That article was in Quad magazine some time ago. Kind of old news by now! If you think they had things to say about the Hondas, read through what they say about some of the other brands!
I remember bringing up the hot tranny oil issue in the Rincon after reading the article, and of course the Rincon owner's just figured I was bashing and all swore that theirs were just wonderful....and their oil temp didn't matter.
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So. Calif. Deserts and Mountains!
Desert- 450R
Trail- 400EX
Mountain Technical Trail- Rancher 420 and 350
Kids- Two 250EX's, TRX 90
Dual-Sport Bikes- KLX250S, XT225
""I'm particularly concerned about the issue of mud and water getting into the starter housing for the pull-rope on the Rubicons.""
Youll notice they put a qualifier on the sentence.. all of the Hondas with a rope-pull back-up starter have a defect for hardcore users-the pull-rope has a vent in it that can allow mud, water, and grit into the starter housing.
Yes, thats a known issue,(for all the foremans) and just to be fair, any machine which is gonna see lots of serious mudding, needs alot of care and maintance to stay on top of the wreckage which goes along with mudding. I got out of mudding, cause its just too expensive for how little enjoyment i recieved.
Creek crossings arent an issue, but its not a submarine, either. If theres grit in the water, itllneed to get cleaned out, if not chances are itll erode the rubber seal, and eventually will leak, water and what not into the engine case.
Its not a garuntee, that damage will happen, but its likely if the housing doesnt get flushed out after mudding.
Usually as you go thru the water, it creates a wake in front. Behind the engine usually is left dry by the void. If you slow down , or stop, or backup, then water and such enters the rope pull housing. To confirm, just look at the discolorization of a used honda's rope. Itll be stained red or brown, and if it feels gritty....then the proper maint wsnt done, and the seal probably has grit working on it. It probably takes quite a few hours of run time, for the seal to erode...it wont happen overnight.
If you go over to highlifter, there were a number of threads about gunk getting caught in the pull starter and chewing up the seal and bearing. An occasional dunk in deep water isn't going to hurt anything, but if you are into snorkle type mud bogs, a starter block off kit would be in order.
I think the article was accurate about water sometimes getting into drums, the pull starter issue, and other stuff, but I've never heard about oil overheating on rincons. I've never had the oil light come on and I've drug stumps and hauled stuff up super steep grades on 100+ days.
They are right about low being too high, but in my experience it only causes a problem in lack of downhill engine braking.
Then the article seems to imply that Rubicons don't have low gearing, which made me wonder if they have ridden one.
On the other hand they didn't mention angle sensors that seem to be a frequent topic on these threads, nor do they mention the O rings on early Rincons...
Have you ever heard of the oil overheated in the Rincon?
Seems strange they would mention that (which I've never heard of), but not mention the O rings... or the angle sensor on the rubicon... or occasional dropped oil pump drive chain...
Also, I hadn't heard of the 500 Foreman blowing up U joints at an abnormal rate, at least not stock. I have seen a few threads about 1st gear breaking generally on big tire guys...
ATTN Honda mechanics
