Thought that would get your attention!! No really, I love my 1997 Sportsman 500 that I just bought used but I'm having a problem.

When I ride at half throttle everything feels fine like its got good power and so forth but as soon as I push down on the throttle and open it up it seems like it loses power, like its choking itself. It evens slows down. I need this power to get up some of the hills here in WV and to smoke all the less fortunate quads around.

Is it running rich? I have a K & N and it is brand new and still doing it. Please Help!!

Rob
1997 Polaris Sportsman 500
Fayetteville, WV

 

I had the same thing happen, and it turned out my air box was completely full of water from playing in the puddles (not that deep, maybe 5 inches). Seems kinda obvious but its embarassing how long it took me to figure it out [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img].

Probably needs some tuning with that new air filter. I'm not too good with that, so I'm not gonna say something and lead you in the wrong direction.

 

I would think it was the carb ,did you pull that apart andd clean it?

 

Also, with a quad that old, I would put a new belt on it. Worn belts make cvt's shift all goofy which can make it seem like there's a problem with the motor. How does it run in low range?

 

Maybe you should replace your fuel filter. As they get plugged up, they will allow
enough fuel for light throttle but when you hammer on it they tend to bog down, this
is from personal experience, I am not a mechanic. Just seems like a cheap thing to
check first before you look at other things, 99% of the time the problem is
something stupid or cheap.

 

how does it run in neutral? put it down from idle for a second and see if it cuts out... just dont free revv it

 

A bad diaphram in the carb will kill performance. I may be worthwile pulling the carb off and looking it over. A clutch kit on these older machines help quite a bit too. I had the same machine you have and put a HPD clutch kit in it. It gave me a bit more rpm that was needed.

 

First thing I would check is the spark plug

 

Clogged main jet, runing lean, clean your carb.

 

I would check to see if the air box intake is "sucking" down against the gas tank. I had a 99 Sportsman that would do this. I had to put a foam spacer in there to prevent this. If I understand correctly, some other people have had the same problem.