I have been reading over in the Honda Forum that the Rubicon is down on power in "Serious Mud" and will not spin the tires to clean them. This does not sound good.

Our own Sportsmans and Magnums require down shifting in the same mud conditions to keep from burning the belts or bogging out.

I am curious if the Arctic-Cat 500 automatics suffers from these same issues when they are in the "boot sucking" mud. Do the cats also have to be down shifted or not?

 

Thor,

Hmmm, I haven't heard that. The last I've heard is that it (the Rubicon) was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Of course it will have to come down to a shootout in the magazines. The Hi-Torque ones (DW & 4WA) will probably pronounce it the KING of all 4x4s simply because it's a Honda and it's new. We all have seen a VERY distinct bias on the part of the two brother/sister mags. If the Sportsman still won I'd be surprised, no I'd be shocked!

 

I ride a 2000 AC auto. My riding bud has a 98 SP500. So far I have been able to go everywhere he has, and yes I also have to shift into low like he does. He feels that the machines are almost equal in every aspect, except he is faster than me.

 

I agree Mike. We all know that they will name the "Rubicon" king of the 4x4s because it's a Honda and they are DIE hard honda fan. I wont be shocked if the Sportsman 500 whips up on the Rubicon.

98 Sportsman 500
00 Tahoe LS 4x4

 

The SP500 H.O. will womp on anything. I cant wait.

 

It will whomp until the Belt slips or breaks !!
I cannot believe that Polaris is giving the SP 500
more power.They should try to fix some of their reliability problems first.My friend has a 99'SP 500 and is on his third belt.We do pull alot of logs with it and my 1990 Honda 300 4x4.The Honda has never broken down and has pulled alot more logs than his Sportsman,but the Sportsman can pull Larger logs.

 

Thor,

I assume the lack of Rubicon wheel spin in really goopy stuff is a function of a pressure relief valve kicking in. The assumption is that any good hydraulic design will have relief valves that are spec'd to relieve before damage occurs. Honda has, rightfully so, provided a mechanism to protect the drive system.

In the case of the Sportsman 500 (and other belt drives) the protection is the belt. Polaris may or may not have intended the belt to be a pressure relief, but it is. If I really get it glued in, I will gladly replace a smoked belt, rather than more expensive and hard to replace transmission components.

Bzizzi,

You can't call a smoked belt a reliability problem. They only smoke if they are abused, we get into something really bad, or the operator doesn't know what he is doing. Of course your friend is on his third belt. You stated the reason why, and it had nothing to do with reliability. Our group of 1-'97, 2-'98's, and 1-'99 Sportsman are all on the original belts. Lots of miles, none smoked. These machines see some hard use and heavy loads. Reliability? The Sportsman belt drive is very reliable in my opinion.

DJ

 

bzizzi
What is the reliablity problem that you talk of I have two 500 00 SP's and have had Polaris since 93 and haven't had any thing more than minor problems,I ride with at least 10 others that have had no problems and now have ridden with many more in two COLORADO clubs.Funny but I don't hear this reliablity problem.I don't how much more you want from a machine,before the rest of manufactors came out with belt drive.At the ATV pulls many of them would make POLARIS pull in thier own class,as they would out pull anything else.Surely I must be missing some thing here please enliten me,don't sound to bad to me.I would say if your buddy is burning belts he is either doing more than the machine is designed for or not useing low.Maybe he should just park it and use your trusty old HONDU.CM

 

It is called operator ERROR !!!!!!! Not Always polaris Problems

 

i just replaced the belt on my trail boss for the FIRST time last fall, it lasted 14 years, and the old owner pulled stuff around all the time, and the machine doesn't even have low range...i call that reliable