BlueSparrow

25 minutes ago, Fishfiles said:

I watched the whole video , the guy has nice tools and does nice work 

If you look at the other videos on his channel it looks like he is a very skilled professional craftsman.

On 11/24/2020 at 11:05 PM, TBRider said:

Your best bet is to build your own, the link you posted for your last one with the 4 tyres looked decent. We are mostly NA here so shipping would be a killer... @TrxPipUK
might be able to help....

This guy in Poland made his own, quite relaxing to watch, but I have neither the skill or tools to make what he made, and even then it doesn't look very heavy duty.

14 hours ago, SamUK said:

Apolgies for the late reply.. So, in my opinion forget all modern Hondas.. My father had a 2012 foreman and i had a 450 foreman, the 450 hands down was more versatile, practical and user friendly. Modern ATVs in the UK cost a small fortune to maintain properly. Pre 2000 is the better option, in my opinion of course.

 

As for the road legalality side...

 

If its road registered and has a logbook (V5) you have no issue whatsoever. 

 

Odds on youll buy an 'agricultural' registered atv. Theres loads fpr sale! 

All you need to do is change the taxation class on the logbook and add lights, indicators etc.. basically it has to pass an MOT. 

 

Agricultural taxation class covers you up to a 10 mile radius of your address, maybe you could swing it somehow?!

 

Hope this helps buddy.

Thanks for the tips, what do you think is better than a modern honda? I live in the highlands of Scotland and there are lots of farmers in my area, every one I have spoke to about quads so far says they swear by getting a honda due to reliability, even modern ones. Some said they tried other brands but always end up going back to getting a honda.

I'm also considering getting a 2 wheel drive electric work bike instead of a quad, it would probably do quite well for what I need one for. Major down side is obviously you can't tow anything. The ubco 2x2 looks good, but it is very expensive.

https://www.ubcobikes.com/eu/2x2-work-bike/

37 minutes ago, TBRider said:

Your best bet is to build your own, the link you posted for your last one with the 4 tyres looked decent. We are mostly NA here so shipping would be a killer... @TrxPipUK
might be able to help....

There is no way I could build my own.

There is also this plastic one I was considering but it is only hand tipped.

https://www.smallholderequipment.co.uk/trailers/plastic-hopper-tipping-trailer-500l-8391-.html

Hi, does anyone know of a good reliable ATV tipping trailer?

Preferably one you can lift with some kind of system, not just hand lifted.

I saw this one on alibaba, it has a 1600lb lifting capacity. But if I buy it from alibaba it might take months to come and fall apart after 3 uses because the steel is actually a steel-cheese alloy.

https://newbang.en.alibaba.com/product/62344903600-800793031

It was only a 2WD I presumed it was a 4WD, I hate when people don't put full details in adverts.

Second hand prices for Honda ATVs are a bit crazy here in the UK, I recently saw a 2005 Honda trx350 fourtrax with semi-functioning clutch sell for the equivalent of 2500 USD.

Honda ATVs that don't work seem to sell for good prices, I think people buy them strip them apart and then resell all the good parts, so they will pay a good amount for any broken Honda quad as they will make a lot of money selling off the parts that are still in good condition.

The lowest range 4wd Cfmoto, the CFORCE 450 is £5k (6.6k USD) in the UK, the lowest range 4wd Honda Fourtrax is £7k ($9.3k USD).

But many people say Cfmotos have very little resale value and Honda a large resale value, so you are much better buying a cheap Honda.

2 minutes ago, oh400ex said:

 

Worse than trash

 

One positive about them?... something nice to say?...

The dealers get good mark-up! 😅

One thing I have often wondered is what kind of mark up deals get from ATVs in general?

How much does a dealer get a 4WD Fourtrax or Foreman for even though they buy in bulk?

Cfmoto dealers must get a really high mark up.

How much would you pay for a 2009 Trx420 Fourtrax?

There is a second hand one for sale I'm looking at, it seems like it is in good condition, and has 120 hours recorded as use.

120 hours in 11 years seems incredibly low, I wonder if there is a way of changing the hours on the machine? It almost seems unbelievable.

Does anyone have any experience with Cfmoto ATVs? 

What do people think of them?

https://cfmotousa.com/

16 minutes ago, _Wilson_™ said:

yeah i have one of those just watch the tongue weight, if you go with an IRS, cause it can get hairy. I'd go with jeep thoughts for a bike meant for work, just depends on which you be doing more of trail riding, or work related, and by your post more work related ? and if this is your first one, that fact also should be a factor. 

I would be doing very little trail riding, it'll be primarily for travelling off-road terrain to go metal detecting at remote abandoned villages with no road, I wouldn't be racing it around and there are no trees to avoid etc.

The towing aspect would be for hauling trailers full of garbage accumulated at remote locations and helping haul some rock to help build and repair footpaths which could be used by an ATV, to stop erosion of the ground from ATV usage.

I wouldn't be using it very regularly, not like a farmer would be using in intensively every day. I was even thinking of going for the cheapest Fourtrax 420, but that has a towing capacity of 384kg, not sure how much it can handle above the listed capacity.

20 hours ago, jeepwm69 said:

If I recall correctly, an ATV in the UK has to be certified for road use when sold new.  If it is, it will always be legal for road use.  If it isn't, it can never be certified for road use.  Sam had a 300 that he sold when he got the 450, because the 450 was legal for road use and the 300 could not be modified to ever be legal for road use.

Thanks for the reply, in the UK even if you manage to get an ATV registered road legal, it still needs road legal tires, I think pretty much every ATV comes with stock tires that are only for off-road, probably road legal ATV tires would be expensive and not very suitable for off-road, so I'm thinking of just going down the route of not using the ATV on the road and hauling it around in a trailer.

The Foreman non-IRS length and breadth dimensions are listed as 2100mm x 1200mm (6.89 foot x 3.94 foot , the Foreman IRS is listed as 2147mm x 1205mm (7.04 foot x 3.95 foot).

Trailers in the UK tend to come in foot sizes, at 7.04 foot long do people think a Foreman IRS might squeeze into a 7 foot long trailer or is it just too long as the measurements would suggest. I might need to go got an 8 foot x 4 foot or 8 foot x 5 foot, I'd prefer to go for a 7 foot x 4 foot as it would be cheaper.

As well as getting a road legal trailer I was looking at getting a off-road dumper trailer like the one at the link below, does anyone have experience of transporting a smaller trailer and ATV inside a transport trailer at the same time? Maybe store the smaller trailer upside-down on top of the ATV? It's not a huge problem if I can't transport them at the same time I'd take them one at a time.

https://www.becksidemachinery.co.uk/product-page/4-wheel-atv-trailer

13 minutes ago, RubiDan said:

Blue Sparrow, have you went and looked at them yet?  If you haven't that may be the best way to make up your mind.  It would be best if you can talk to an honest salesman and get them to explain all of the functions and why the IRS has a higher load capacity.  If you're trying to decide between the electric shift and the foot shift it would be best if you rode one.  I don't have much experience with four wheelers and a lot of people say the electric shift is problematic but I don't know it that is true of the newer ones or not.  If @toodeep chimes in he'll be the one who should know how reliable the new ones are.

 

I'm not trying to steer you one way or the other about which one to buy but just telling you what my personal experience is.  Good luck on whatever choice you make.   

No I haven't seen any of the ATVs yet, I live quite far from any dealers that have showrooms so will have to wait until I go to a big town in a few weeks then I'll have a look at different models in person.

There are some dealers nearer me but they don't keep any in stock, you have to order them in. 

1 hour ago, oh400ex said:

 

Avoid ESP like the plague.

 

Consider buying used as well. If you are not going with IRS (which you should IMO) there are comparatively many options for a used machine.

 

The main disadvantage of Honda's independent rear was perfectly described by fish. If you load the back up too heavy they won't ride as well as the SRA.

My counterpoint to this is just don't overload the rack. If you have something that heavy... put it in the trailer. 

 

Hard to go wrong either way.

 

Thanks for the advice.

I need to do more research into the SRA/IRS towing debate before I decide what to get, there seems to be two schools of thought as to which one is better.

I'm thinking of getting a Honda Foreman 520 with the SRA.

But it seems like there are two different versions of it:

Foreman PS 2/4wd (TRX520FM2) 518cc. 5fwd/1rev gears. Manual transmission + power steering (PS). £9,700.00

Foreman ES PS 2/4wd (TRX520FE2) - 5fwd/1rev gears. Handlebar mounted electric gear shift (ESP). Gear position indicator + power steering (PS). £10,200.00

Would it be better to get the slightly more expensive one with the ESP? Or would the other one without ESP be better for towing? Can't you select it into manual and electric gear shifting? 

9 minutes ago, oh400ex said:

Welcome!

 

Foreman IRS with power steering is a great "last quad you will ever need" choice. Hard to go wrong as long as you stay away from ES and Hondamatic IMO

 

@SamUK will be able to tell you about street legalization in your neck of the woods but here you need to add a few things.

Turn signals and street tires are the biggest hurdles for most folks who want to drive on the paved roads here (Arkansas)

 

Amazon and other online retailers have full battery-powered kits to add headlight, taillight, brake light and turn signals to any machine.

 

I am looking to license one of my quads for the road as well so I'll be following your journey!

Thanks for the info.

What I can't understand is how the Foreman 520 PS was a towing capacity of 384kg, but the ones with IRS have a towing capacity of 599kg even though they have the almost the same engine, how is that possible?

The specs are in the brochure at the link below, the non-IRS version has a Bore x Stroke of 96.0mm x 71mm, they IRS version has 96.0mm x 71.5mm. That 0.5mm increase in stroke surely can't explain the big increase in towing capacity?

https://www.honda.co.uk/atv/get-a-brochure/brochure/download-post.html

Hi, I was looking for a recommendation for a new Honda ATV that is good at towing? I'm in the UK.

Looking at the spec the Foreman 520 IRS PS (TRX520FM6) looks a good candidate, it has a towing capacity of 599kg.

I need an ATV I can take from my home along a single track road to another area of land 11 miles away, so it would have to be one I could drive on the road legally.

p.s.

I posted this exact same topic over on the hondaatvforums.net forum, someone recommended I post it here and get in touch with SamUK as they have a road legal honda quad and might be able to help me. Anyone know how to get in touch with SamUK?

This is my thread from the other forum:

https://www.hondaatvforums.net/threads/recommendations-for-a-honda-atv-great-at-towing-preferably-road-legal-in-the-uk.133796