I have a 2002 sportsman 500. Unfortunately I didnt get to enjoy it much this summer, and it sat in my brothers snowmobile trailer (with the belt & clutch removed)

The other day i got the quad back from him, put the clutch and belt back on. Put the key in, turn to on, thumb switch to run, pull start, fires right up. Idle it a little and see that the secondary is still spinning in neutral. Go to turn the quad off via the key and it continues to run! Turn it off via the thumb toggle switch.

Now this has me curious, so the machine is off. I leave the key in my pocket, but the thumb toggle switch to run, pull the cord and it fires right up!

How do I make the key work again?

(P.S. battery is dead, not sure if that has anything relation)

 

I don't know if the quads are the same but all my Polaris sleds would run without the key if you unplugged the wires off the back of the ignition, maybe you have a broken wire somewhere or a wire off? just a guess

 

Polaris grounded the ignigtion through the keyswitch to kill the engine, you probably just have a dirty contact or a bad connection on the switch.

 

Sounds like you need a new battery! Then see if the switch works properly OPT