Hello,

I am new to the forums here. I just purchased a used 2000 Sportsman 500 HO and have some questions. My buddy has a 2002 Sportsman 500 HO and we were doing some riding over the weekend.
In high gear, he walks away from me in a drag race but in low range, I walk away from him in a drag race.

Does anyone know the differences between these quads? Is it clutching or gearing?

Thanks in advance.

Andy

 

I'd have to say its gearing because thats what it sounds like, the clutch could also be bad mean its a 2000 but more than likely its gearing

 

I don"t think they made a 500 ho in 2000 the first year of the HO was 01, I had one of the first ones if yours is an HO it will say HO somewhere on the quad .

 

04scramblerdude,
Gearing is what I thought too. I am a snowmobiler and am unfamiliar with these quads so far. Is there an easy gear switch on these or should I just get into clutching?

trenchdigger,
It has Sportsman 500 HO decals on it. I talked to a dealer and they said it was a limited build in 2000. It has that metallic silver plastic on it which supposedly is rare for a 2000 and only put on the 500 HO's.

I am just thinking also, that since this was the first year for the 500HO, it will never run like my buddies 2002 because they continuously made improvements over the years.

Thanks for the replies.

Andy

 

Quads aren"t as easy to do a gear change as sleds unless they are a chain drive and the sportsman isn"t ,your best bet is the heelclicker clutch kit it is suppose to work pretty good ,Iam going to get one for my 04.5 HO once the warranty is over ( do a search under HEELCLICKER on this site lots of info)I never new they had a limited build HO in 2000 ,thats what is good about this site I learn something new every day.

 

trenchdigger,

Thanks for the advice. I will look into the HeelClickers and see what I can do. I too didn't realize that they made a 2000 500HO until I talked to the local dealer. Overall it is a great quad, just want to improve it a little more.

Thanks
Andy

 

I would take the serial number and check it out with polaris to see exactly what machine you have. I also bought what I thought to be 2000 500 H.O. but it turned out to only be the 500 non H.O. I was also told that they never put out the 500 H'O' until 2001.

 

Anywhere tom just wondering if the person you bought it off put HO graphics on it to try and sell it as an HO?

 

No they didn't, he actually told me some had them and some didn't, But being new to the sport in 2000 I didn't second guess him. That is until I got my *** kicked by a real 500 H.O. then I started digging.

 

Replace the belt ($35) and blow the belt dust out of the clutches and I bet that will help.