Hi guys,

I finally got to spend a day working on electrical mods. I was a little disappointed to find there is no 12v hot actuated by shifting, in other words you can’t just light the back-up lights by shifting into gear. There is a switch at the tranny that makes connections between different wires as you shift through the gears, this is what “tells” the speedo head which gear to show on the display but this connection is highly resisted (ohms) so it won’t even light a 12v test light. I wired both the “work lights” and the power point on the pod right to the battery (with a fuse, of course) so I don’t have to turn the key on to make use of the lights or auxiliary power. Then I used the switched power that went to the power point to provide 12v to the hand and thumb warmers because it was right there. That work light switch really should have a light on it to let you know they’re on. I can see using them to back up and leaving them on, much to the distraction of following riders.

Here’s where it gets good. I accomplished a reverse override override. No, that’s not a typo. I installed a SPST toggle switch between the gray/orange and brown wires that go to the yellow button, leaving the button hooked up but with my switch in the wires ahead of it. With the new switch in the closed postition (on) the rev limiter is disabled and you have AWD in reverse without touching the yellow button. You can leave this switch in the on position or use it to scroll through the various speedo displays by turning it on and off, just like pushing the button. Or, with my switch in the open position (off) the machine performs as Polaris intended, with reverse limitations and speedo displays controlled by the yellow button.

For the time being I expect to leave it set up this way but eventually I’ll probably just take the yellow button out of the circuit completely. Having two switches that perform the same task is redundant but the switch I installed wasn’t very high quality so if it fails I’ll have the button as a back-up. The only fly in this ointment is if you’re accustomed to shifting your machine into neutral when you shut it off so it will already be in neutral when you restart it (I've always felt this practice is a little kinder to the belt). If you’re inclined to just leave the new switch in the “on” position and you start the machine in neutral, the speedo goes into its diagnostic mode instead of its normal readout. I don’t know about yours but on mine the speedo DOES NOT leave the diagnostic mode if a wheel begins to spin, as the owner’s manual and service manual suggest. I’ve driven a mile and it’s still in diagnostic mode. The owner’s manual even goes so far as to suggest that shifting it out of neutral will return the display to normal, which is completely wrong because the service manual shows that to utilize one of the diagnostic functions you have to shift through the entire range of gears. Thankfully, now that we have a PARK position on the shifter I’ll just get used to shifting it into P instead of my old habit of neutral, unless of course I want to use the diagnostic mode. I plan to replace the current cheap toggle switch with a good quality handlebar switch. At that point the yellow button will likely get a horn.