I am looking to buy a new quad, My Xplorer 250 4x4 is nice but we got smoked the other day riding with some 400-500cc machines, not just in top end but everywhere, I ride with my girlfriend and it just wasn't cutting it. when i bought it to be honest i wasnt sure she would like going, so for one person it is fine, but she loves going which is great, Even she wants a bigger one. If you talk to someone on the trail with a sportsman they love it and swear by them same with the Magnums. In hear they get mixed reviews especially the Sportsman, but my dealer sells more sportsman than all others combined, he has 10 of them in crates and 3 on the showroom floor. Well i am either going to get one or the other the $500 or so difference between them doesnt make allot of difference to me, My girlfriend loves Yellow, she saw the yellow sportsman and was like WOW! so that may be my next quad. Ok so which should i go for the Mag 500 or the Sportsman 500? Thought about the 335 but I don't see it being much better with two people? Plus When it comes time for tires i dont want to have to limit my choices. With the Xplorer 250 i was very limited to choices of most anything for after market. I thought about the Xplorer 400 that is a sweet machine. but to be honest I am becoming less excited about chain drive. I have to agree with some of the posts why would people buy more of the same quad such as the Sportsman if it broke down every day? i mean if you can buy a Sportsman you can afford any other quad on the market? Why would anyone buy another if the first was junk?

 

do a search for this, the is a loooong thread on this topic. it tends to wander around and get off subject but there is alot of good information in it, i think it's over 400 posts under it.

i was thinkin about the mag500. the three reasons i didn't pick one up is the PVT transmission, reliability issues (as with all polaris), and weight. i really don't like auto trannys on a quad. no matter how well the belt vent tubes are protected they will alway take on water at the WORST possible time. The reliability issues are becoming less of an issue every day. Cheers to polaris engineers for continuing to improve there quads in this departmnet . the weight i could live with had the mag500 been a manual shift.

the sp500 is a mag500 with IRS and a larger feul tank. the irs give is a much plusher ride, but adds nearly 30 grease zerks to the quad. if you are the kind of person that doesn't like to maintain their quad forget the sp or mag or most other quads for that matter

hope this helps ya a little
cart

 

Recently bought 2 new Sportsmen, one for me and one for my wife. We love the IRS, best ride for the money!

 

To decide between these two quads you have to look at what you would give up and what you would gain between the two. What you gain with the sportsman is a smoother ride with the better rear suspension which may be very important depending on you terain and your passenger. What you loose with the Sportsman is that if anything does go wrong down the road, what will it cost to fix. The Magnum has a smooth ride just not as smooth as the Sportsman and the Magnum could be maintained easier. Also, the magnum should be a little more nimble and faster due to less weight.

 

xepathfinder,

Cartman is right, the IRS adds some grease zerks but very few.

Here is the list of the zerks on my '98 Sportsman. My '98 has 32 total. The new Sportsman should have 26 total.

The Magnum and Sportsman differ in zerks by only the ones on the IRS. They way I see it the difference is 14 zerks. This assumes the Magnum has NO zerks at all in the rear. The rear IRS zerks are the easiest to get to on the whole machine. A very, very minor extra bit of work for the extra comfort. With 2 people the ride of the Sportsman is awesome.

As for overall reliability, we have a '97, 2 '98s and a '99 in the pack. They have all been trouble free.

I guess you know where my vote goes!

Zerks on the '98 Sportsman. This is copied from a post I made earlier:

2 - L&R front lower ball joints
2 - L&R outer tie rod ends (not greasable on some)
2 - L&R inner part of front control arms
2 - L&R front inner U joints
1 - lower steering post
1 - upper steering post (I have yet to find it!)
1 - u joint at prop shaft leading to front
1 - u joint midway on prop shaft (under recoil)
1 - yoke joint in prop shaft (also under recoil)
1 - foot brake pedal pivot point
6 - L&R rear lower control arms (2 outer, 1 inner)
6 - L&R rear upper control arms (1 outer, 2 inner)
2 - L&R ends of rear anti-roll bar
2 - L&R rear inner u joints ('98 and older only)
2 - L&R rear outer u joints ('98 and older only)

This totals 32 zerks on my '98! The newer '99s and 00's should have 6 less, totalling 26. The newer units do not have greasable outer tie rod ends (less 2 zerks), and they have dual CV joints instead of u joints on the read drive shafts (less 4 zerks).

The inner tie rod ends on the front of my '98 do not have zerks. They have rubber boots that I force grease into with a needle.

DJ

 

Thanks for the info, I am going for a Red Sportsman! Can't wait. as for trouble i talked to several people on the trails the other day and no one had any of the troubles that are talked about on here. for that matter I have not heard more than a couple people that i have met actually had any trouble with there machines , only the older ones. I don't mind the zerks, if i get bored of it will just drop it off at the dealer and pay them to while i sleep LOL , my dealer is within walking distance of my home. I still believe that for the most part atv reliability is just the way the owner care for it and drives it. I saw people this past weekend doing things with there quads that I would not do at all, literally just pounding them silly. I was in awe at the abuse.

 

xepathfinder,

As with any machine, there are lemons. There are a lot of satisfied SP owners out there. There are a couple of prime examples of bad machines also. From the damage descibed by some of the "lemon" owners, I would have to agree that abuse and/or lack of maintenance is more the issue. Without a doubt, some have had problems right from the factory, like any other vehicle. It's hard to blame Polaris for bent rims, bend A-Arms, bottoming suspension, waterlogged engines etc. The owner has to take some responsibility.

Break it in right, maintain it, don't abuse it, and it will be an awesome machine.

Good choice (I would argue on the color!!) - enjoy.

DJ