The new HO Sportsman had been in my possesion for only 15 hours when we hit the gate at The Badlands. What better place to try it out.

MagnumMudMan asked me in another thread, how it compares to the Scrambler, as far as power goes. It does not feel like the Scrambler, and on the other hand, it doesn't feel like the standard Sportsman either. I'd have to say that it is right betwwen the two. The increase in power has made it a much better trail machine. The rear end is easily broken loose and thrown any direction you choose. In that respect, it DOES feel like the Scram.

Mud......, we all know that the Sportsman is a very capable mud machine. It's just a little faster in and out now. I have never ridden another Sportsman in serious mud before, so I can't really compare. I just know that I would have been on the bad side of a winch hook several times if I had been on the Scrambler. Had her in high enough to get the ucky stuff on top of the front rack several times. WHAT FUN !!!! There was a guy on a Grizzly, just sitting there watching. I invited him in, and he declined, by acting like he didn't hear me. My Dad did go through on his Kodiak, after much taunting. Guess I'll have to find a deeper one next time. I was so happy to be able to mud with "the big boys", I was just like a little kid. Go through, spin her around and do it again. KING OF THE MUD, BABY !!!

Hill climbing....., the HO is much better in the steep and loose than the standard Sportsman. The increase in power gives better wheel spin. Not as good as the Scrambler, but much better than the 2000 Sportsman.

Short drags......., the HO all the way. Lined up against others on standard Sportsman. It was the HO. These guys weigh between 40 and 125 lbs less than me. I WIN. These were short drags. Didn't want to hammer on it too hard because of the breakin period.

Water...... This was my favorite test. I've had alot of problems with the Scrambler belt getting wet. So I was very anxious about testing out the SP.

We found a pool of water, about 2feet deep in places, and I must have went through it 20 times. Fast, slow, high range, low range, 2 WD and 4WD. Hit the water easy, hit it as hard as I could without going over the handle bars. No slippage, UNTIL.... the last pass was the hardest hit, got across and out with no slippage. I got out of the water, turned the bike off, and started singing the praises of this new beast. Sat for a minute, started it up, and DAMMIT, the belt was slipping. I guess it must have had someting to do with shutting it down right after the swim. Anybody have any ideas as to what happened here ?

Overall, I love this thing. I do think it will be fine in the water, I just have to remember to blow it out some after a water crossing before I shut it down.

If anybody has any questions, e-mail me. I love talking about it.

Gotta go clean the Beast.

Dave

 

Dave,

If you ever want to come north, look me up! We've got some NASTY swamp holes, plua a good clean water wash pond!

 

Hey indydave, were the badlands kewl? I am planning on going this week, while we are on fall break. I will take the sp500 and Rubi for a little comparison.

 

Indy one word of advice for you and all owners of the sp 500 2000 and up. really pay attention to the rad there a bitch to clean. If you want to do it right u need to seperate the fan shroud from the rad and hose it out this is one stupid design that never should have made it to production, if you don,t do it you will be sorry.

 

Dazed,

Thanks for the tip. I did notice that the rad was hard to get at today, while I was cleaning it up. What water I was able to get in there did come back out brown. Guess I need to try a little harder. We usually try to ride in some water before we quit for the day. Hopefully that will help.

Speaking of bad designs, how about this damned "universal" owners manual ? I've never seen such a piece of sh@t in my life.

I greased what I could find of the zerks today, and I still need eight more. I got some water out of all that I did grease, so I HAVE to find them. The manual is NO help.

Dave

 

Dave

Thanks for the update on the new machine. Sounds like you are enjoying it. My buddy just bought his first Polaris (Scrambler 500 2x4) and his biggest complaint about the Polaris over a Honda is the crappy owner's manual Polaris gives you with the machine. For crying out loud, you would think for what these machines cost that they could give you a damn book about your specific machine !!!!!!

 

So were the badlands kewl? I am think bout plannin a trip there this week/end (Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday)

 

yea!!! while we are on the subject!! i just bought a 00 400sc4x4!!thank god i was able to find one out there!! the manual is a pos!! i think if you buy a machine, you should get one for that machine and not thier whole line up!! bunch of tight wods!!! one book, 25 machines!!!!!!

 

Which has the most torque and or power, the Traxter, AC 500, Or the Sportsman 500HO. Just wondering im fixing to buy a new ATV and was just wondering which one had the most?

 

The ac has the most "claimed" torque, though the sp 500 can pull the most