My wifes 01 sportsman ho has recently developed an issue when shifting. Its only done it maybe 4 times total the last few times out but i know its not normal and want to attack the problem before it becomes a real issue. I had not been the one driving until i felt it do it today trying to get it pulled out of the garage.

When shifting into high from reverse it lunges backwards slightly then dies. You can restart it and continue on just fine. The first time it did it my son was on it and had just backed up out of a rut, put it in high to go around it and id lunged backwards and died. I was to far away to see what had happened and today he told me it has done it a couple of times since then.

Where do i start? clutch issue? gear box problem? I've been searching and find similar problems but they are usually in any gear or other issues coupled along with them. The belt on it might have a whole 50 miles on it and everything looked good to my untrained eye when i put it on a few months ago.

Since we got the bike at the first of the year it has only seen mild trail riding usually in low range and hasn't been pushed all that hard.

 

Strange.. Since it's an intermittent problem I'd try to spray some contact cleaner in the cracks and crevices of the left control switch, work the reverse over ride button several times,plus clean and use electrical grease on the gear position switches on the gear case.Pause in neutral a second before you shift to high range from reverse.If it keeps this up,might need to adjust the shift linkage at the gear box. Just have in neutral,remove the ball ends from the shift box slides,adjust linkage to where the ball ends drop straight into the slide holes with no resistance.

 

I was busy tonight installing the winch on my new wheeler but took a few minutes to move through the gears on the wifes. It seems the shifters have to be out of alignment as best i can tell. Will know more when i pull the rods this weekend and adjust them. Maybe 2 outta 5 times i shifted out of low i couldn't get into high or reverse until i went back into low then it shifted fine.

 

When you remove the linkage arms from the shift box check for any slack on the shift lever while it's in neutral.If there is a lot of play back and forth while still in neutral,a lot of the problem can be worn parts in the shift box. Linkage adjustment can help but may be a temporary fix. Parts are staring to become NLA for the shift box,but some major wear parts such as the plastic cup,springs,o-rings are still available. If it still continues to jump or creep,the problem could be clutch related even though you have anew belt. If the clutches get out of alignment, the belt can touch the inner sheath of the drive clutch which puts pressure on the secondary clutch.This can cause hard shifting and creeping. Seems like 2001-2003 500s were the worst to have this happen.

 

its not creeping any and isn't hard to shift. I did some on the fly adjusting real quick without removing the ends while trying to figure out where to start on the problem and it easily goes into each gear but, just seems like its getting hung between gears. I'll remove the rods tomorrow morning and adjust them properly now that i know the actual procedure and see if that takes care of the problem.

The shifter was dry so i threw some oil in it when i had the top off and after shifting a few times i could see the connecting rods coated in oil and over the course of the next few days the remaining oil leaked out so i know at bare minimum the orings are shot.

 

well it was a long morning. low range shift rod broke in the shifter side end while trying to loosen the jam nut. i was able to drill it out and still had enough threads to run it back on and make the adjustments needed.

Adjusted both shift rods and now it goes into H/L/R easily with firm definite clicks. I road it around the yard running through all the gears, then my wife did, then my son did. Worked flawlessly for everyone. I did a few more things around the garage then started the Polaris back up to put it in its parking spot.... shifted into H from Neutral and it rolled backwards a few inches and died again!

 

If you check into the clutches and they check out ok,then sound like you have a problem with the H/R slider gear,mating gears or shift fork. Also could be as simple as a thrown circlip causing the problem.That I've had happen on other gear cases but not on a 500. #13 is the H/R slider gear,15 is the circlips.

 

Well just got home tonight from a 350 mile round trip... been a long few days. Put around 130 miles on the atv's and the old Polaris never had a single hiccup other than it died on her 1 time at the top of a very long steep climb. She stopped for a few seconds and as soon as it idled down it sputtered out. fired right back up though and kept on trucking.

3 days in the woods, 130 miles of riding with just that one minor hangup, then i get home to unload it and all i get is a click when i hit the starter button.... didn't mess with it any, just gave it 1 pull on the recoil starter and it fired right up to unload it and get it in the garage. I'm tired and will worry about that crap later. This little machine impressed the hell out of me this weekend.

 

Charge the battery overnight and have it load tested or you can check it with a meter under a load. https://www.batterystuff.com/blog/ho...ry-is-bad.html If it passes the load test make sure the regulator is charging 14-14.5 volts back to the battery at an idle.If it's not charging could be as simple as a wire from the regulator has pulled loose.This was a common problem on several year models on the Sportsman.

 

Looks like just a bad connection. Out the key in this morning and got just a click, then pulled the seat and as soon as I touched the wiring at the battery it fired right off. It's pretty caked up and dirty around there from the miles out on it this weekend. A quick clean and tighten up check in the battery area should fix it right up. But the original issue I made this post for hasn't returned so I guess I got that going for me.