Am I the only one that reads all that bad Polaris forum talk and starts to wonder, why did i buy that thing anyway? I have had more problems with all the Jap machines i owned before, some of it big trouble, but you read it in here and you think "Oh man, not another Polaris bashing on a problem you see all the time on the rest of the makes. Yet it seams to mean more when it happens to a Polaris.
But then i finally got out for my first spring ride. Scrambler and Sportsman both started up after a couple stabs on the starter. After six months of just sittin there they start up like they were runnin the day before. My Katana 600 on the other hand took about half a day work and almost a full can of starter fluid. If it was the other way around and the Polaris was hard to start it must have been because it was a Polaris? You read enough of that **** and you start to believe it.
Im happy to say the 2 hour ride was a couple days ago and my face still hurts from smileing. That Scrambler is about as much fun as you can have with your cloths on. And yes i have spent time on the so called Tru-Sport quads. Even did a little MXing when i was a kid. Still does not come close to the fun i have on the Scrambler. So all those sniveling pampered babies that put Polaris down, in some odd way of makin themselves feel cool, realy need to spend more time ridein and less time talkin about it.
GET A LIFE, RIDE HARD, AND HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!

 

I think a lot of the bashing can be atributed to "cabin fever". They haven't been able to ride in months and are getting miserable. I haven't ever doubted my Polari. I ride them hard, but I take care of them. I doubt any atv will be completely trouble free. But nothing mechanical is. I can't wait to get my Scrambler out!

 

I MUST ADMIT THAT POLARIS, BEING AMERICAN MADE HAD A LITTLE TO DO WITH ME MAKING MY PURCHASE. AND IT SHOULD HAVE SINCE I AM A UNION MAN AND AN AMERICAN. I LIKE TO SEE AMERICAN PRODUCTS, BUT IT SEEMS THAT AMERICAN PRODUCTS AND QUALITY DONT ALWAYS GO HAND IN HAND. I HAVE NOT HAD THE POLARIS LONG ENOUGH TO KNOW HOW DURABLE IT WILL BE. AND OF COURSE IT WILL DEPEND ON STYLE OF RIDING IT WILL BE PUT THROUGH. IT DOES ALTHOUGH SEEM THAT IF A JAP BIKE BREAKS DOWN THEN THERE ARE A TRILLION PARTS TO FIX THEM AND USUALLY NOT AS COSTLY AS GOING TO THE FACTORY. AS IS THE CASE WITH THE POLARIS IN MOST INSTANCES. I MUST ALSO ADMIT I OWN A JAP BIKE AS WELL "98' YZ 250" ALMOST NO WAY AROUND THAT. JUST REMEMBER POLARIS IS AMERICAN MADE AND THAT SHOULD MAKE YOU PROUD IN ITS OWN! NOW THAT IVE SAID THAT LETS HOPE THEY STAND BEHIND THEIR PRODUCTS AND STRIVE TO BE BETTER THAN THE REST!

SPANKY500
01' SCRAM 500 4X4
98' YZ 25O

 

American made helped, and my family up north has mostly switched to Polaris. As far as reliability, the Sportsman has been mostly pampered and trouble free. The Scrambler on the other hand has been beat to death, in two bad crashes, and still no repairs big enough to report to the insurance man. I fly it like an airplane, and if the throtle is not on the bar then the brake is. Only thing broken so far was the light switch on the bar during a realy bad backwards tumble back down a hill that was 2 big to climb. Done that twice now, different hills though. It was the first ride on it, fresh from the dealer, in the Badlands park in Indiana. With all those payments still needin to be made on it i figured it was going to be sink or swim for the Scrambler. Its been swimmin ever since.

 

After reading what a piece of crap my Scrambler should be all winter, Yesterday was a eye-opener after spending about 6 hours on my Scrambler everything came rushing back and by, I remembered why I got it and what I love to do with it!! Cabin fever has bit me on the *** a few times these last few months and I was wondering if I was just wasting my money on my Scrambler with the mods and all and should maybe jump ship to the new monster 4 strokers ? But glad to say the bike rips even better than I could have hoped! Theres nothing like a WFO ride at Haspin to put it all in perspective

 

Same thing for me I even left the battery in my Sportsman all winter went out the other day, it fired right up. I remember last year 1800 trouble free miles of hard riding, did replace a torn CV boot, i remember brand new 1987 Yamaha Warrior 3 months old sitting in the shop for 6 months waiting for new motor, remember brand new 1994 honda 300 4x4 it never ran right, would not start for days for no reason and no one could figure it out. I am not bashing those companies but just stating my experiences. I read the posts and think wow am I in for it? then i think of my riding friends 1996 Xpress 400 3,000 miles and no shop visits, 1996 Mag 425 4000 miles, just had front brakes pad replaced last year. 1999 Xplorer 400 4x4 2500 miles not troubles at all. They all owned other makes before they switched over, and not one of them regrets the switch.

 

I was just wondering why you guys don't ride during the winter? I think the funnest time to ride is when there is snow on the ground. You have to bundle up though or else you freeze your butt off!

 

I must have a lemon then because so far after owning the Magnum 500 99' for a year and a half now we had put about 900 dollars worth of repairs on it before ths spring. A couple of days ago things got even worse and now we have a 1000 dollar motor problem.

What happened is that the cheesy oil hose running from the dry sump to the motor came unattached at the dry sump. It was held on my a simple screw on clamp (which is bull crap) my 400ex hose is held on by a nut and splines on th hose. it is a much better design.

Its just the little things that have lead me to belive that polaris has much farther to go to earn the "reliable" trade mark. Little things like that clamp, the cheesy coder key that holds the front struts in place. (our frickin a arm fell of 3 times thus far goin down the road!) and also other little things like the extremely hard location to change the oil! and also the few grease zerks that are about impossible to reach.

Polaris has some issues to adress and when they do that, if they do that, they will be the best. No question.

They are performers, no quality included.

 

to much snow we get 120 inches on average the trails are all groomed and illegal to ride atv's on, plus i ride Polaris sleds in the winter I have 2 Indy Sports, as long as I am on the big P, I am happy.

 

I agree with Mag500. I don't think Polaris quads are junk, and there are alot of things about them that I like, BUT...
I do have some issues with them.
Why are they still using struts on the front end instead of A-arms? A-arms give a better ride, are way tougher and are cheaper to replace.
Why don't they put their 5-speed tranny in something like a scrambler? By all accounts they have one of the smoothest shifting trannies you can buy, but they won't put it in a sport quad.
Why can't they make the 4wd system from the RMK Magnum more widely available? One of the biggest complaints I hear about Polaris is the unreliability of the 4wd system. Sure, if it's working it pulls on all 4 wheels, but too often it doesn't work. The RMK should be alot more reliable.
Why do they have to be so F%$#*&G HEAVY???!!!???
Most important, and this has to do with all the complaints I just listed, they get so soft and worn out looking. Every time I go to the Polaris shop there's always a quad that came in a a trade, a year or two old, and they almost always look spent. Blown struts, saggy rear, broken plastic racks...they just look way older then they should. That, more than anything is what keeps me from buying a Polaris, and it's too bad, cause everytime I almost talk myself into buying a Magnum500, or Xplorer400, I go to The Shop in Sudbury to have a look, and I see some sick, tired old cow of a Sportsman or Scrambler, no more than two years old, with less miles than I put on my quad in 6 months, and I shake my head and think to myself, Naaaa, maybe I'd better not.