I am going to get a new 2001 Explorer 400 4x4. I really don't like the colors Polaris chose for the machine. I read on this forum somewhere that a guy can get different colored plastic for the quad for around $200. Is this true? Is it just for Sportsmans? Where can I get these?

Also, I don't like the plastic racks. I may just opt for getting metal extenders on them, but can you get entirely metal racks like the Explorer 250?

Thanks, Joe

 

You can order different color fenders now as complete sets instead of piece by piece like before. Just look in your dealers '01 ATV/Accessorie catalog. Lots of new stuff.

The rack extenders are nice. If you want full metal racks, you'll have to build them.

 

The plastic racks have held up great on my SP, how come you don't like them?

 

I'm sure the plastic ones hold up fine. I have a '96 Sportsman now, and my buddy has a '00 Sportsman 500. When we go up north, we store all the unused bungee straps on my metal racks, because the platic ones don't work very well with the metal hooks on the bungees. The bars on the plastic ones are just too wide.

 

Not really.
If you feel under your plastic rack, you'll notice it is hollow. Not smooth like the top. So all you need to do is catch that underside lip with the hook. I thought it was akward at first, but it works fine. Just try not to smash the loaf of bread on the way home from the grocery store.

 

Right, but if you have a bungee that is too long, you can't loop it through the small cracks in the plastic racks. This is why I am considering a rack extension bar to loop my long bugees through. I know this sounds petty, but it is a minor problem.

 

Plastic kits are only available for the Sportsman and Sport models. Don't like the plastic racks? Rode with a Ruby owner that has metal racks and he hates them. Too much spacing between the bars and breaks the bottom of coolers and what ever else he hauls. Puts a piece of plywood under every thing he hauls. Course they are use to doing 200 to 500 mile trips.

 

You will have to buy the sportsman plastic and then just cut the hole in the front for the oil injection tank. I was going to replace the plastic on my xplorer and the dealer told me it would cost about $350.

 

For steel racks, the hondas are pretty lame I think. Not very thick tubing there. The best steel racks are hands down the Arctic Cat racks. Good space and very thick. Kawasaki's plastic racks suck too. Well, I don't guess they suck, but they look like you took a sheet of plywood and painted it black and laid it on the front and back. I don't care for it. Polaris's racks suck for me, but I don't really ever haul anything anyway so I don't guess it really matters. Plastic is plastic, but if a company is going to go with steel, at least use some decent size tubing.