I am not sure, but I thought the HO has more compression. If so, that would imply different piston or head or both. If you had the time/patience you might be able to go to www.partsland.com and compare the 2 machines on their microfiche.

 

the ho uses a different cam, cylinder, piston, head, and larger exhaust. in order to "upgrade", unless you find lots of use parts, you would have about as much in what you paid for the bike itself. you can still do some mods to your bike to make it run better - pipe, clutch work, carb, etc. but wouldn't spend all the extra to make an ho, imo.

 

I looked at that 2002 Engine for sale. it's basically a short block. Would that even work with the carb and stuff that I have since it's an HO engine? I guess if I wanted to do EBS at the same time, then it would be an awesome upgrade.

Here is a quote of what the engine is... "This is for a complete "Short Block" assembly. This does not consider the head and valvetrain components." What is the head? Is that my cam and top end? If so... wouldn't it be kinda weird having a basically new engine with 3000 miles on the top end. Plus that would mean that I'd still have the non-HO cam. Maybe I'm just misunderstanding.

 

The price they show is for a short block assembly,It is just like the pic shows.
Now here is the shocker!

Polaris Part Number: 3085822
Polaris MSRP: $2799
This is for a complete "Short Block" assembly. This does not consider the head and valvetrain components.
Now look at our price and see what a bargain this can be
Its saying thats the price of a short block from the dealer and you are getting a deal because you are getting the head and valves-It can be confuseing I had to read it twice to understand it. But yes you would have to get a carb with it, you can use your clutch but it wont be as nice as the HO clutch. It was just a thought.

 

The very top of the description it says COMPLETE POLARIS SPORTSMAN 500 ENGINE/MOTOR

2002 POLARIS SPORTSMAN 500
I asked them to be sure and it is a HO engine. But I think I would invest in the exhaust and air and clutch updates.IMO I should have all my items this week and with a day of playing and adjusting I should be able to say if its worth it. Keep in mind if my memory serves me correct the HO engines are rated at 38HP, and the non HO at 32 HP So a little mods could get you close to it?

 

non h.o. is 34 hp
h.o. is 38 hp.

Listen to what Jeffro206 is telling you.. it would be way too expensive to upgrade to an h.o. .
You can do air filter(k&n), jetting, exhaust and heelclicker clutch system for much
less than the cost of upgrading to an h.o. engine..
You'd get great low to mid range performance with these mods..and it would be
much easier on your pocket book.. you would probably gain 2-3 hp also , making
it very close to the h.o..

If you'd rather have an h.o. sp 500, purchase an h.o., it will
be cheaper in the long run, especially since you want ebs to boot...

the h.o. will fetch more at trade in time also which will offset the initial higher cost.

 

ok, lets talk .40 over kit then...

I'm sure with 3000 miles on it, it's probably time for a little freshen up anyway. Does anyone know if you can bore the engine .40 over safely, and put a higher compression piston in it at the same time. At that point I might as well do a new cam too.

I'm just figuring that I have about $1000-$1500 left over from what I saved from not getting the more expensive bike to begin with. In the end I like the project of getting more power out of it, so this is more fun anyway then just having the HO... [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Do people actually have big bore kits for these? I can't find anything on them.

 

FST(Four Stroke Tech), has two big bore kits for this engine. I am not sure what their number is. That is the best way to contact them. Their 600cc performance kit would be the best bet since the other one costs a lot more. I have heard from several sources that the 600 is a torque monster!! Can you say wheelies?

 

This question used to be on www.polarisindustries.com FAQ. Their response is that the 500 and 500 HO are completely different and an upgrade is not an option, because the original 500 can not handle the output that is required to make it an HO.

Your best bet is to never ride a 500 HO and be happy with the amount of power your non HO has, or pick up the 500 HO motor on Ebay that has a bit of damage.

SLG

 

Can you change a 500ho to a 500efi