I think you may have mounted the winch the opposite way in the frame if you had to reverse polarity of the wires to get it to correctly function with the handlebar switch. It may have been wise to mock up the install on the bench to see which way the drum rotated when pulling in & out when power is applied via the switch. On both my Warn ATV winches & 4x4 Warn XD9000 the freespool handle end is on the other side or left hand side of the bike or vehicle.
Another important safety issue to consider if you mounted that winch in reverse which I suspect you have is the winch's brake won't work or hold under load. Have a look at the WARN marketing pictures of the VRX35 and you can clearly see how they have it configured & it is the reverse of your installation. The freespool/engage switching end should be on the left hand side.
Nice video. Thanks. Don't know if you are aware but there is a Honda sub harness available that plugs between the accessory socket and the harness that is for the winch control and heated grips.
Just a little clarification on wiring: My VRX 35 did not have the brown wire that goes on the middle tab of the solenoid to negative post on the solenoid. I had to make one. Also, tapping into a "key on" fuse for the lonely red wire works out nicely. The splice kits they gave are not very great. Anyone please feel free to reply to this comment if u have a question
I just installed this exact winch and all I’m getting is a clicking from my solenoid . I followed my instructions to the t and went over them over and over . Any suggestions
If the solenoid is clicking when you use the switch then you must have power to the solenoid from the switch so the problem would have to be in the connections of battery to the solenoid and solenoid to the winch. Other than rechecking the connections I’m not sure. If you have a volt meter maybe start checking to see if you are getting power where you should at the terminals. Battery to solenoid, switch to solenoid, solenoid to winch and finally at the winch terminals. Battery to solenoid should show power all the time but the other three should only show power while the switch is being used. Hope this helps.
I just installed the same system then saw your video. I noticed you did not install the 2 M6 screw that attache the winch mount to the bumper. No criticism here as this mount design is poor. Like you I discovered the 2 M8 bolt/nut pair that attache the mount to the frame must be tightened into place before positioning the winch. Problem is the mount holes are slotted. If these M8 fasters are righted in the wrong slot location the M6 screws may not align. So, in addition to going through the same discovery as you 😅, I added a cycle where I installed everything less the winch to better understand the needed M8 slot location. Then disassemble and reassemble with the winch in place and got lucky with the M6 screws alignment. My hope is the winch itself was not designed by the same clowns that design this mounting system.
Thanks for the comment. I know exactly what you are talking about. I couldn’t initially get them to thread, like they were too short. I got some more later that were just a little bit longer and got it attached.
I was a mechanic for twenty five years rebuilding complex transmissions in all forms and vehicles. I just installed the same winch on the same Honda and I cussed and fought that winch install from start to finish. It’s a horrible design by Honda. Not user friendly. Poorly engineered front end for a winch install.
