I am about to purchase my first atv(4X4) and have narrowed my choices down to the sportsman 500 HO & the Kodiak 450. Not too big and expensive & not too small. After spending some time in both forums, I've noticed that in the Yamaha forums, the questions regarding problems result in responces of bad batteries, loose connections ect. In the Polaris forum, the problems appear to run a lot deeper than simple solutions. I also am concerned with the fact that I have read that the manual suggests not letting the sportsman idle for too long because of overheating problems.
Any advise or comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

have you ridden either machine yet?

 

Im with Bing, drive them both, then use that to base a lot of the judgement on. The machines have a warranty.

 

No. I'm going strictly on reviews, friend's reports, and what I've read in forums. I've talked to a couple of dealers in the area, but most are in town without a whole lot of room & say they just are not set up for that. I get the feeling that talking to them on the phone, they don't think I'm serious. I'm quite sure that either would be plenty of machine for me. Mostly I'm concerned with reliability. If that meant owning one that didn't ride quite as nice as the next, I could live with that as long as it didn't cost me half as much in repairs later as I paid for it. Before reading in forums on the net, I figured that they all would be very reliable for as many years as they have been making them. But there sure seems to be a lot of problems with relatively new machines. Do you think that most problems are owner related?

 

I bought the sp500ho 3 mo.ago and to tell ya the truth I wish I stuck with a yamaha.I am not bashing polaris.They are a nice riding machine,but not sold on everything else.I took it back to the dealer to for a apt on monday to have a few issues taken care of,(I hope that warrenty picks everything up) one is that the belt slips alot when in high gear barely get it to move, but is ok in low.I really dont think that they are good in snow.I have had 2 diffrent set of tires on it and it pretty much goes nowhere in the snow.I should be hearing from the dealer on monday about these issues this will decide if I keep it or sending it down the road. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

 

most problems are from lack of proper maitenence and operater abuse

although, sometimes its the maufacturer fault (usually in new models (1st year) while they are still working the kinks out)

 

First of all, thanks for the interest. This is a great site. I'm don't think that I want to base my decision strictly on how I think each of them perform on a short ride in a dealer's yard. I would expect that with irs, the polaris will feel better. The main reason I posted this thread was to see if I was getting the wrong impression of the Polaris machines, or if they actually are more prone to mechanical failures.

 

polaris does have a bad reputation for breakdown (they earned it in the 1980's and early 1990s

but in recent years they have managed to dot their 'I's and cross their 'T's if you catch my drift

they are both good bikes

 

Hey rsking

I too bought a SP500HO about 6 months ago. I love it. I am surprised that you stated it didnt go in the snow, mine is great (although i am only comparing it at AC, since that is the only other machine I ride). Sorry to hear about your belt problem, probably a minor adjustment. Knock on wood, only problem I have had is a battery issue with the new sealed batteries.

 

iceman1874,What tires r u running on it?