I have a 1996 Sportsman 500, and my buddy has a 2001 Sportsman 500 HO. In my repair manual it says mine weighs 650lbs, and the official weight on his is 697. I know they changed some stuff, but nothing looks like it's that much beefier. 47 lbs is a lot of weight to not be able to see where it went. It calculates out to a 7% difference. If I lost 7% of my body weight I'd know it [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] What'd they do?

Mike

 

possibly the suspension components, tires/wheel choice, plastic(racks and fender flares if equipted) etc. I may be incorrect so don't go on it but that's my ideas anyways.

 

Also, yours is a non-HO, and a two stroke? I don't know my polaris history. Maybe the engine makes up the difference.

 

mine is a non-HO. But all that means is that I got a less agressive cam and a smaller carb. Nothing that would make it weigh any different.

 

Well thats about as far as my pre-2004 polaris knowledge goes. Someone will know.

 

His engine is a 4 stroke engine. 1996 is the first year model of the SP500. It was released in 95' as a 96' model. I know his has the engine braking system, different steering tierods, and the HO engine. I am not sure how it picked up 47lbs. Polaris also changed some other items on the SP, but I can't remember all the changes.

 

The weight at 647 seems rather common. The magnum 500 is said to weight 647, my expedition is suppose to weigh that also. The magnum and expedition 425 are pretty much the same machine, but the manual tranny in the expedition just has to be heavier than the auto tranny. On any sportsman there is quite a bit more to the suspension alone that would tip the scales heavier. Not to mention the 25lbs of grease zerks on the older models.

 

What I heard or read, many years ago and haven't forgotten, was that Polaris was not being truthful with the weight claim during the early year/s of the SP 500.