Sad news. Nothing official, but just about sealed here. I think I'm backing out of getting a Sportsman for, yep, the third time. Reason, Reliability! No, just kidding, that plays no factor here. The real reason is just like the other two. Automatic Transmission. Damn it! After getting past the fever (thanks to a lack of cash in hand at the time), I've once again decided that there is no way in hell I could live with a belt driven automatic. No, I don't want a Rubicon either, because of its drums and regular swingarm. Out of the question.

I really wanted the true 4 wheel traction, but I can't go at the expense of the automatic, and the Expedition is not in contention either. Its AC or Sportsman only and the sportsman is an auto, so that has killed it once again. Guess I'll keep my 3 wheeler for the time being. Better to keep it and wait a year or so for something else to come out, than to cough up cash now, and want to trade again later. If they come out with a manual shift sportsman, I'll have it. Till then, I'll just wait until the next time I get that fever (probably six months, thats the usual waiting period).

I even looked at aspects of getting a 450s, adding a big bore kit, and locking it. Too much nonsense to sacrifice my swingaxle and a lot of cash. The Cat is paid off, so I am free to spend on gadgets and stuff for it at will anyway. I can't make it true 4wd or as fast as the other big dogs, but I can get by with it. Its already the best quad around here. Mostly honda 300's here, with the exception of a Griz, and 450ES that are both bone stock. Their differetials are no better than mine, and mine is probably more stable.

Rumors from Highlifter included a confirmation of a 700 polaris. Said the engine has been made. Also of a 650 Prairie. If they don't add EBS this time, it is a waste of time.

Sorry again for all of the hype, but thanks to all for all the answers to my Sportsman questions over the past few weeks.

 

I've asked before, Andy; if you answered and I missed your answer, I apologize. If you want a locker, and "true" 4-wheel drive, why not have the spider gears of your AC's front differential welded?

Tree Farmer

 

The only bad thing about that is it would steer hard, even in 2wd, but ya can't beat a welded front end for true 4wd.

 

Andy,

If this is a well thought-out conclusion, then kudos to you for holding off. But, I've got to know: have you ever had a belt drive before? Back in '98, I graduated from college, and was determined to get the best quad out there. I had never had a belt-drive quad, but was interested in the grizzly(it had just been out a few months), and the Sportsman 500. Reliability was a main issue(I kept thinking: what if I buy a polaris, go riding 20 miles into the middle of nowhere, and it breaks down) That scared me into the biggest mistake I've made with atv's. I had owned a yamaha before, with good service from it, and thought that the japanese made a superior product. Therefore, I bought the grizzly--sacrificing the best ride and "king of 4x4's" for what I deemed to be reliability reasons. I won't go into it with great detail, but the grizzly, in my opinion, is the biggest flop yamaha has ever put out. Maybe I got a lemon, but I don't think so. After 1 year, I had had enough, and figured that Polaris couldn't be any worse than the grizzly. I bent over, took the shaft at the dealership, and traded in my grizz on a '99 sp500. The Sportsman 500 is an excellent bike in my opinion. The only real disappointment I had with the quad was that if I got alot of mud packed in the radiator, the bike would eventually overheat. One solution was to take and thoroughly wash out the radiator after every mud ride because the mud would add from each ride until you hit that certain % of clogging before it would overheat. This wasn't a major problem, it was just the only one that I wished could have been different. However, I don't think that there's a liquid-cooled bike that will not overheat when the radiator gets packed with mud. Some may be less prone to overheating due to larger or more efficient cooling systems, but they are probably all prone to overheat in severe mud riding.
With all that said, I'll get to the belt drive issue: Sure, I've gotten into too deep of water and had the belt slip. What's so scary about that? From the factory, the belt intake and exhaust tubes are set to a level to where water will enter them and immobilize you before it gets into the carb intake. In other words, on gear-driven machines, the first thing that happens when in too deep of water is that the bike dies due to ingesting water. If you're lucky, water doesn't get into the oil. However, you must go through a similar procedure of pulling the bike out of the hole and getting water out of the carb. I would rather have to put the bike in neutral and blow the water out of the belt housing for 2 minutes than take a chance of getting water in the carb and engine. If water gets in the engine, it is best to just pull the quad back home to try and prevent any damage. The only other issue surrounding belt drives is pulling heavy loads. Yes, you can burn a belt, but if you learn when to run the bike in low range, you can get unlimited mileage out of a belt. I've heard of guys getting over 6,000 miles out of a belt and still going strong. I personally have a friend who owns a '95 Sportsman 400 that has been used alot, and he is still on the original belt--no problems(out of the bike either). And I'm sure you read about the atv pulls where Polaris took 9/11 events. That really says alot in my book. Out of the 9, the SP500 took 5, the Xplorer 400 took 3, and the Xpress took 1(I think).
But let's say that you have a buddy that borrows your bike and tries to pull somebody out of a mud hole, and he keeps it in high range and burns the belt. What kind of price are we looking at to repair the bike? Only $32 last time I checked. Very little mechanical knowledge is required to change the belt. And, the 2001 models are supposed to have an improved belt cover housing.
Don't get me wrong, if it's best for you to wait, then wait. I just don't want you to settle for something less than what you want. My philosophy on purchases is to buy what I want, and if I'm not happy with it, I'm not stuck with it for life. All quads are going to have their good and bad points, but the good of the sp500 by far outweighs the bad. Alot of times, we atv-owners look at a purchase as a lifetime deal, whereas if the truth be known, most of us won't have the same quad over 4-5 years. I like the idea of buying a 4-wheeler and driving it til the wheels fall off, but I'm too immature to do that. I get that "new" fever way too often.
If you decide to get the new sp500ho, or any other bike, make you a list of best and worst possible scenarios that accompany your purchase, and go from there. I hope I don't seem like a know-it-all, because I definitely don't. I've just learned from my mistakes and hope I can help others. Later,

Waylan

 

well put Walexa

I predict that we will see many cases of V-Twin fever/contemplation/discussion. The atv market is alive and interesting again.

 

True, Farmr123, but a "Lincoln Locker" should steer no harder than a commercial locker, if one were available for and installed in Andy's AC. Andy has decried the unavailability of a commercial locker for his machine; I propose a bit of weld metal as an alternative for him; as far as I know, he has not reacted to this suggestion.

Tree Farmer

 

I just wanted him to be aware of how the weld will effect handling. I welded the rear end in my first car (spider bearings went out & took the spiders with them) and had NO durability problems at all. Put almost 25000 miles that way. Pulled to whichever side had a low rear tire, though. If you DO weld it up, try and do so in a way that would allow you to still pull the axles and get the pumpkin out in case you ever have to replace a bearing.
One other thing I just thought of. A kid in school had gotten square spider gears for his Jeep. Whenever he was going rock climbing, he would put them in. This had the effect of locking the differential, and was easily reversed for general driving around. Got to where it took him only 10 minutes and a quart of gear oil to do.

 

I understand your decision. I to, didn't really want the auto tranny. Prefer a 5 speed manual shift any day. But I have to say that I've learned to live with it and in some ways learned to like it. Haven't had any problems with slipping or burning, and I've put'er through hell a few times. But if the Griz had a twin brother with a manual shift, I'd take it any day and twice on Sunday over an auto. I really wanted the power of the Griz, so I had to take the tranny the way it is.

 

Maybe you should check out the new Kawasaki when it comes out. It might fit your needs.

 

Tree Farmer
The AC frontend doesn't have "normal" spidergears in the front diff. They look like a old meat grinder. They are not connected either, they have free moving pieces that ride in an outer channel that go back and forth. If you can find any info on the LandRover it is basically the same frontend and so is the new honda surtrac.

Also there are no clutches and no springs, only a bevel washer and a flat roller bearing. Wanna see for your self, pull the front diff apart cut the factory weld and unscrew it (it has lefthand threads).

If Andy wants to lock the front diff. all he has to do is look at the part I was talking about cutting and you will see 6 screw holes (used during assembly at factory) ,put some 10-32 flat head screws (can't remember the length but make sure it is below where the bearing sits) and put them in the holes. You have to grind some of the head off of the screw to make it sit flat. There is only upward motion inside and the screws shouldn't break. I run mine like this for a while but it was way to hard to turn so I put it back.


I will be out of town this weekend but in the next week or so I may lock my frontend again and post a step by step with pictures on my site