I'm working on a 06 500 sportsman for a friend. Is it correct for it to start in any gear without having to pull the brake lever or step on the foot brake pedal? I dont see any switch connected to the foot brake.We would rather it not start in gear. Also you dont have to step on the brake pedal to shift into high like on other models?

 

Should be a spring from the foot brake pedal leading to the transmission detent plunger. This is the lockout for park position. If you can shift to park without pressing the foot brake,check that the plunger may have stuck open. Can't remember all the wiring specs,but later carb models used the pdm module(2008) to sense if in neutral or park and would allow to start without pressing either hand or foot brake. Pulling the hand brake lever would over ride any safety lock out from the pdm and will start in any gear position from the signal from the brake pressure switch. All models have a pressure switch in the brake line junction that operated the brake lights. Just can't remember if the ecm on your model has anything to do with having to hold the brake lever to start in gear? http://www.cyclepartswarehouse.com/f...2006&fveh=5685

 

Thats how mine (2001) and my dads (1997) 500 Sportsman work. They both start in any gear without touching the brake.
I love just jumping on it and starting up and going. It was hard to get used to all the procedures on my Grizzly to start it up and even put it into reverse.
I,m the opposite, I,m looking for a way to disconnect the brake from being needed to put the Grizzly into gear or reverse.

Its not that dangerous,even if you start it in gear the ATV does not move while idling anyways.
One thing though, if its idling in reverse and some one jumps on it and hits the gas it could give them a surprise.

One my old Honda Foreman 450 you had to make sure Jupiter was aligned with Mars to get that into reverse in was a real pain.

 

My 2006 500HO will start in any gear without touching anything but the key, been this way since new.

 

I called this a 06 because the 10th digit of the vin is a 6, but I cant find a sticker with manufacture date. It does not have the brake pedal with the spring and no detent on the tranny. I know what you are talking about, in fact I had to replace some parts on that detent on another quad one time because they never stepped on the pedal and always tried to force it into high.
So I looked at the parts fische for a 07 and it looks like the setup I have here. No detent. There is what I'm assuming is a gear position sensor on the right side of the trans with a several wire connector, could this be bad and allow it to start in any gear?

Another issue is when idleing it wants to creep and is hard to shift. The engine was removed and overhauled awhile back so I'm assuming its probably due to clutch/belt alignment? How do I check the alignment without the special Polaris tool ?

 

Just enter you 17 digit vin # here and will show exactly which model you have. Polaris ATV, RANGER Side By Side Vehicles
If the gear position module is showing the correct gear you're in,it shouldn't be a problem. As far as I can remember like the other guys you can start it in gear,it's just that I always had em in neutral or park just from force of habit when starting. On the machine creeping,it could be anything from a glazed/worn belt to dirty clutches that need to have belt dust blown out,worn fiber and metal washers in the front one way bearing,or the most common problem was the rear clutch is out of alignment with the front,belt rides up on the clutch sheath instead of the bearing causing the rear clutch to turn constantly,and at times hard to shift. Usually it needs to be shimmed to where the belt rides directly centered on the front one way bearing. This was what I had to do the most of along with belt changes.