I think it's about time for us Xpedition owners to start sharing some tips and tricks. There are very few of the Sportsman Tips that apply to the awesome gear driven Xpedition.
I'll share one with you, and hopefully one of you not so electrically challenged riders will give me some feedback.
I've found that disconnecting the green/white wire from the connector at the starter solenoid, and grounding it from the solenoid to the engine allows you to start in gear, and still allows the neutral light to function normally. My only concern with this is that the relay will always be energized. I don't know what a solenoid costs, but I'm sure keeping the relay energized would shorten its life expectancy.
I was also thinking of eliminating the overide button for AWD in reverse. This one I'm not to sure about.
My thought is to use the overide button as a momentary ground for the starter relay. Doe's this make sense to anyone? Can it be done? Or am
I just making to big a deal out of it?
I know one of the forum members has done these mods.
Any other Xpedition tips you guys care to share?

Brian

 

Ya know, I cannot think of any actual tips? I could say what mods I have on my xpedition. This is the aka first model that came out. I bought it in may of 99. It was called the 2000 polaris xpedition 425 cc 5-speed, however.

mods: front and rear 2-bar bumper. 2000lb. warn. winch mounted in front, right behind the bumper.
The short extender bar mounted on the front rack. 2 gun, gun rack mounted on that extender bar. The taller extender bar mounted on the back storage rack. The tamarrack utility box, and it fits nicely in side the extender bar. I have the K@N air filter in. It did not increase top speed. but in all 5 gears it has more response and gets to each gears top speed much faster now. I have replaced my stock tires and rims with 4-itp magnum billet alluminum rims and 4-26inch mudbug super mud tires. The tires were rubbing a little bit in the front so I bought the progressive lift heavy duty springs/cams set up for the front end. I replaced the stock mud skirts with from polaris extended wide mud skirts,(all 4). I added almost 2
foot of chain to the winch cable to make it easier rapping it around trees. Thats about it. rangerchet

 

Ive tried to contact a fellow forum member(425Xpedition) who claims to have done all the mods Im interested in....start in gear and reverse overide bypass, but he hasnt answered my email yet. Maybe hes out on vacation or something. Anyway, Im ready to tackle the reverse overide mod myself, I got stuck the other day and darn near lost my religion cussun that yellow button! I needed to pick up on the front end plus give it gas and I didnt have enough hands.

 

Dusty,
I've looked at the Expedition schematic and I agree with your approach to allowing start in any gear. By grounding the solenoid directly instead of through the neutral relay, will indeed allow you to start in any gear. I just hadn't gotten around to doing it. (It was a lot more complicated on the Honda 450ES I modified). Don't worry about the solenoid; it is only energized when you hit the start button.

 

Hey guys I am still around. The main computer at my house crashed and took out the network server. had to break out the old phone modem and try to get it to work again. Got it working now. The mods yall are asking about are very easy to do. I will figure out a way to write it out and post it on here. As far as grounding the green/white wire it will not hurt anything. The relay is only engaged when you push the start button. You can buy a connector from RadShack that will plug into the Polaris connector and you don't have to cut any of the wires. This can come in handy when you take the bike back for warranty or service work. I am going to look at my bike tommorow to make sure I tell everybody how to do it right.

 

You guy's are right. I believe I knew that at one point, but ended up getting confused tracing the poor quality diagram provided by Polaris. It is providing a permanant ground to the solenoid, eliminating the temporary ground provided by the neutral switch. AH, it's so much clearer now.
Pflect, I know what you mean about not having enough hands. MY problem is enough Brains. I've buried myself pretty good on occasion, by not using that little yellow button in time.
I think I'll default to one more experienced for the AWD mod. hehe
425 Xpedition, I've talked with the folks at Highlifter about the Supertrap setup. They said the head pipe from the 425 Magnum was about an inch short on the Xpedition. Was that the only mod you had to make to get it to work.
Brian

 

OK guys here is how to do the four wheel drive mod. Go to any trailer supply or any place that sells trailer connectors. Buy a four pin flat plug that has a male connector on one end and female connector on the other. This plug is normally called an extension plug and is about a foot long. When you get the plug cut the white wire and add another wire to it. Then pull the nosepiece plastic off. When you get this off look on the left side of the wiring mess and you will see a plug that resembles the trailer plug. It has a three prong plug and one single wire plugged into it. Unplug this and put the extension plug in. Then take the wire that was added to the white wire and ground it to the frame. When this is done you should be able to turn on the AWD anytime you want. To test it just turn the key on and flip the switch. If you did it right the light will come on with the bike in neutral. If you have any questions e-mail me or leave them in this forum.

 

Hey guys,

Great info. I like the idea of starting in any gear, but what about being able to shift into reverse from any gear. Can that be done or is it impossible? Also, 425Xpedition , I have looked at changing my plastic, how long did it take you and did you run into any problems?

 

I do not think it would be possible to shift into reverse from any gear. Changing the plastic to yellow was easy. Ordered the plastic on tuesday and it showed up friday. One thing that I would suggest is that you order new mud guards as well. The factory ones are riveted to the plastic. The mudguards cost around $20 bucks each. The only other problem is that you have to order new decals. The new plastic does not have any. I spent around $500 on the plastic, mudguards and decals.

 

425Xpedition, you need to put some pictures up! How well does it turn the 27" in the thick stuff?

I love the Xpedition series, great bikes.