Used foreman 450 - a good deal?

[HighUintas]

Hopefully no one decides to be a jerk if they're nearby and scoop this out from under me.

I don't know a ton about the specifics of atvs, but know a bit and I know if I get one for the mountains I want it to be as reliable as possible, as light as possible, and have as few parts that can break as possible. I've read the foreman 450s will run forever.

This would be used probably between 4k and 11k elevation. May or may not need to rejet the carb. It's got 5500mi on it and is manual shift. Sounds like it's been taken care of and looks in pretty good shape.

Is the asking price high? I know atvs hold value much better than cars, but this is 27-28 years old. I was kind of thinking that at $2500, I'd definitely buy it.

 

[180ls1]

Its probably fine. See if they will let you pop a compression tester in it.

I run into a guy who has 20,000+ miles on his Honda SXS.

 

[Glendon Mullins]

I have the exact same 4 wheeler except it's yellow in color, it was my dad's and i got it after he passed. It has been a very reliable 4 wheeler over the years and will get ya where ya need to go.

That's about the average price i see them out here here as well in good shape etc.

 

[Machingeaneer]

Unless it already has been jetted for elevation you will definitely need to from my experience. They are definitely simple and reliable machines but that does come with tradeoffs on performance.

 

[bpitcher]

I had that same model I bought from an ole boy in East Texas. I should have done a more thorough inspection as it appeared later that this guy must have used it to recreate his favorite Dukes of Hazzard stunts.

The oil seemed to be the original from the factory, the swing arm rusted through, and the front differential exploded out the front.

I say all that to say that it always got me home and they are incredibly reliable machines if you even pretend to do some level of basic maintenance. Hondas really just can't be beat in that category.

 

[HighUintas]

Thanks all. It's a bit hard to determine reasonable price on such an old ATV considering the covid induced used atv prices that existed a few years ago. I realize these things can run to 20k miles and when thinking of it from that angle and if it has been well taken care of, it seems that something 40-50% of MSRP when it was new is not out of line when it is only 25% through it's useful life. The only drawbacks are the lack of the "features" that make it nicer to use but don't really make it any more reliable and arguably less reliable.

I sure wish they would bring back something that is bare bones and bomb proof in the 350-450cc range. Those new ones are so heavy and expensive. It's weird having look at 25 year old ATVs to get the design features and specs a guy wants

 

[HighUintas]

Also looking for that first generation rancher 350 in manual shift. That would be the bees knees at nearly 100lbs lighter than a foreman

 

[Blockcaver]

That machine is a workhorse that the Inuits in the north of Canada abuse and can’t kill. They do have a firm seat and stiff bouncy ride. Much prefer my 2013 Grizzly 550 with power steering for riding with independent rear suspension and a soft seat but the ’ole Honda will get it done for you! Buy it if you can live with the ride.

And I owned a 2002 350 Rancher. Economical, totally reliable and still had the rough ride and hard seat. Good machine. Buddy still runs it.

 

[KenLee]

Reasonable price on that 4 wheeler. Id jump at $2500 if I needed one.
If you maintain them, they last a looooong time.
My brother has a 91 model 300 4x4 and I have a 94 model 300 4x4. Still 99% original and used every deer season and for sewing seeds on food plots. They need a battery every 4-5 years and let er rip!

 

[Ringbill27]

It’s probably alright. I’d still offer less and give it a good test drive. As stated above a compression test would be a good idea.

 

[Wheels]

I sold a 2003 Foreman Rubicon with a plow for $1500 last year with similar miles, the prices people are asking for 30 year old machines is crazy. Look on Facebook Marketplace, you can find foreman 500's a few years old for under $4K.

 

[KenLee]

I sold a 2003 Foreman Rubicon with a plow for $1500 last year with similar miles, the prices people are asking for 30 year old machines is crazy. Look on Facebook Marketplace, you can find foreman 500's a few years old for under $4K.

Not in Southeastern US. Honda 4 wheelers are gold

 

[Boarmaster]

A guy I know keeps an old 24 year old foreman around for a spare. He calls it old reliable.
Its all about condition at that age. At $2500 about any major repair is a total loss. Look forward
In five years it will be 30 years old. Even if it doesn't turn out to be a great deal you haven't lost much.
If I was going to roll the dice on a 20-25 year old machine it would be a old honda atv.

 

[DeepI In The Rut]

I recently bought a 2003 Foreman Rubicon 500 for $3,200 with 1,400 miles. The machine is mint. I would feel better if I paid $3,000...but I had been looking for this machine (or very similar) for a long time. As everyone has said, the older machines (especially Honda) are bomb proof; and can feel that the machine is just plain solid when I ride it. The good old days of simple and reliable! No complaints because I value the dependability and reliability over everything else and it does what I need it to do (but not the fastest or most comfortable).
I had 2019 CanAm Outlander that I sold, which was very nice regarding the soft seat, suspension, and power steering...the outlanders tend to run hot in the leg area and really bothered me. Besides running hot, it was a great machine.

 

[kfili]

We have an old Honda (can't remember model) that is older than me. It's from the 80s. It still runs, but I know there is a problem when it comes to getting certain parts. Something to consider

 

[HighUintas]

I also found a 1998 foreman 450 es for 2600 that has 2200 miles with rear seat/hard case and looks even cleaner. 1st owner and maintained. I know there's more reported problems with the electric shift, but there's an emergency foot shift lever and apparently if you do a little lubing/waterproofing job on the shifter then it essentially bomb proofs it.

I'm sort of thinking about that one

 

[rabbithuntr]

I’d stay away from the es, the guy I used to work for and am friends with has a half dozen or so Hondas and swears by them but every other time I visit there seems to be an es needing fixed. I have a 95 300 I got when my grandad passed the lights and the starter don’t work I need to get around to fixing them but otherwise it has been great.
Edit as to the price, is seems fair but not a steal but it depends where you live and I haven’t looked at 4 wheeler for a while.

 

[HighUintas]

I’d stay away from the es, the guy I used to work for and am friends with has a half dozen or so Hondas and swears by them but every other time I visit there seems to be an es needing fixed. I have a 95 300 I got when my grandad passed the lights and the starter don’t work I need to get around to fixing them but otherwise it has been great.
Edit as to the price, is seems fair but not a steal but it depends where you live and I haven’t looked at 4 wheeler for a while.

Yes in researching I've found a lot of bad reports on the ES, but then on one of the Honda nerd forums, they all report that if you follow this cleaning/prep tutorial, it's good to go and nothing to worry about for reliability https://atvhonda.com/topic/570-how-to-properly-prep-your-honda-es-shift-system/

So that's got me thinking more about an ES given the manuals are so rare in comparison, but I certainly won't jump on one quickly without researching

Price around here seems nuts to me (SLC area), but then again absolutely everything listed in classifieds here is too high, just like housing etc. So, yes I agree it's definitely not a steal, but probably a decent price considering the location