Since purchasing my Sportsman 500 (a 2006 model, brand new) in Feb of 2007, the wife has complained of it being very hot while she's riding behind me. So much so that she had burn marks on her right leg for several days after riding. We use our Sportsman as a way to get to and from in our yard, and the occasional 5-10 mile wooded ride. The heat has gotten so bad, that she'll no longer ride it.

The heat is coming from around the heat shield, and has now melted the plastic just beneath the seat, the seat itself, and the plastic that covers the gear shift. This all happened all on a single, less than 5 mile ride.

After calling the dealer I purchased my machine from, he suggested I call Polaris themselves. After speaking with the customer service, they claim that there is a recall on this model, but it's only for machines ran above 8,000ft sea level. I live not quite 3,500ft above sea level.

It seems that there is no one who will fix this under a recall, because of the location we live in. We opted out of the extended warranty (big mistake!) at the time of purchase, but this would be covered if the recall wasn't by location only, rather than a blanket over the model itself.

I am willing to purchase replacement parts, if need be, but I need to know how to fix this problem once and for all, so that I do not need to replace these covers/seat more than this one time.

Has anyone else had this issue, and how did you go about having it fixed? If you did have it fixed, did yours fall under the recall? Is there any place I can look online for my model to find the recalls?

Thank you for any help anyone can offer. The information I've gotten has been so shallow, I am ready to give up on Polaris, becasue it seems like they stand behind the products when everything is good, but with this issue, they don't want to add any suggestions or help.

 

Had the same problem with my "07. I used an Exhaust Fix on ebay #290406813944. I also used some insulation/reflector material form NAPA. It was easy to install. Took a couple of hours. Good luck. And cool riding.

 

I have the exhaust fix kit for sale for $50 plus shipping. I purchased the polaris kit but have changed my mind about installing it (selling machine). PM me if interested - new in box.

 

Keep bugging the snot out of Polaris. They knew they had a problem with the heat shields and not enough heat tape on the plastic and were replacing it on models that were still on the showroom floor. Had the same problem with my 05 800. It was well past warranty and I hounded them until they sent me all new plastic(had a lot more heat tape than the original) and the upgraded heat shield kit at no charge. You will have to install but it's pretty simple.