Well I may be a little late to add to this post, and should probably start a new thread, but I am totally frustrated with my 04.5 Sportsman 700 at this point. I have always been a Yamaha fan, sleds, bikes, etc. But I decided to get my first quad this fall as I bought a house with a rental property attached and needed a way to plow them out and got a great deal on a leftover 700 carb. Plus my dad loves his 00' 500 sportsman he bought new in '00 and has had zero problems with it.
Well, I have had nothing but problems so far. Won't run in the cold (anything under 40deg actually) at any less than 1/2 choke. Then it fouls plugs.
Transmission will NOT shift out of gear when cold. Stuck in neutral first snowstorm and took an hour to get it out, then it shifted fine. Today, second storm of the year, stuck in low and would not come out. Warmed up until fan came on and nothing. Back to the dealer again. He said the 500's did this but that this is the first 700 he has seen with this problem.
I am frustrated with this quad. Am I over reacting? I am used to trouble free, awesome fit and finish from the Yamaha sleds and bikes I have owned (and still do). And lots of them. And with a 6-month warrantee I am worried I will be screwed when it runs out.
Like I said, I loved this machine in the warn weather. Gobs of power, awesome ride, great all around. But this thing is pissing me off in the winter. I am wishing I would have tried a Grizzly at this point. Maybe not as fast, but you can always count on Yamaha's reliability and fit and finish.
Frustrated in NH

 

I am sorry that you have been having so many problems.
Reading your post is like listening to a broken record of problems that my friends have had.

I am not sure what the deal is.. Maybe we are just unlucky because I know a lot of Polaris owners are very happy with their machines.

I am going to go with Yamaha and hope that Polaris gets things together. I love their machines, the way they look and everything.... Just dont want to deal with all the problems

 

I can say I'm on my 3rd Polaris....ZERO problems....I've been pretty fortunate with machines, but I know how to run them, how to break them in and how to service them. I had a Honda that was a pure lemon, the 450 fourtrax with push-button shifter...piece of junk. But I had another Honda that ran all the time, couldn't break it if you tried.

Go to any forum and you'll read about problems with all machines. Look at it overall, which machines last. In my opinion its Polaris that outlasts all, they have high resale value, and they are the most sold ATV in America....I'll stick with them....

 

This is my first Polaris and I haven't had one problem with it yet, Except a rip in the front drive boot, but that was my fault. The last quad that I had was a Kawasaki Prairie 700 and I had that thing back to the dealer about 4 times for differen't issues. All quads are bound to have some problems, they are man made.

 

True true

 

Is this an opinion or fact? Any documentation?
I still see 1984 hondas and suzukis for sale, and are still running great, I dont see many polaris for sale , older than 1998.
Most sold in america? dont think so, maybe in MN, but not the country.
High resale value? Ask someone whos just sold their 3 year old sportsman.
I agree, with all brands can have problems...but my experience, is, if you can get thru the first 6 months without a problem, its a good one..no matter what brand. If it has problems in the first 6 months...unload it ,like everyone else does.
I really like my Yamaha, runs great, and has taken everything ive thrown at it. And ive had zero problems,..so its a keeper.

 

Dont get me wrong, I am not here to Bomb Polaris.

I love Polaris. They are probably my favorite machine.

BUT, I have heard soooo many people complaining in the forums about their new machines.

That is NOT good.

I dont know a single person who wants to spend $7500 or more on problems....

 

davenh,
I think I heard of a cold weather update to the carb on the Polaris 700 and 600, you might want to see if your dealer can check and see if it was done to yours, it is supposed to make cold starts and idling a lot better. The shifting problems could be a misadjusted linkage, a trip to the dealer sounds in order, he should be able to correct most of your issues.

 

On carberated twin cylinder models (sp 600 & 700) cold wether start up has always been an issue with Polaris. When I bought my "03" sp 600 in Jan of "03" I was using it for ice fishing in Wisconsin. In the first 1 of operation I experianced the same thing. I worked with my local dealer on the problem and found that re-jetting the carb solved the problem. This included the main and the idle jet. According the Polaris, emishions restricted the factory from solving the problem. After several tries experimenting with different sizes and several other new owners with the same problems we came up with the right combination. After 2 years of running I have never had this problem agian. In fact I don't even use the choke. I went riding the other day and it was 8 degrees out. In the summer even when it's 90 out it run like a rapped ape. I have never touched agian to this day.
If your interested in the jet combo, let me know and make a call and get the numbers on the jet's. After 2 years I forgot the numbers.

 

Polaris can make machines that last and some people are satisfied for many years with theirs. You just have to watch out for the polaris defect lottery which seems easy to win. Out of my dad's 3 sportmans the 99 335 practically lives at the shop, the 2000 500 HO has been quite reliable jus a couple of torn boots, and the 04 600twin has been to the shop twice in 2 months.

As far as the grizzly is concerned I have heard nothing but good things and I really liked the one I had an oppurtunity to ride. Also Yamaha's have always been very reliable for me.

Ryan