My buddy has a 2003 Polaris Sportsman 700 Twin. We were out for a ride a couple weeks ago and he ended up driving through a hole that was much deeper then we realized and when he did the engine died. After it was in water up to the seat (4-5 minutes) the bike will no longer start.
Here is what we have done:

• Checked air filter and it is dry
• Changed oil, not Milky looks ok.
• Changed the plugs
• Checked the carb (seems to be ok)
• Checked the exhaust and removed any water that was in there.
• Now when we try and start it just turns and turns.
• Even when we try and flood the bike the plugs never seem to get wet.

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

check for spark?

 

See if it has spark, take a plug wire off and put an old plug in it and ground it to the engine and turn it over, if no spark something electrical got wet, stator, coil ect, if it has spark spray some gas into air intake and see if it will fire.

 

It doesn't sound like any water got in the engine because the air filter was dry and oil wasn't milky. I'd check for spark as stated above. I'd also check every electrical connection you can find. I'd unplug each connector and dry/clean and use dielectric grease.
I don't really know why it wouldn't be getting fuel because of the mis-hap unless it's a venting problem or maybe a kinked line or something..
Sounds electrical to me.....

 

my cuz has a 800 and there is a electrical box kinda by the batt.. under the fender and a wire came off a few times not alowing it to start... i only mention this because it happend after goin threw a deep puddle

 

it does have spark on both plugs. i took the plugs out and connected to the cap and touched to a ground and there is a visible spark. oh i also dropped a few drops of gas into each cylinder head. it did not fire up. in all the attempts it did start one time for a brief 2-3 seconds.

 

Did the exhaust get plugged with mud or water, did it stop running in the water?

 

i have tried starting it with the exhaust completly taken off. yes it did die in the water.

 

Did you check and make sure a fish didn't swim into the exhaust? ;-)

 

nope, no fish this time!