I recently bought a nice 2001 sportsman 500 HO RSE. Got a good price because speedo and AWD not working. I know that is usually related to bad speedo. Before bypassing speedo wanted to make sure it wasn't working. Noticed I was only getting 6.2 volts incoming power through the connection . Anyone have any ideas before I try to run this down ? Is it even worth doing or should I just bypass speedo ?

 

If it's not registering speed and mileage that's usually the hall effect sensor on the right front caliper bracket.If the speedo is dead,probably best to just jump the brown/white wire to the brown or frame ground to bypass the speedo and regain awd function. Couple different posts on speedo repair if you're inclined to try.
http://forums.atvconnection.com/pola...ml#post3232409 KA7OEI's blog: Repair of the speedometer on a Polaris Sportsman 500 4-wheeler

 

Thanks for the reply . Yeah the speedometer is not working at all. Sounds like I'll just bypass the speedometer . At 58 years old this is my first ATV so I have a lot to learn .

 

I push these cheap manuals all the time.2001 Polaris Sportsman 500 HO Service Manual PDF Download If you don't have one they can help on a lot of troubleshooting,repairs and service.Good luck on your new Sportsman 500 as overall they were good atvs and near bullet proof engines if reasonably taken care of.