I am pretty sure it is going to be the foreman, manual shift atv's are a dying breed sadly.

 

Custom. About 570ish ccs

 

Even outside of honda though.....did suzuki make a king quad that was manual at one point?

 

Up through the 2007 model year the Suzuki Vinson 500 (called the KQ500 since 08) was available as a foot shift. The KQ400 (Eiger pre-08) is still available as a foot shift.

 

Because most atv's are belt driven (except for Hondas), manual shift isn't possible for them. Since Honda has a 'real transmission' it becomes possible for them to actually be shifted through different gears. That's one of many reasons why we love our Honda's!

 

BUT manual transmission sucks in situations where you need 1st to get moving then shift to keep moving when under high loads.

 

Not really drop the rpms a little and keep on keeping on

 

Sometimes in mud its wheel speed that gets you thru. In these situations i will start out in 2nd on hard ground and get a good running start then give it hell. The Foreman has crossed holes CanAms could not like this.

 

Yeah you can have all the torque but if your tires just spinning it aint going anywhere you need momentum

 

Honestly if you get above 500 or so and get into something with real power a manual transmission would be a PITA. The bikes with real power rev so fast you would have to shift every few seconds to keep up with the power curve. There is a dang good reason the bikes that have actual horsepower run belt drive. Plus instead of gears shattering the belt just breaks, much cheaper to replace.

 

Ya I guess that is the biggest thing isn't it.

I never thought of it that way with a belt vs gear fix

 

Also helps to not be afraid to get dirty or muddy!

 

Automatics are far superior to manual trannies. They just aren't practical for higher HP applications. The biggest manual shift utility ever was the Vinson 500 and the Cat 500m, they used the same Suzuki motor. With some work you could build a 650-700cc manual shift ATV. I mean, I could make a 550cc Honda 300 quite easily, so starting with a 500 Foreman anything is possible....