Had the new toy out again today. Still love it but I am forming some like and dislikes.

Like
Price.......value for the money, unbeatable
Power........loads of it to spare
Tires........seem pretty good
Steering .......little heavy but still not bad
brakes....... work really well
Suspension.....kicks butt,


Dislike

body panel noise when rpm's are getting up...annoying
Noisy fuel guge.....annoying
transmission or tranfer case seems a little noisy(growls)
headlights......they suck

Overall I'm still impressed. I think it would almost climb a tree if I had the nerve to try it.
Haven't had it in any serious mud yet. I'll wait till the break in period is over before I try that out. And I'm getting used to the shifter. It's a little stange after driving dirtbikes for years.

Peace,

01 500 Manual
a2000 warn winch
Moose country plow

I agree with you on everything but the transmission. I don't notice any gear whining and never have. Have you checked your oils? Motor,front diff, and rear diff???

Not yet, going to do that asap. Let you know what happens.

Have you tried the three wheel up in the air deal to see if the fourth tire will pull yet?

My body panels are worse: On the first day out, the bolt that holds the rear right fender to the rack FELL OUT and is lost for good. Also one of the plastic pins that holds the body together fell out. Now it flops around and makes noise. Everything else seems to by high quality on this bike so I am surprised that AC cheaped out on the body fasteners.

The fuel gauge sucks, yes. It rattles a lot. Also the gas tank is shaped weird so it is sometimes hard to fill it up all the way if you are on the back of a pickup truck and the trucks springs are drooping a bit.

I have no noise from my trans. But going from N to 1 with the heel shifter can be a real pain in the butt sometimes. I stomp and stomp and stomp and the dang shifter won't click into gear.

Headlights: I've only ridden during the day so no comment there.

All in all I love this bike and wouldn't trade it for anything (except maybe $12,000 so I could replace it with two of the same so my wife could ride with me). I love the power of this thing. I love the ride (though the suspension is a little soft). I'm warming up to the toe-heel shifter.

What would I change?

1) Make the fuel tank wider. The 500 is a thirsty animal and it would be nice to have another gallon or 1.5 gallons to drink from.
2) Stiffer shocks
3) Higher quality body connectors
4) Find a better use for the space next to the muffler other than that useless plastic box.
5) Replace fuel guage with something that is buffered against rapid movement so that a more consistent reading and less rattling can be had. Maybe even an electronic fuel guage.
6) Replace the limited slip front diff with a manually actuated locker. Usually when the LSD kicks in, I know I am going to need it before I get into that mess. If I could just turn on the locker manually before hitting a rough patch I'd be even happier than I am now.
7) If you are going to be cutting a deal with Warn to include the 2000 lb winch cheap, please leverage that into getting Warn to supply us with a handlebar mounted rocker switch instead of that giant pad that hogs up a whole corner of my front rack. I love the winch, hate the control pad!

Try rocking the quad back and forth next time instead of jumping on the shifter. They are VERY notchy when new, but get SLIGHTLY better as miles go by IF YOU DON'T damage them in the break in.