take a look , but pretty sure it does not ?.

 

[shadetree]

My 2002 TRX450 doesn't have a brake light ----- Honda 300's built for Maine had a rear brake light that operated off a switch at the foot pedal , I tried to find and buy the parts to mod mine , but never did find it

use a brake switch from a '05 trx500fm, or any newer trx500 for that matter ?, pretty simple set-up switch, only problem I for-see is plugging it into the wire harness ? i'm sure you could figure that out. you would need the switch and the mounting plate, and sub-harness wire, then you can have a rear brake light. but you may have to re-wire the tail light with a different socket to accept a stop/tail light bulb ?, but that's easy.

 

[shadetree]

SOO does Honda still offer a model without brake lights?!?!?

on newer models ?, I doubt it. it's all the old models that don't have them, as far as I know anyway ?.

 

[shadetree]

Fish if you haven't got a light housing bulb etc, i know where there's two complete brake lights BUT nether has the clamping brackets , I'm going to take a drimmel cutting wheel and cut small slits in the brake bracket and put on some stainless hose clamps on, you could do yours like i did mine jus use the front brake t fitting and use a banjo switch, thing is it would just work with front brakes, i never liked the oem brakes on a 300 , but if i had front disk brakes thats what i would do, and I'm like you i couldn't find those switches to save my life, lol, shade the one on a 05 trx500fm ? Is that the same peddle switch as the 300 could have been ordered with back in the day ? I've had no luck with part numbers to match them up, did they ever make one for the left hand brake ? Haven't delt with many trx 500 s

I don't know if it's the same brake light switch bro ?. as far as the left brake lever ?, they have a micro switch that's attached to the brake lever,pull lever, button pops out, brake light comes on, this switch goes to the front right brake lever with wires, as it has a micro switch as well. the foot brake switch uses a plunger type switch, same switch that's been around for a long time, and still used today even on newer motorcycles as far as that goes.

 

[shadetree]

Yawl , talking about something like in this pic of a 95 trx300fw/an I think this was a requirement by Maine = AN

Honda ATV Parts 1995 TRX300FW AN STEP Diagram

that be the switch, but my '05 trx500fm uses a different mounting bracket. but pretty much the same plunger switch. it's adjusted by the lock down nut, which tells the spring how far the switch travels before it makes contact to apply the brake light.