Polaris sportsman 500 overheating:

Hello all, I am relatively new to the ATV world besides ATC’s. I have a 1996 Polaris Sportsman 500 that was recently purchased I am aware of the issues with it which is very limited but the one issue is it overheats. I was told that it was driven approximately 17 miles up the mountain, were it overheated at that point and had to be towed back down.
I am very mechanical handy and can relatively fixtures about anything if I have a guide or something to go off of.
I would like to try to diagnose this myself before I go and spend a ton of money to have it fixed as I have only one or two reliable ATV Shops in my area.

I’m wondering if anyone can provide me with their experiences or anything I can look for to help me diagnose the issues that I’m having with overheating