2008, 10 year anniversary restoration blog:

March 3, 2008

Project Foreman has finally begun!!! This year my 1998 Honda Foreman 450s turns 10 years old and I’ve decided its time for a thorough cleaning and restoration to keep the reliability, ride-ability and appearance like new.

Had a good crack at the project again this weekend.  It took awhile to reassemble the swing arm as I thoroughly cleaned all the parts as I went and installed the new bearings and seals I purchased. I checked the rear axle and found it to be straight and true, it had gotten a little rusty from water leaking into the tubes, so I gave it a coat of paint.

I cleaned up and greased all the pivot points in the rear brakes and re-assembled. Next I removed the factory engine skid plate - it is in hard shape and really needs to be replaced now, so that has been added to the list.

I finally got the stock muffler off the bike. The baffles let go in it a few years ago and the ensuing rattling has been driving me nuts ever since. Since replacement mufflers for this bike start at $300 to buy, I will fixing the baffles myself. The can itself is in good shape since they used stainless steel that year. While its apart I'll install studs for attaching an exhaust snorkel for deep water crossings.

The rear section of the bike frame and the swing arm are now painted up and once dry I can install the swing arm bearings and reinstall it on the bike.

The rear swing arm is ready to to be reinstalled. The paint is dry and swing arm bearings and seals installed and ready to go. I would normally be writing that have had it installed but at the last minute I discovered a hole in the main drive shaft boot so I had to abort! LOL. A quick call to Honda One and ordered one in as well as fresh new clamps.

Since I was left without much to do, I tackled removing the rest of the lower black fenders. Most of the old bolts were Philips head and were stripped out. Some I had to drill but most I got out with Vise-Grip Pliers and they will all be replaced with the new style hex head bolts during reassembly. Having the lower fenders off will give better access for checking/cleaning/painting the frame, as well as room for taking pictures for the site and my Magazine contributions.

Next I decided to cut the end off the muffler that I took off previously to empty out what was rattling inside. One 6" long tube and a pile of metal parts that made up a baffle once upon a time came out on the floor. I think I’m simply going to weld the cap back in place and run the muffler as is. The bike wasn’t very loud with one destroyed baffle inside, so it will just be the same minus the annoying rattles. So now its only to install the studs for my exhaust snorkel, weld the end back on, and maybe apply a fresh coat of paint.

While taking off the fender extensions I got a good look at the after market foot peg extensions I bought new with the bike 10 years ago. At some point the one on the left side had taken a smack which I didn’t think was all that bad. With both off the bike, I compared the damaged side to the good (right) side and found that its bent like a pretzel. These have been removed for repair at my welding shop.

Well my parts came in at Honda one and the Rear Swing Arm has been successfully reinstalled!!! The new boot fit perfectly and will now keep everything nice and dry! Once the swing arm bolts were in, I reconnected the shocks, and checked all bolts for proper torque. Next I coated the axle castle nuts and wheel bolt studs with anti-seize (which I have been doing since new and haven’t had anything rust or seize up yet) and reinstalled the rear tires.

With the bike finally sitting back on its rear tires, I started taking apart the front end. Again I suspended the bike from the ceiling, but later supported it under the engine to make access easier on this end. I took off both wheels, the fender liners, then removed the headlights. I have a new headlight wiring harness to install (to replace the original harness I customized to run the 2001 Rubicon headlights a few years ago). Luckily the new harness (the proper one for a 2001 Rubicon) plugged right in to the chassis harness on the bike!

Next came the disassembly of the front suspension, I disassembled the brakes (mainly for regular cleaning and maintenance) disconnected all 4 ball joints and both tie rod ends to free the knuckle and then removed both CV axles for inspection. The right side checked out OK, and it’s the side I've never had trouble with. On the Left side however, I had to replace the inner CV joint last year due to bog and water getting into the joint. I have no idea why, but the larger clamp on that boot CONSTANTLY breaks which lets the boot slip and water/mud/bog to enter. This is what happened the first time I had to replace the joint, (was letting in water for an undetermined period of time) and the brand new proper clamp broke again this year. I have the joint taken completely apart for cleaning, luckily there is no damage, and when I reassemble I will be using a standard hose clamp and not the cursed proper clamp!!! All other bushings are perfect so I'm not disassembling the suspension any further at this time.

Late last fall I was on a ride in the Southern Harbour area, and we were searching for a trail used by the guys mostly in the winter. Went straight through the woods, through a pile of Alders breaking out on a little brook. We drove up the brook a little ways and eventually found the trail, and of course, where the path crossed the bank was steep, having been cut out by countless flood waters. The top of the bank at the trail was about rack height.

My new XTR Tires grabbed right in and popped the front up on the bank with ease, and since it was steep I stood on the rear rack leaning as far forward as possible. On the first crack to get the rear tires up the bike nearly stood on end. Not wanting to be defeated I tried again! On this attempt, leaning even further forward, the rear tires hooked but the brook had undercut the bank so the tires shot in and the bike stood straight up dumping me off. I lay there in the river watching the bike teeter then slowly fall towards me, I rolled out of the way in the nick of time as the bike came down belly up.

We got the bike righted very quickly, but found the digital speedometer smashed. :( The bars were slightly bent, but that was fixed straight away. More importantly the bike still started and worked fine, even the neutral, reverse and oil lights were OK. I knew this fix would be an expensive one, which was confirmed, sadly, by the dealer shortly afterwards. Finding a good used unit would really be the only sensible solution, but finding one proved very difficult.

Well my luck finally changed today, after 6 months of searching, I found one on Ebay and placed the winning bid! If all goes well, this repair will be added to the list of repairs for my 10 year anniversary rebuild.

Well not too much has happened up until tonight as I have been waiting for parts. I did get the brakes properly cleaned up, the CV joint cleaned, dried, greased and reassembled and I started disassembling my Gauge pod in anticipation of my new one coming from Ebay.

To get at all the plugs, I had to take off the front rack, remove the gas tank and heat shield, and mostly remove the front plastics (taking them off would mean disassembling my WARN 424, which is all adjusted up nice so I left it alone LOL.) Since everything was apart, I dielectric greased every electrical connection, and cleaned up the winch wiring a little.

May 15, 2008

Tonight I made some real progress. Since the tank and everything up front was off and out of the way, I did an engine Intake/Exhaust valve adjustment. They weren’t off too much but proper valve adjustment is the life of a 4 stroke ATV.

Since I last posted, I received my new Gauge Pod and my new Pro Taper bars.  They are much higher quality then stock and were within $5-10 of the cost for new stock bars. To replace the Pod or the handle bars, you have to pretty well disassemble both as all the cables run through the bracket for the pod. (I replaced this bracket with the one from my new Ebay unit as mine was severely bent). Rather then disconnecting all the controls, I simply let them go from the old bars and passed them through the bracket one at a time - assembled. This worked great and saved a lot of time adjusting all the controls again. Installation of the bars and the pod was pretty straight forward. Once my black grips are in and the seat back on I'll adjust the location and angle of the controls.

With the front plastics out of the way I finally got a chance to straighten out one of the front brackets for the front fender. One got bent years ago (I have no idea how) which caused the plastics to always be loose on the front left corner. My old Blackwater tires cleared the loose fender, but my new XTR's hook it so I'm glad to finally have that fixed.

This project has been a mountain of  little projects that I wanted to fix long ago, but it was too much of a PITA to complete. Now with everything disassembled and out of the way, all these tangly fixes are now a breeze.

Well this project is finally nearing completion. The front end is finally back together painted and finished. The brakes are adjusted and ready to go. This week I purchased a set of Moose Equipment skid plates which are made from aluminum,  are 1/4" thick, and completely cover the bottom of the ATV from front to the swing arm. This will provide great protection to the bottom of the bike, the running gear and the engine, and let the frame slide easily over obstacles on the trail.

This week I finally repaired the left side foot guard, painted both and reinstalled them on the bike along with all the lower black fenders on both sides. All new fender bolts were installed to replace the rusted/stripped out ones I removed earlier.

Since the racks and bumpers were off the bike, I sanded, cleaned and repainted them with black truck bed coating from Duplicolour. This is a great product that is a little more durable then regular paint, and textured for a nice clean appearance. Once dry the racks and bumper were reinstalled on the bike.

This week was also "electric week". I installed 3 new relays and dressed in all the wiring very neat as I like to do when I have the time to be picky. The first was a new relay for my air horns, the next sends power to 2 new lights in the front bumper, and the last will power a reverse light when the reverse indicator in the instrument cluster is illuminated. Last winters cold storage seems to have killed my battery as is no longer holding a charge, so I installed a new one. This time I purchased a battery tender unit to keep the battery fresh while the bike is stored between rides. (which over the winter can be months!) The reverse light I mentioned earlier is a low profile clear unit with a halogen bulb. I flush mounted the light in the cover of the rear trunk for a clean appearance and for ease of running the wires.

Lastly I finally got a chance to weld my muffler back together so the bike will be fairly quiet again. I re-installed it with a new gasket, new clamp and new bolts. Since I simply ran out of time (summer is here and I’m itching to ride) I’ve postponed the fabrication of a new front grill until next year possibly over the winter. I pieced back together the stock unit for the time being.