Did I do something terribly wrong by cruising my 2001 Polaris Sporty 500 through the mud? The machine has less than 50 miles on it. We had some really fun times on it but I am paying the price now...Of recent, I've hadn't been able to start the bike by either the electric start button nor the pull start. I was close to taking the plundge and dropping it off a dealer{bend over} when I changed my mind and began to tackle it myself. I found that what happened was that mud and such had entered the recoil starter assembly/flywheel area; probably because the pull start rope handle was not properly seated during use. I took the cover off and sure enough I had mud inside this case big time. I removed the mechinism that is in between the starter and the flywheel; which I now know as the Bendix. I then flushed and cleaned the recoil rope as much as possible, I put the cover back on the bike but I left the bendix out. Thank God the bike started after a few pull start attempts.

Can anyone tell me whether or not there is a way I can determine if the bendix is shoot? I also found inside the casing, tiny tiny little springs that were not attached to anything; I am starting to assume that they are part of the Bendix internals? These springs are really tiny.
I can ride my Polaris but I really want to be able to use the electric start and not have to pull start it every time I ride it~

 

Try here at partsland you may find a diagram that will help. It is the beginning of the 2001 sp5 list. Good luck.

http://partsland.com/index.cgi?N=108...ORTSMAN-500-HO

 

Judging by the really tiny description I would say the spring pcs are what's left of the weight spring from inside the bendix. So it looks like you'll need to replace the Bendix.

 

There are collars on the bendix that should slide. If they dont, then you have problems. There is always the bendixs on Ebay for cheaper than the dealer. I had a problem with my bendix not engageing. I took the recoil cover off, and cleaned everything out and put new grease on the spinning parts. Problem solved in my case. Also, there is a drain plug for the recoil/starter housing that should be drained every so often

 

brispeed good luck