David13

I sure would be happy to be out there with you. But it's not in the cards. I been on the road on a motorcycle and on the train. But I haven't been on the trails out thee. Yet. dc

I don't watch tv. Just too much leftist crap. If I know the politics of anyone in anything, and I don't like their politics, then I can't watch it. A year to two ago, all online, I watched Tales of Wells Fargo, 1950s tv. All the episodes. That was good. Right now I'm watching all the episodes (92) of Tombstone Territory. All online. Again 1950's to 1960 tv. All free. I like the old stuff. Yes, and the horse riding and gun slinging. I got to get out my black powder rigs and get out to the range with them. dc

I rode 150 miles round trip on the motorcycle to Harbor Freight (closest one) and got their 20% off run out gauge. It looks like I just have a bent rim. So I ordered it along with the right front fender and the luggage rack for the front. I'll get the back one (fender, one piece) and maybe back rack later. Amazing to me the machine rolls over on it's side and no apparent motor damage. I did change the oil, which was due. Everything seems normal and in place. Any ideas about what might have been damaged or what to check? Thanks dc

I got the front end up. The right tire has a small wobble, I don't have a gauge to put on it, but about 1/16 of an inch, the deepest spot where a stone mark is on the rim, where it obviously in some way hit a rock, or fell on a rock or crunched against a rock. Now just to determine if it's in the rim, or the sub assembly carrier. dc

Thanks The Meguiars has made the black plastic and Kolpin boxes look like new. It says not for surfaces if you don't want them shiny. But it turns out no more shiny that original. The kolpin boxes has gotten a white and chaulky look to them, like they were fast drying out in the sun, at best a gray, not original black. The Meguiars has made them new/black again. As to buffing out the scratches on the painted parts, they are too deep. I will just replace the front side and back fender panels. dc

I'm a shadetreer in that I'm an amateur, also a beginner. But I don't have a tree for a hoist and probably wouldn't do that anyway. Not a beginner on cars and motorcycles. My shed is filled with junk so I'm always working outside. And on any tool I need to weight and balance the cost with how many times/how often I'll use it. So jack stands and floor jack will work for me. I see my transmission jack is only rate at 450 lbs so I can't use that. Shadetree is basically a pro, so sure he would have fancy dedicated tools, expensive, and lots of them. Time is money. I got a lot of tools and money into them. More than I need, and many I only used once. Anyway, thanks to all for the comments. dc

I didn't test the air in it, it looks like it's normal. The rock is a limestone they have here, I think it's oolite, soft and crumbly. When it fell onto the sand/dirt it must have landed on top of a piece of it right at the seal/rim/tire edge, and crumbled between the two I chipped and crumbled most of it out, but it looks like there is powder and pieces of it still in the gap. I'm going to try the inflation and cleaning and see. But first I've got to see if it's the rim or the sub assembly that's bent, i8f anything. Probably tomorrow. I work a half shirt, part time night shift so I'm back tonight for one night. Tomorrow is a holiday, so I'll get into the mechanical. Today I started on Meguiar's Ultimate Black Plastic Restorer. My bike and boxes are only a year and two months old but particularly the Kolpin boxes are getting a white chaulky look to them, dried out from the sun. This restorer is making them look nice and black again, I'll have to see how long it lasts. I'm looking at the front fender panel, and it looks like those come painted and finished at a reasonable price, so maybe one right front. The back is one piece across both side, so more money but still not bad and I think I'd like to have the machine looking pristine again. Maybe that will help to slow me down at least on the trails marked "Extreme" like this one was. I think speed was an issue, but also not knowing all the quirks and oddities of the machine and certain trails. The speed and momentum, and being in 4 wheel drive caused the left front tire to start climbing that hill, which flipped me over. I know not to get one side into a deep rut or trench, or off a cliff, but I hadn't thought of one side going up that way. Just more learning after only just one year on a quad. dc

Hey, old, still out there ripping up the trails. And it didn't kill me, so I'll be back out there in a few days. 3 days off work tho' first, for healing. dc

It was probably '67 and I was 18. I'm 71 now. Many years ago starting on forums David was taken so I started thru' numbers, and settled on David13 for all forums where possible. I was born on the 13th, a Wednesday, but I was 13, 30, 35 and a few other birthdays fell on Friday the 13th and I'm still going. So not superstitious about 13. Fish Files, I always think of your name as Fish Flies. Maybe it's a southern thing but I never understood it, either way. dc

I'm going to use a floor jack and jack stands, because I want to run the machine with all 4 wheels off the ground to see if I have any wobbly tires. I have been told the right front is wobbling, but I need to see it, then see if it's the wheel (rim) or carrier. I can see rock embedded between the tire and the rim on the right front tire. So at a minimum I'll need to remount or get it remounted and clean out the seal. I'd be out there today but it's a drizzly cool cloudy day. Now as to the shade tree and come along I want to tell a story here about such things. The year was about 1966 or maybe spring 1967. For some reason, visiting a neighbor or was at his house for some reason, I got into a house to talk about a 1963 Jaguar XKE outside. He said it was his, or that was why I was talking to him and that it was for sale. $1,300 for a 3 year old XKE, gray, red interior, soft top roadster model. Looked perfect. A possible dream come true ... However, he said he didn't put anti freeze in it, he forgot, and it needed a clutch. And he knew to change the clutch it couldn't come out from the back, the motor had to come out the front. And the block may be cracked, no anti freeze and all, he didn't know (this was mid Michigan, freezing winters), now just spring time. Well, I couldn't pull the engine, no garage to use or whatever so I told another guy about it. He went over, bought it (I don't know if he ever paid all the money, maybe a promise on the balance). He took it back to his parents house, put a chain hoist on a tree limb in the front yard, pulled the engine, put in a clutch, found the block with no cracks, and had about the sharpest car for a young kid in all of mid Michigan. But he was a mad reckless driver, crashed it, killed his passenger and spent six months in jail (I think) for his effort. So you see, real shade tree work is possible, but you still need to know who the mechanic is. dc

I looked at my motorcycle/transmission jack from Harbor Freight. It is a scissor jack with a flat white plate on top, with a side strap on it. But the ad shows it as rated as 450 lbs. I believe the Rancher 320 is more than that. I never lifted my current nor any previous motorcycle with it, only transmissions. The plate is 8 or 10 inches by 16 to 20 inches, with a v groove in the center. Looking underneath the Rancher I see I can use the hydraulic floor jack to lift front and rear and put jack stands near the edges of the frame. That's all I need so I can run it and see how that front wheel wobbles, then inspect and see what I got to replace. dc Oh, no trees like that here. All I have is one apple tree, more like a gigantic bush than a tree.

I need to get my atv up to get the wheel off. I checked the glove box book, and the Helm manual. It's too complicated for one, and too simple for the other book so nothing there on lift points. I need to drag out of the shed a motorcycle/transmission jack that I have. Some online pundits suggest that. But still where are the best lift points? Or should I use the hydraulic jack that I use on cars? How do you jack up your ATV, say to change a wheel? Thanks dc

Rancher 420, 2019 model I was on a mountain trail, two tire tracks in the dirt on the side of the mountain, to the left a good 60 to 70 degree slope up at the immediate edge of the trail, and down hill to the right. I had been getting some feedback from the electric power steering handlebars. A few times it seemed like hitting a rock would knock the bars right or left. Then something knocked the bars to the left, a rock or what I don't know, causing the left front tire to start up the incline at the left and flopped the ATV over onto the right side. I got banged up nicely on the right arm and shoulder. I could feel the wet blood on my long sleeved shirt immediately. There was only some large sage brush type bushes or small trees up the hill, much of which was rotten, so I couldn't get the winch on anything, and I didn't know if it could pull me upright anyway. I called some friends who came and helped me flop it over. It ran, and appears to run normally. A lot of scratches on that pretty white paint on the plastic and a wobble in the right from tire. Looking underneath, I'm wondering if the only damage is a right front rim, bent. Any ideas or recommendations as to what to check? Thanks dc

Oil is oil. It's the additives. The official Honda stuff has some nice additives. My machine likes it. It's real happy with it. I don't know if it would be unhappy with other stuff. Got to be rated right, and all. Amsoil is expensive. Brand names are expensive. My dealer has a low price on Honda oil, one thing they do have a low price on. Loss leader, maybe. Even cheaper than internet. Even cheaper than a jug of Mobil1 which is about the cheapest, other than the no name brands. An excuse to go to town. dc

Well, I'm looking at this and I searched for Aussie Locker for Honda ATV and what I found was does the Rancher 420 (2017) have a locking differential. A video. And he shows what I was reading today about holding the brake as a locker. And he shows in the video how it works. So, all the talk about do I need a winch, or is it better to just have a diff locker so you don't need the winch, etc which I was reading today, well, ... I just got the winch done and on and in. I did happen to cross a big water hole last summer and someone asked if I had a diff lock. It looked like no, but it didn't matter, as I just made it thru' the water hole with no problem. I didn't even bounce one foot onto the ground like the other 5 atvs that came along at the same time. Following that video was one from Tennessee 'mudders' titled You Know You Have a Locking Diff. Basically, I don't do that type of under water riding, other than a slight water hole to cross, so I"m not worried. If the brake/lock on the front doesn't work, I do have the winch. dc

Well I finally got the machine all back together, finishing off all the connections to the controller, tried the winch and found it to work fine, in was going in and out was going out, even tho' they were up side down with the switch hanging down off the bars, rather than up as they show in the directions. And walked over to the storage facility and got the machine out and brought it home. Just a few blocks. Snow and rain is predicted for Sunday night, but ... They predict a lot here, and much of it doesn't show up. We have had some nice weather of late, and it's getting warmer almost every day. So it looks like winter is just about gone. And atv ing season is about to start. The way the season starts, one (me) starts heading up one of the trails til snow is encountered, then continues as long as possible. Usually it's a big drift across the trail that can't be gone around. So of it can just be too dangerous, tho'. Last year one spot had a snow drift but it was melted on one side, but too close to a drop off. In some places the drop offs are 1000s of feet. This one was only about 20 feet, but still, I'm not ready to slip off a wet and muddy trail even if it is only 20 feet down. Then each week one (me) gets further and further up the mountains. Eventually the top is reached, usually into June or so. The top is Skyline Drive which runs along the ridge, mostly. Once it's open to the top, then the nice day trips start. I am looking at getting set up for over night trips. But that will take a whole lot of extra equipment. Cooking, sleeping, etc. dc

I originally used black electrical tape folded over a few times. Problem is, it went in hard, and fell out. I have now cut two pieces of plastic hose, a small diameter. and put them in there. They seem to stay nicely and keep the nut to the top. dc

Here is a helpful video from a post on the other forum. And a link. https://www.hondaatvforums.net/threads/helpful-youtube-dealing-with-short-battery-terminal-bolts.53906/ Yes, I was going to post with this same problem. But the basic internet search came up with this and this nice video. Yes, I have some plastic hose that I can fit in there to hold those nuts maybe for a full riding season. I had the problem with just the battery cable attachment. But now that I have added the winch, it's more of a problem. Honda usually doesn't have many problems. They do with noise on the Pioneer 500. And this. But actually this is Yuasa battery who has this problem. My motorcycle has the bolts going sideways, so this problem does not occur. Thanks Holden from back in 2015.

I have committed to be out of the storage unit this coming Saturday, the end of February. I'll take my chances with the weather. We did have some snow yesterday, a light and fluffy 2 inches or so that turned the entire world white. All trees wires, etc were all white. But the snow is gone today. All of it. I have the controller mounted in the tool box on the black plastic panel just behind the battery. If I needed to replace that panel it is available at the grand price of $5.50. OEM part from Honda. I had to get the NAPA wire long enough to run back there from the winch. Then I need to cut the wires forward to the battery. The switch wires just reach back there. I found 12 v key on at the "accessory" and tps reset plug near the radiator, or at the top of the radiator. I finally read the electrical diagram for the F6 in the Helm book I have for the 14 to 19 Rancher. I'll wire the red wire from the switch to the black and white wire going into that plug. I pulled it out and I'll hard wire it to the red wire. The switch I mounted on the handle bars, left side, but down instead of up. If it was up it would poke into the Cabela's cover I got for outdoor storage. There are many atvs here stored outside under a cover, or just out in the open. I stored mine outside under the cover all last summer and had not a tad of rust. It just doesn't happen here, ,as the climate is so outrageously dry. Of course, with the switch downward instead of up it's backward. When I'm ready to run it I'll adjust the switch wires onto the controller so that in and out will match up with the words printed on the switch (upside down, of course). It took a while, but it all looks good. I'll leave the battery wires off, after a check to see if it runs to ride a bit to see if anything comes loose. I added 3 loops bolted to the plastic to hold the wires along with about 50 or 100 tie wraps. If any bolts come loose, I'll add thread locker. I already have lock washers on everything. I have neglected my motorcycle all winter. I need to get my new tires put on and rebuild the forks, seals, etc. But I have a tpm issue coming up on that. The sensors come with new batteries, but they are $450 for two. But that tpm can be a real help. A friend of mine back in Los Angeles with the same bike relates that his helped him off the freeway recently. It had helped me on a previous BMW motorcycle some years ago. It lets you know when there is a problem before it gets too bad. So you can get off the road to inspect. dc Oh, I used a Dremel to cut the skid plate around the winch.

I'm happy I didn't go with foot shift. Surely on a motorcycle I want a shift, manual, foot shift because that is just part of riding a motorcycle. But it is somewhat of a pain in city riding, but that matters not as I'm far from the city now. I did have a new Mustang GT with 5 or 6 manual gears when I was in the big city (Los Angeles) and I soon sold it, as it was a pain to drive it in stop and go traffic which is impossible to avoid in Los Angeles. But on the atv my riding is up hill, down hill, left turn right turn, constantly, and I would not want to be on and off the clutch and gear selector all that time. I know a lot of people here or anywhere talk about auto transmissions and the possible problems they can have with them. I also know that in Mexico, and I have heard in other countries they favor sticks as they are worried about auto trans repairs. But I've seen as much manual trans failure as auto. One of the first jobs I ever did was a '65 Mustang clutch when it was about a year old. And after getting the clutch out the owner said "oh, the first gear is shot", whereby I opened the transmission, sent him down to the dealer for new gears and had them in in minutes. I used to know a used car dealer who said "oh, these people say they like their synchromesh manual transmission. Until they have to pay to repair it." And I never had a auto trans fail me. Maybe I just don't get around enough. On the atv it does sometimes shift rough, or linger in a lower gear, but it still is a lot less hassle than in and out on the clutch and up and down on the gears. So I'm happy. Knock on wood. dc .

I'm still working on it. Mostly by thinking about it. I did find the electrical supply store, but they didn't have anything that wasn't stiff wire. They did have the connectors tho'. And I have ordered a pair of pliers which should criimp them nicely. I finally went with the wire from NAPA. It's not as soft as the Warn wires, but it's not as stiff as the Home Depot #8 wire. Half way between, I guess. I'm still looking around for a nice place to mount the controller. I'm also trying to figure out which wire to switch if the switch runs opposite to what reads on the switch, in/out, that is. I suppose I could just switch the wires from the winch motor to the controller. Then in and out would correspond to the switch reading if it doesn't start out right. Thanks to all. dc

In my area I didn't know there were any off road rules. I suppose there are, but for things I probably wouldn't be doing anyway. I think most of my riding is in the National Forest or something, so it would have to be the forest service or someone who got after me, I did encounter one Sheriff on my last ride this year, and a couple forest service trucks on the high trail during the summer. But they either didn't stop or if they did they just wanted to socialize and get information. There are signs up about cattle poaching, $20,000 reward. I have no idea if that is still an issue or not but I suppose those guys are more interested in that than any atv. But around here most or almost all would be legal all around in any case. It's only been one year for me out there so far, so I haven't seen or head much. Just one of my neighbors dog got caught in a trap that was basically on, or very close to the trail, so the dog owner objected and wanted to confront the trapper who happened to be my next door neighbor. Confront not about trapping, but about trapping on or close to the trail. He admitted it was winter and no one was up there much, but ... It turned out the trapper had moved out, and a Sheriff's deputy moved in. So he said it was probably better that no one answered the door when he went to confront the trapper. This was the same neighbor and dog team who had a story about the dog confronting and facing off with a sheep out on the trail, near a drop off. This when the neighbor was still attached to the dog on the leash. The sheep squared off and rammed the dog, knocking him down the drop off and causing the owner to fall with him for a ways. He had the banged legs and arms to prove it. (The neighbor, not the dog). I suppose the dog was no worse for the wear on the ramming, the trap, and the fall. It's a big dog. dc

Yeah, I would skip those squiggly things also. The only fish I like is filets. Just plain fish mean. I'll skip the pork too, except for the bacon. But rib eyes? Yes, those are for me. We have a good source for them here. Turkey, yes. I cooked one for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas. Last a nice long time. dc

I don't let things bother me. Sometimes a thing is real easy for me and others cannot understand that as they found that thing hard. So I just take the situation as it comes and deal with it. So this has been (and still is) a somewhat thorny winch install, but I'll get it done. I haven't even started on the motorcycle forks and that will be unusual as it's a BMW, not the conventional forks. But there is still a lot of winter left here so there is no rush. dc

Wilson It'll be a while before I get a photo. Too much of a cold to be out much. It was the standard Honda accessory bumper offered in their catalog. I'll get photos but here is the link: https://powersports-honda.dcatalog.com/v/2019-Honda-SxS-ATV-Accessory-Catalog_r1/?page=72 It is M down in the right lower corner. It isn't a lot of bumper, but was under $150 with the discount and it was better than nothing which was original equipment. I also got the windshield which didn't fit and I took back. I got them thru' the dealer, thus the discount. dc