how do u like ur sportsman 2004.5 500h.o?? Give me some info? Would u recomend it? I thinking about getting one and how do u like the awd? as it slips in and out by it self?? and one last thing does the awd slip into 4wd when selected 2wd and the wheels spin? I have heard problems of this?? I thought it was desiged to when selected 2wd it will NOT go ito awd mode and when selected awd it can go in and out?? is that a handy feature.

Thanks alot for the help

 

Polarisman500,

I am really pleased with it so far. Here are the problems to date. Bad tire (slow leak) upon delivery....replaced tire and rim under warranty. My machine had the new sealed battery well after I had the winch and plow, and I did some plowing, the battery would be dead. Turned out to be a bad battery, dealer offered me an acid battery or I could wait a week for the sealed battery. I went with the acid battery (proven technology). No further battery issues. Now trying to do maintenace on my machine I could only find three grease fittings, however hear that this is all that there is on the 500....... jury is still out whether this is a good thing or a bad thing....lol.

Now to answer your ?'s. So far I would recommend this machine. AWD works great, can barely feel it shifting in and out. I have heard of ppl complaining about their machine going into 4wd when the selector is in 2wd and the rear wheels are spinning. Personally I have had the rear wheels spinning in the snow in 2wd and the fronts did not kick in. However, admittedly I was not going full bore and not for any length of time. Honestly the machine has been good to me and has out performed in every aspect. The engine braking system is really good. I have hear that artic cat has engine braking on all 4 wheels. I can see where this could come in handy going down a steep hill on unstable ground. It is possible on that the Sportsman would lock up the two rear wheels.

I hope this reply helps you out. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Iceman,
Are you certain your battery problem is cured? The reason I ask is that on my 400 Sportsman, I had a huge drain on my battery with the ignition off. Enough to completely drain the battery to ZERO or maybe even short circuit it. I disconnected the power lead and ground and charged it and it held a charge just fine but I took it in to the dealer anyway because something tripped it up. They, of course, found nothing. Last night after running on the dunes, I washed it off and while puttering around I was next to it and heard what I thought was the winch contactor relay switching on/of every two or three minutes....click......clack. The ignition was OFF! I disconnected the winch lead again and it stopped. I think I have a faulty winch contactor that is drawing power and think maybe water is affecting it because last time I had a problem, it was right after washing the sand off of it.

Just thought I'd throw this out there as I'm looking to find some common thread with others.

 

I'm totally happy with my Sportsman so far. I did have a throttle cable/idle issue with my Predator but the Sportsman has been fantastic. My only complaint with it is that there is a fair bit of cowl rattle/vibration in the front of it, but I know that big thumper motors vibrate a lot.

 

Shaman,
Do you have a winch with a roller fairlead? I rode the 400 for a couple of weeks before the dealer received the winch that they eventually installed and the difference in noise from vibration was significant after the install while there was none before. I isolated it to the roller fairlead because they just rotate and rattle when the engine hits different rpm's.

 

Good call! I'll have to check that out - it is a roller head, yes.

 

Treedoc,

I am almost positive that it is cured. I took an amp reading with the ignition off and there was no drain. Took a voltage reading with the engine at idle ...14 VDC. I have a sealed battery meter for my work took an amp hour reading on the battery was suppost to be 12 amp/hours...it was 1.2 amp hours. Like I said changed the battery to an acid battery and for far so good. Still waiting on more snow so I can give it a good test. Thanks for the info Treedoc, Ill keep that in the back of my head if it should be a problem again when I use my winch.

 

no complaints here. but i have to say that every atv has its plus side and its negitive side some atv owners just dont pronounce as much because there afraid of there atv being called bad. but all i can say is that i wouldnt buy anything else