I am fixin to purchase a 'newsed' ATV and have pretty much set my sites on the Sportsman 500 EFI. I am lookin for any words of wisdom that I could use along the way to help in my search. I have found a few listed, but they seem to be all over the board for pricing. Prolly due to sentimental value and other add-ons. However, is there any good rules to follow? Such as; Average number of miles/hours per year. This type of maintenance at this type of interval. Always kick the left rear tire to ensure the headlight comes on. Anything of that sort. This is a great site and I have learned lots just from reading the forums! Keep up the good work.

 

Heres a few of the things I have taken note of:
Replace battery every 4 years
Replace tires every 2000 miles
Check for the ECM recall/replacement for years <2006

 

Replace tires every 2000 miles????..........Where did you hear that?
I have over 1700 miles on my 2006 Sp 450 and the tires are still in very good shape.......AT 489's
Battery every 4 years.........Replace when needed.......
Polaris has a list for the ECM recalls........But when mine needed to replaced twice...Both time never did leave me stuck on the trail somewhere........You can still ride them.......
So no a dependable issue there!!!

What year Sportsman are you looking for??.......Check the plastic to see what kind of riding they did!!!

Also check the rubber CV boots for damage this will at least tell you if they keep a eye on them are even care about damage or replacement(I never did damage any yet)!!!

You can also check the Hyd. brake reserve on the handlebar and the Drivers info POD along with the high-beam adjuster(if it still works)for any plastic scraps or damage this will tell you if it was rolled!!!!

 

I have a 2007 Sportsman 500 EFI Deluxe with 3980 miles and have done nothing but regular servive..Tires still look great..Atv's are like any other machine...Do your service regular and they will serve you well...

 

Thank you for pointers! Thats exactly the kind if stuff I was needing to hear.
I was looking at the 05-06 models. I was giving it the ol car adage of 'best value for your money at ~2 years from new'.

 

well 06' is the first year for the efi in the 500. some of them had to be reflashes from a dealer w/ idling and running issues but was no big deal for the correction. tires last on depending on the terrain you ride as payment will kill the life of them. check the oil and maybe tranny fluid to see if its black as coal from lack of matainace of bikes w/ over 1,500 miles. find out the service intervals they did and who did it. the bikes condation alone will tell you how its been ridden. look at the rims to see if there all beat in and see how many tire plugs inthe tires if any. this gives you a good idear on how it was ridden and taken care of.

 

Make sure your pull cord handle is on tight before doing water/mud crossing. Unlike my old ATVs were the recoil housing could be removed and it would not matter,the Polaris set up has it as the protector of the expensive $350 Stator,pulse coil,flywheel and Bendix. The handle is all that stops water and mud from filling the recoil housing and submerging these exspensive parts.