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The
2012 Honda Foreman has an all-new liquid
cooled 475cc engine
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Another major improvement for the for 2012 Foreman
is its brand-new liquid-cooled 475cc single-cylinder,
OHV, four-stroke engine that offers plenty of
power for both working and playing hard. This
new engine produces 10% more HP to the rear wheels
and also provides 6% more torque. The additional
power was very noticeable over previous models,
and we put it to the test climbing some of the
black diamond hill on our test ride.
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The
Foreman 500 has no problem lifting up
the front end at slow speeds in 1st
or 2nd gear with a stab of the throttle
the front end will lift to maneuver
over any obstacles you may find on the
trail
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The Foreman offers a very controllable power,
and we managed to top it out at around 50 mph
for a top speed on the trail ride, but it might
have more to offer on a long wide open stretch,
but at the same time, the Foreman isn’t
going to pull the front tires of the ground with
each shift or a stab of the throttle from mid
to full throttle. On the other hand, it has plenty
of useable power through out the power range that
is very controllable, yet not arm yanking power.
Another new feature for 2012 is its 36mm throttle
body fuel injection system, which provides an
instant throttle response, and delivered smooth
and controllable power, and the thumb throttle
has very little resistance, which reduces the
chance of thumb fatigue after a long day of
riding. The new EFI system also eliminates the
need for re-jetting for higher altitudes, increases
fuel efficiency and makes for easier cold weather
starting.
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The
Honda Foreman features a rear drum brake
with independent hand lever & foot
pedal brake cables
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To handle the extra power of the Honda Foreman
500, larger 196mm Hydraulic dual front disc brakes
have been installed and they worked very well
and allowed us to stop quickly, even at higher
speeds, but in the rear, there remains a single
drum brake, which is controlled independently
through the hand brake lever or the foot brake
These controls utilize individual cables and need
to be adjusted individually as well, and we found
the foot brake to be much more responsive.
The rolling chassis has also been re-engineered
and features an all-new, lighter rear suspension
system that includes a preload adjustable single
shock instead of two as on the prior model years.
In addition to the new single shock is a re-designed
rear swing arm that is three inches wider with
bracing that is designed to help the Foreman
to track straighter in ruts and rough conditions.
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| The
2012 Foreman features an all-new Swing
Arm & single rear shock with 6.9"
of wheel travel |
Up
front, the 2012 Foreman has dual 6.7"
of travel preload adjustable shocks with
7.6" of ground Clearance |
The front suspension has also been improved
on this machine featuring 5-way adjustable pre-load
settings, but the Foreman suspension is still
far from a high performance suspension system
that is found on some other manufacturer 500
class machines. We found the suspension to have
good bottoming resistance, but it was also on
the stiff side, so it did provide for a slightly
bouncy ride at times.
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| Compared
to some other models in the 500 class,
the Foreman suspension travel & ground
clearance numbers are on the lower side,
but this didn't stand out on our test
ride as an issue even when we rode through
a garden of rocks to test out the suspension
and ground clearance |
Despite its stiffness, the Foreman suspension
sucked up some deeps ruts and hard impacts without
any unusual kick-back, which was confidence
inspiring at higher speeds, but for the most
part, the we would say the suspension on the
Foreman is designed more for work than play,
which matches it targeted audience.
