[Drparkwood]

Hello,
As of later today, I will own a 05 Honda Forman TRX500. It’s the first quad I’ve owned and first that I have ridden. Looking forward to taking my grandson around the yard, and going off road with my son in-laws and daughters

Doug

 

[fishfiles]

Welcome to the forum , Doc !!!

 

[Goober]

Nice! Love those 500 Foremans; is it a foot shift?

Click links in my sig block to download the service manual and find parts suppliers.

If you’re sticking to good trails you should be in good shape; no need to be racing around though—enjoy the sights and ride carefully. If you are going off road, off trail, consider taking an off roader course. about half the people I’ve ridden with, that have never taken the ASI course, have turned over a quad. You will learn many riding techniques.

 

[_Wilson_]

Welcome to the forums!

 

[shadetree]

welcome to the forums, WARNING !!!!!!!!!..that year , and model has a defective 1st gear problem from the factory !!. soooooooo..unless its already been changed out ?, your in for a big surprise !.

 

[Drparkwood]

Yes, it’s the foot shift. Will take a bit to get used to, I have ridden dirt bikes and cruisers for 40 years, all up is a new habit to form...

I appreciate the manuals, was looking for those.

 

[Drparkwood]

Tell me more? The owner was a farmer old guy (like me) so it wasn’t thrashed like it could have been. It shifts easy, it’s possible they had it repaired. I will get the rest of the paperwork Monday and will check with him.

Thanks

 

[shadetree]

Tell me more? The owner was a farmer old guy (like me) so it wasn’t thrashed like it could have been. It shifts easy, it’s possible they had it repaired. I will get the rest of the paperwork Monday and will check with him.

Thanks

unless its been fixed ?, they came from the factory with a very bad design with 1st gear. i'll see if I still have the pics to show you of the gears ?, and post them here in your thread . p.s. I just restored an '05 trx500fm not long ago..went through all of this, found out the hard way !..lol.

 

[shadetree]

here is 1st gear, bad design on left, upgraded gear on right, if you look closely, you can see honda made a huge flaw in the gear dog length .

 

[shadetree]

what will happen is, when you put it in 1st gear, and give it throttle, it will '' jerk '', because the gear dogs dont grab very well, when this happens..it will destroy the gear, and its matching gear, which means..a total engine tranny rebuild !.

 

[mrbb]

welcome to the site
and the weak gear i a known problem, they came out with a better one and when they fail that is what gets used to replace the OEM one
if still on OEM one, its some what a ticking clock deal till it fails
if you search the forums here, you will find a bunch of info on it~

 

[Drparkwood]

here is 1st gear, bad design on left, upgraded gear on right, if you look closely, you can see honda made a huge flaw in the gear dog length .

Thanks, I don’t know if they’ve rebuild it, so I will ride it till it has issues....

 

[shadetree]

here is 1st gear, bad design on left, upgraded gear on right, if you look closely, you can see honda made a huge flaw in the gear dog length .

Thanks, I don’t know if they’ve rebuild it, so I will ride it till it has issues....

np. trust me..if it has not already been fixed ?, you won't be riding it very long.

 

[Drparkwood]

here is 1st gear, bad design on left, upgraded gear on right, if you look closely, you can see honda made a huge flaw in the gear dog length .

Thanks, I don’t know if they’ve rebuild it, so I will ride it till it has issues....

np. trust me..if it has not already been fixed ?, you won't be riding it very long.

Is there a year range that had this problem? The previous owner hadn’t had it replaced, and right now it shifts fine....fingers crossed!

 

[shadetree]

Thanks, I don’t know if they’ve rebuild it, so I will ride it till it has issues....

np. trust me..if it has not already been fixed ?, you won't be riding it very long.

Is there a year range that had this problem? The previous owner hadn’t had it replaced, and right now it shifts fine....fingers crossed!

I believe its from 2005 to 2009 ( not sure if 2009 is effected ? ).