I have a 2004 Sportsman 500 and I am very happy so far with it. I have one problem, the little exhaust pipe heat shield doent cut it. Your leg gets pretty warm on long rides. Is there a cure for this? Could I make another shield to attach to the existing one, but sticking out another 1" or so, and maybe wrap it with that exhaust header cloth? Any help would be great,
Thanks,
Craig

 

You should be able to buy the heat sheild, the aluminumn kind that comes on it at any high performance automotive shop. We use to carry it at Super Shops. I think the header tape should be enough though. Hope this helps.

 

The factory shield (alum.) is there, but its not really enough. I am thinking of fabricating another shield, slightly larger on all sides ( if space permits) and having it extend about 1" farther out than the stock one, then wrapping it with the cloth. I will probably use alum. for my new shield, unless someone has a better choice of mat`l. I know alum. holds the heat , maybe stainless steel is better?
thanks,
Craig

 

Stainless would be awesome but the weight would suck. You might look at some type of ceramic or something.

 

Im not certain we are talking about the same thing. Im talking about the alum. heat shield on the header pipe with two small bolts holding it on, by your right leg sitting on the machine. If I make one out of stainless it will be about 2lbs. give or take. Im more interested in making sure the s.s. will deflect the heat better than the alum.
Craig

 

I gottcha. I was thinking of the aluminum tape under the fender. Sorry about that. Stainless should work great.

 

yeah stainless would be good alum get real warm real quick

 

If you find something that works post it, love my 500 also but my ankle does get hot.

 

I am first going to fabricate a stainless version of what they have, possibly a touch bigger and try that. If that doesnt work I will add a second one spaced away from the first and maybe use the exhaust tape on it also. I will let you know my results.
Craig