Here's a couple of pics I took of my 1999 500 Manual after I finished up plowing yesterday. I bought it a year ago and it needed some TLC but thanks to the members here I got it back in shape. When I bought it, it was stock down to the tires (which needed replacing). I added a winch, 60" plow, 26x9x12 Bear Claws front, 26x12x12 Bear Claws read, 2" rear wheel spacers, a K&N filter, a jet kit and some maintenance items like ball joints and front/rear wheel bearings:



The only things I never liked about this quad is the fact that the front and rear tires were the same size and the rear tires actually tucked way under the rear fenders which made the rear look narrower than the front. The wheel spacers took care of that though:



They also got rid of the stock bolts that hold the wheels on which was a pain in the neck in my opinion. I much prefer being able to just slip the wheels over the studs and the next time I have the front wheels off I'm going to see if I can do the same in the front.

Oh, one other thing I did was block off the stock primer on the side of the carb since it was leaking:



Its a little crude but it gets the job done. When I get a chance I'll make a more "refined" looking one. For a total investment of about 85 cents for the O-ring to seal it it sure beats spending the $25-$30 for a new primer.

The only thing I'd like to do is add a small lift to it, the 26" tires are actually the stock height but I'd like to get it to sit a little higher. I think it'd look a lot more "modern" then.

Thanks to everyone here who gave me info/advice along the way.

John

 

I have an '04 500 TRV and I built out a blade from a 42" lawnmower blade. One of my sons curved two 9" end pieces for me and I welded them on. I'll take some photos and attach them soon. It looks factory.

By the way, I looked at your photos and thought, "man, that's got to be somewhere in upstate New York. My wife and I have been snowmobiling up there and it was great. We've snowmobiled all over this country, with NY being the farthest East, Wyoming being the West.

I love the snow.....On an ATV or a Snowmobile..

 

I love the snow too Bob. I can't wait for the lake to freeze so I can break the ATC out and do some ice racing. We aren't very far upstate at all though, less than one hour from mid-town Manhattan without traffic.

John

 

Mornin' John,

I agree with the traffic thing about Manhattan. That's a crazy place. Fun to visit, then get out. I have a question concerning the photo of that triangular plate you added. Was it in place of the primer? Mine doesn't have a primer, so that puzzled me when I saw the photo. My 500 is also a workhorse as you mention. I went out on it again last night around midnight and rode it around the yard and fields. It was -3 degrees, windchill was-20. I just got it back from the shop. Was having a real problem with stalling which obviously has been taken care of just by un-kinking a gas tank vent hose. (Check out the post I entered under ArcticCat titled "Christmas Gift".) That created a problem for 1.5 years for me.

THINK SNOW...!!

Bob

 

Yeah, the plate completely replaces the primer on the side of the carb.

 

Hey John,

I hope you and your familly had the greatest ever Christmas and that 2009 will be a great one for you also.

I didn't get my TRV back in time to get the homemade snowplow on it to do any plowing. You see all of a sudden we got some 63 degree weather and then some rain and now all the snow haas left.

So I took some photos of the plow on the TRV. I hope Ican get them attached if I can figure it out.

 

Well, I tried to attach photos, but it didn't work. Must be doing it wrong.