Polaris Scrambler 500- Totally Goose Happy Quad December 14, 1999


ATV Staff Report

Scrambler History

Introduced in the early '90's, the 400 Scrambler was Polaris' perennial top of the line sport machine. It remained there until California began laying the heat on two-strokes in 1996. Introduced into their '97 lineup, the Scrambler 500 was Polaris' ecologically-minded four-stroke alternative to their Scrambler 400 two-stroke. Because the two-stroke 400 still smoked it in drag races, first year sales of the 500 thumper weren't up to expectations. Polaris engineers went back to the drawing board and installed major upgrades for the '98 model year. A hotter cam and crank, and a new 40mm Mikuni carburetor were just some of the improvements. They called the revamped engine the High Output (HO) 500. The all-new HO '98 Scrambler 500 developed 20% more power and was now dead even in drag races with the two-stroke 400. Virtually identical (except for the engines of course), both of these machines remain top dogs for fastest out of the crate 4x4's.

the whole story here

 

so was it polaris' idea to call the pumped up engines HO because i know that some of the new chevy 5300 vortecs have the HO and so do those plastic things.... o bombardiers

 

Thanks jimmypsp700 for the great information. So far, it looks like the scrambler remains at the top of my list.

 

I spent about 2 hours in thick mud and it never over heated. It will go through just about anything a sportsman 4x4 will go through and look better doing it [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

The 500ho is by far one of the most reliable Polaris motors. It has gobs of power and the 4x4 is great when needed. The Scrambler 500ho is the best trail quad out. It can tackle any situation you put in front of it. You would be surprised in what it can do and with some clutch tuning there wont be much that can hang with it on the trails. The KFX 700 has tons of power and handles good but get some mud in front of it and its dead. Anyone here that has a scrambler500ho will tell you that it is a great atv. This is one atv that everyone has nothing but good things to say about it. No it does not have IRS but it is not a full ute atv either. It is the best of both worlds hands down. And HSP is not the first choice to go with mods. HPD, RCR and AAEN are tops.

 

I have two buddies, brothers, that both have Scramblers - a 99 2WD and an 00 AWD - both 400 2-strokes. The older brother has land next to their grandfather and together there's over 200 acres to ride. Some open field, some technical trails, some swamp mud, some ditch jumps, and some steep hills. About 6 years ago they used to ride religiously every Weds night. These are the bikes I learned to ride on. Those two bikes have been pushed hard. They been rolled, bailed, run into trees, and stuck in mud and left for days. They have just been dogged and they still ride and run just like my 05. Knowing what those two had been through and being completely comfortable on them after all these years, that's what I bought when I decided to get one of my own. I also knew I wanted a 4x4 model. The switch is located on the right grip near the throttle, intuitively placed so you have to idle down to shift into it, which is important. 95% of the time I ride in 2WD but there's a lot of things you can crawl through in AWD that you'd have to use quite a bit of speed to accomplish in 2WD. I have ridden mine just as hard as I ride my buddies' older bikes and it shows, both in the scratches on the new plastic and in my satisfaction with my new machine. I've put 10 hours on it so far. It looks far older. It's time for the first oil change and the first good wash.

Someone brought up the Kawasaki KFX700. I'll tell you what I know about them, as my buddy Ray bought one the same day I bought my Scrambler. The good news first - the 700 is a noticeably more powerful engine than the 500 HO. That's all. The bad news about the KFX - it's 2WD, the shifter is more complicated, the ride is A LOT stiffer, the plastic is nowhere near as flexible as my Polaris so it's more easily broken, the seat is shorter and harder to take off, it comes with tires not suitable for thick mud, the grips are checkered like a Glock frame which allows for great grip but hurts on an ATV, and brand new we've had to adjust the idle and reroute the choke cable to keep the thing from cutting off when going slowly or turning. I think it sucks to buy something new you've gotta tweak out of the box to make work.

You won't be disappointed with a Scrambler.

 

I've had a Scrambler 500 and a Scrambler 400 and neither one of them compares to the V-force in any situation except mud. The Scramblers are fun, but the V-Force is a true automatic sport quad. It will take serious money put into a Scrambler to make it run with a V-force with just a clutch kit and a set of duals and they will never handle like the V does.

 

Thanks Kevin and Kevin. It the most basic terms, it sounds like the Scrambler has the versitility and the KFX has the power. I think I saw the post from Kevin108 about the problem with the choke cable in the Kawi forum and it sounds like the Kawi LE is the one with the plastic problems. When looking at used Scramblers what should I look for. Good years - Bad years? What are the tell-tale signs of abuse or neglect on these machines, where are the "weak points"?

 

Make sure you get a 2000 or newer. One big thing to think of when shopping used is tires. You may think you are getting a great deal on something with bald tires but expect to pay 300-400 for some good tires. just make sure she runs good and nothing major is wrong. there are a few minor problems that alot if the older ones will have like the steering post bushing wearing out, bad tie rods and so forth. Also make sure the front cv-joints and u-joints are solid, they can get expensive also. If your going to pretty much keep it stock I would go with the 500 but if you want to do lots of mods and get crazy fast go for the 400. You can still mod the 500 with things like exhaust cams and porting. As soon as polaris comes out with a 600 or 700 scrambler I'll get another one. I really love the scramblers and think the scrambler has a very loyal following. In my opinion there is no reason to consider a v-force since it is a big heavy 2wd if you want a 2wd bike get a predator or a new 700 raptor. Oh yes and I know my scrambler is "heavy" those other guys won't let you forget it!

 

I would have to agree with Kevin108 and 2manytoys about the Scrammy.

Kevin #2 , with all due respect to the V Force, it is an awesome and fast machine more geared towards a pure sport but when they did a shootout between the two and a DS650 the Scrambler had the fastest woods trail race times.
And frankly I think my 400 scrambler is probably just as fast as a stock KFX700, for a lot cheaper! It'll never handle as well but that’s ok.

I'm going to hunt for some V's to drag race this summer.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img] [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img] [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

Jim