Home Forums Gear Horses and ATV's 1986 Honda Foreman. Durability ?

I'm now the owner of my Dad's old 350 Foreman.
We've purchased a piece of hunting property, and I have both minor logging and food plot work.
I don't own a farm tractor, so my needs are going to have to be done with the Foreman.
There's a number of garden tractor/atv implements I've gathered.
A Brinley single bottom mold board plow with turf cutter disc up front.
A small disc, a raker tooth cultivator and a cute little box blade complete with rakers.
The box blade rotates 180 deg.
We made up a winch/tongs skidder trailer for pulling logs from a bunch of road salt killed hardwood trees.
That area will be cleared for food plot.

Will the old 350 Foreman take a beating like that and not break hard to find parts or plain wear out?
It hasn't had any rough use since the late 80's. Since then it's just been used for deer retrieval duties mainly. Bet it isn't more than 50 miles in the last 20 years.
Even so, rubber parts get old, cracks and mud/water don't do nice things then to original C/V joints and such.

Old stuff breaks, even stuff that was good when it was new. If antiques are your hobby then it can be a fun past time to restore and use old stuff, but for me a 30 year old ATV isn't going to be reliable enough. With it being your dad's ATV nostalgia certainly comes into play also.


I don't like working on things any more, I just want it to start, be able to run it hard and put it up without undue maintenance. I tend to run newer equipment for that reason. My time's too valuable to be constantly fixing things that I need to work right now.

Yes, it will be very reliable. But you are asking a lot of an old 350 to be doing tillage work and such.

They are easy to get parts for if you need to.

They are bulletproof

I don't know where "here an there" is.

Around "here" $2-3k will buy a good AC WD-45 or an 8N, or Farmall H.
They will out work a 4 wheeler. Hell, under many condition, they will out
pull new 4 wheel drive tractors of similar power.

Don't tell anyone that, they will say you are nuts.
Get them in mud, you'll show "em.

dude...that foreman will take almost any beating you give it. The only thing you'll probably run out of is power.

Those old solid front axle Foreman's are badass and getting harder to find anymore. I rode one a long time ago and it was a beast and pretty snappy for a 350. I have no doubt it will pull whatever you need it too, within reason of course.

I saw my neighbor pull a load of spruce logs that had to weigh 2 tons. He did it with a Honda Foreman 400.

I’ve skidded some good sized logs/ trunks with it, even poorly chained ones digging the nose in. The old 350 just singing along in 2nd, throwing dirt from all four chained up tires.
I know it will do it, at least temporarily. Avoiding breaking it is important.
A new or newer used larger machine would be ideal, but finances say just use this one and try to take care of it.

I wouldn't trade mine for anything out there. I bought mine new late in 1987, so its a 1988. Damn dependable and I still use it. These last few years I only use it to bush hog, carry me to my hunting stand, and drag Deer out. I've thought about getting a newer one, but I'll never part with this one. Great machines................................

Seems like you are going to have roots in your food plt area and that may well be an issue with any plow.
The disc may well stir up the top of the soil enough to plant a food plot crop. Roots may be a problem here too.

I recall a Honda 4 wheeler the electritions had in an oil refinerie..they had a little trailer the pulled behind it with all the essentials in it ..it was there in 1991 when I first went there it was pretty used so I'm thinking it was probably a mid 80 s model...it always sat outside and had a duct taped seat...the rubber handle bar grips were warn down smooth ...I never saw any one do any maintance of any kind the tires were wore down smooth with only a trace of the tread on the edges....they would fire it up in the morning and run it around and do whatever sparkys do...I was always amazed at that machine...it was there still going out every day in 2012 when I left...they did put new tires on about 2010...I doubt the advrage guy would run one as much as they did that one..

Bullet Proof

Trick question, right? You really need to ask if a 32 year old atv is reliable??

laughed out loud when I read the title of this thread....

I had an 87' Foreman for several years. It was 10 years old and farmer owned when I got it.

I assume the farmer let it sit and idle for long periods and it didn't get full lubrication to the top end. So, rocker arms and camshaft were trashed. I had the top end rebuilt and had no other issues with the engine.

Negatives in my book were:

- Metal gas tank (rust)
- Electric fuel pump (mine went out twice)
- Solid front axle (rougher ride)

With that said, they're absolute tanks. I rode it hard and put it away wet several times. Parts can be had pretty easily. If you ever need something specific feel free to PM me.

Glad I could provide some entertainment.

This one has had a pretty easy life.

Your Foreman is really nice man.

Are those Bear Claw tires?

Thanks m stevenson. It has been a very reliable workhorse. Practically zero issues in all these years. The tires are Swamp Fox AMS tires.

I put a set of Maxxis Sur Trac's on mine. Not sure if they're still in production, but nice tires as well.

Those old Hondas were some of the best (though ride has always challenged Honda).

I have a 98 300 2WD TRX which still runs after at least 30,000 miles and hauling some rack-straining loads in excess of 500 pounds.

Don't work it wrong, keep the RPMs up (so clutches aren't slipping/chattering) and these old machines will 'haul some serious mail'.

Hauling out Deer or Coyotes or driving down to check out a target at 100yds is the majority of what mine gets used for. We are both getting older. LOL
In the past it has pulled trucks out of creeks, cars out of snow drifts, and a hay wagon or 2.
I would like to add another Honda 4X4 to the stable, but I just don't know which or what year to buy. Nothing new, my budget won't handle it. Any suggestions?

nice old four wheelers, we had a buddy in the 80s had a foreman like that and he welded thick sheet metal on all the racks, it was a tank and he'd push over anything he felt like within reason! I thought it was cool as heck growing up.

I have a 2001 Honda Rancher 350. Bullet proof is a good description. I pull a tiller and drag logs with mine. Its not a tractor but it never fails to give all its got.

That's one I've been tossing around to buy. Sounds like yours has been a good one. Automatic?

Yes mine is the ES which means electronic shift. Only issue I have ever had with it was, when shifting it sometimes didn't want to go into reverse. Also it didn't want to shift right when the lights were on. Easy fix. The battery had a bad cell. New battery fixed it up like new.

With the electronic shift do you have an option to manually shift it? Probably a dumb question, but I would like to know.

Not on mine. Maybe on one a little newer.

Thanks BlueDuck. That helps.

If the push button shifter goes out there is a little lever you can put on to limp home.

I have a 2001 Honda Foreman 450 and I agree wholeheartedly with the "bullet-proof" label.

There is a shaft with a hex head coming out of the transmission by your left foot. Should be a wrench to fit it in your storage cubby hole. That way you can still shift if your electric shift goes out.


I put some Bear Claws on my quad about 5 years ago and couldn't be happier with them. Aggressive tread with long wear life, good ride, and priced reasonably.

That is a nice looking Foreman. I like the looks of the 2001's.

Yep there is. And "limp" is about what you'll do but at least you'll get there.

I also have a 2001 Foreman 450. Mine is the S model so it's manual shift, full time 4x4. Built like a tank. My son uses it now mostly for ice fishing and when we are scouting.

I've got an '88 & a '91 Honda TRX, both 400's.

Both are manual shift, full time 4wd.

I go places, other bigger bikes get stuck !

No issues with mine other than a leaky carb which it is in getting fixed or replaced. Runs fantastic. Just put new tires and wheels on it, serviced all fluids, changed out winch cable to synthetic line. Add the chain saw mount to the rear. Swapped out the factory springs to the high lifter ones which made a huge difference with the weight handling.

Mine is running great, except the tires have had it. Can't believe these are the original tires from 1986.

I see where a couple of tire companies are making a 24x10x11 to use on the rear.
How many have done that, upsized their rear tires?
Looking at mine, there doesn't seem to be any clearance issues.

I also took care of the durability/ breakage if I used it like a tractor thing.
There's a brand new New Holland Workmaster 25 w/ 200LC loader sitting in the garage.
0% financing is a wonderful thing in the right situation.

If it's a 4x4, you'll need bigger fronts if you go with bigger rears or the transfer case gearing will be screwed up. The fronts don't have to be as wide but they do need to be the same diameter.

ITP Mudlites in 24x10x11 and 24x9x11. Unless they don't account for inflated diameter or somesuch, I should be good.

I have a 1988 Honda Fourtrax 2wd 300 that I have been using for hauling wood, rocks and deer and food plotting for 30 years now. If only the new Honda’s were built like that. Switched to Yamaha for my 2008 Grizzly.

I doubt you'll have much trouble with the tillage implements but logging is some heavy work. If you're talking about pulling a wheeled trailer hauling logs you might run out of horsepower and front end weight at about the same time. My little buggy is a 1999 450 Foreman that looked about like the one K22 posted when I bought it 5 years ago. Had less than 400 miles put on it by a guy older than me hauling ostrich feed and other lightweight stuff while trying to make his fortune with African birds in South Carolina.

It's a plain old foot shifter and I wouldn't want it any other way. I really challenged it with a 6' x 12' single axel trailer and 20" sideboards filled with cut and split firewood. Pulled it thru the neighborhood a couple hundred yards back home with two short slopes. Had a devil of a time turning because the front end was just about to float. Weight wise you can pull more than you can maneuver and stop. A 350 might not be the best way to move trees.

If you can tear one up you can probably tear up an avil.