Help! I recently bought a 2006 Polaris Sportsman 500 HO. I have been catching up on it's maintenance. I have about 100 miles on it with no electrical issues. This last weekend I was out for a ride and the engine would lose power and then backfire and go. As I was trying to get back to base, the problem turned out that the machine was going dead electrically. When it was running at speed, the backfire was occurring as the engine restarted. Then it would not restart until I pulled over and restarted with the ignition switch. At first it did not hesitate to restart, then as it got worse, I noticed that with the key on, everything was dead, headlights, instrument cluster, taillights, etc. If I left the key on it would restart as soon as lights and stuff came back on. I checked the battery and charging voltages and it all seems fine. I am leaning on the ignition switch or possibly the starter solenoid. Any advice, tips or suggestions on what to look for? Thanks.

 

Could be a faulty ignition switch, left control switch or wiring,but considering it was on the ecm recall list,wouldn't be surprised if it was this even if you have the updated ecm. Ecm controlled several different functions with charging being just one of them.Has several internal circuit breakers also that could be shorting out.Plus does send power to the ignition switch and left control switch and lamps,plus a battery protection circuit.If it overloads,breakers can trip and reset when you turn the key switch off and back on. You can do a troubleshooting test from the manual,but still sounds like another faulty ecm. Here's a 5 buck one if you don't have a service manual.2006 Polaris Sportsman 500 Service Manual PDF Download Hope it's something simple causing the problem.

 

I had the same problem on my 06 800 sportsman. Riding then complete shut down and would just come back on.
My problem was the left side thumb switch. I never use it and shop stated there was alot of dirt and deposits inside. They cleaned it charged me .5 hr and works great.

So now i try to cycle the switches on all my bikes.

Good luck

 

Thanks for the info. I am hoping to check it out further this weekend.