I bought a 2004 Sportsman 700 from a private seller this weekend. I took my 500HO and 700 out riding and raced. My father was on my 500 and weighs about 60 pounds more than me. We lined up to race the 500HO about 40 MPH was 7 quads ahead of my 700. I thought for sure a 700 would be faster than a 500.
One other thing I noticed is the 700 does not engage the clutch tell about 2400RPM is that normal? Could this be a jetting and clutch problem? I live in Utah at 5500 feet above sea level.
The 700 seems to run great I just expected it to be faster than a 500HO. I also put in a K&N air filter in the 700 but it made no difference the 500 still eats the 700. Oh and the 500HO is stock nothing has been done to it.
Need help before I take this to a dealer and spend a small fortune to figure this out or just need to know if this is normal.
Thanks
Mark

 

I have 2 friends that have 700's and one would smoke the other. The faster of the 2 can do wheelies with a 3000#warn on the front. The other is a dog. It has to do with the clutching. My brother inlaws 600 will beat the slower 700 easily. And the only thing he has done is a clutch spring. I dont understand why one would be that much faster than the other.

 

Start by putting a new belt on it.

 

My old 03 600 stood no chance against my bro-inlaws 500ho.

 

I was drag racing my buds ont eh trail Saturday..two 500ccHO Vinsons..by Suzuki...first race i had it in low gear..they got me at about 35mph..second race...with me in high gear..i yanked the fron big time still killed them..even from a 20mph roll...one buddy was 304 quads ahead of me..i got on it hard..caught him and passed him...and im a big guy..300+lbs...they were 190lbs and about 230lbs. I know comparing Polaris to Suzuki is like apples to oranges...but maybe you need a new belt or something.

 

i agree with 95sport400. pull the cover off and tell us what the belt looks like.

i have owned both over the years and the 700 carb always seemed stronger than the 5.

-MT[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

depending on what year your 500 hundred is ,the 04 and up 500's have pretty good clutching and are deceivingly fast from 0 to 40 ,so the 500 might stay with the 700 or be slightly ahead of it to 40 ,but the 700 should start pulling away from there and keep gaining(this is assumming all things are equal ie;same size tires ,same rider weights ,same accesseries etc.)this is my drag racing experience with the carbed 700 against my 04.5 500 HO ,so I would say you have some issues with the 700 ,probably in the clutches somewhere.

 

Thanks for the info. I really think it is the clutch. I am heading to Moab this week but when I get back I will pull the cover off and look at the belt. The 500HO is a 01 with 2500 miles everything is original it's been the best quad I have ever own. When I get back I also think I am going to buy a clutch kit.

 

I've raced my Xplorer 400 and my 700EFI and if both get the same hookup with the same weight riders the 400 keeps right up. 700 launches and gets about a quad ahead but the 400 catches back up when it gets it's revs up.

I was really suprised.
guess thats non IRS with a 2 stroke for yah.