Well, I've been trying to get in here for 3 weeks. I could not figure out for the life of me what was going wrong.

Well, my nickname has been "twoblackbelts" since before I got on the WWW in '96, and I left the damn "S" off the end of my name. What a bonehed.

ANYWAY, I'm the proud father of a '97 Polaris Sportsman 500 4X4, that I got with 720 miles on it, with a KILLER Warn winch........... and ZERO maintenence. Belonged to a millionaire's son in Salt Lake city who used it during elk season. Period. Then back to playing with his Porsches. I STOLE the thing.

So I bought a grease gun and got to work on the 727,000 grease fittings (wow!) which REALLY plushed-out
the steering and suspension, then I got ahold of Rocky Mt. ATV and got a wheel and tire upgrade (Maxxis tires, better wheels) and switched it over to Synthetic oil, new filters, etc. and got it running saweeet.

Today I received a remote-start alarm system in the mail. It is good for 200 feet from the vehicle, and even though I'm in a small town in Utah I'm crippled about 75% in my right leg, so if someone took off with my quad out in the boonies it would be a virtual death sentence (cellphones are useless out here). It screams bloody murder it soeone touches it AND starts the thing to warm up while I'm inside getting dressed and loading-up gear.

SO my questions for you vets are:

1) Do I really need to rejet this thing at 7100+ feet when it starts and runs flawlessly (might it have been rejetted already?)

2) Has anyone installed an alarm like this who can give me some heads-up info before I start? (Got the mulimeter and 100 barrel connectors at the ready)

3) The ATV seems to want to go right up to 70mph on the flat straights but I chicken-out around 50. How fast is "safe" for someone with 30 years dirt experience? (I ALWAYS wear armored ATV boots, full-face helmet, and armored jackets when riding over 10mph) How fast will this thing go?

4) I've torqued every suspension bolt I can find (several were insanely loose) but because of the age would you recommend replacing any tie-rod ends or bushings, bearings, etc. even with almost no miles?

Thanks a million for reading this. I don't know quads, but I know a good deal about engines of all kinds, so I hope to avail myself to your usage on troubleshooting when I can.

Dani

 

1-yes if it starts to backfire and bogg down alot at 7100 feet ur going to need to rejet it

2-no i havent installed an atv alarm on my quad

3-pretty sure a sportsman 500 will not go 70 mph but it should climb up to 55 or 60 i'm guessing, i'd say u can go as fast as u want, just dont step out of ur comfort zone

4-umm just look the ATV over, or u can take it to a shop and have them look it over to see if anything is worn and needs to be replaced

5-HAVE FUN[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

your remote start will not work. on a carb motor it requires fiddeling with the choke to get the quad going.

i've owned Sportsmans since '98 or '99 and i have never been able to start one cold w/o fiddeling. on a EFI model it's a different story.


~MT

 

BTW, a BIG welcome to the Forum!

great place to hang-out and meet some very nice folks and get some good info.

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

 

Congrats and welcome!

I may add if it runs good at elevation dont worry about it , jetting and clutching changes are not usually needed til over 6k anyways.

No need to replace tie rod ends unless they are loose.

Keep up the maintainence , read the manual and have fun!

Jim

 

Hey, thanks alot.

Great advice, and about themanual(this is hlarious) I begged the owner for it and he said he never had one, and that I could order one from Polaris. So I tried, andf Polaris said, "Simply go to your local dealer, Dani!!" Yeah. 3 hours away. Great.

Well, I took the big bag off the rear rack to wash it, and took the seat off to clean the battery terminals, etc., and here were 2 little ears and an oval cover under the rear rack, behind the seat latch. Hmph? So I pulled like hell on one of the tabs and it did not move an iota (and I hand-forge knives swords; I have a pretty good grip). Well, my curiousity was eating at me so I thought "The worst it could do is pull a plastic tab off" and went at it with a big pair of pliers. Well it came off with a "POP!" and inside the pristine compartment (still wrapped in plastic!!) were:

SIX NGK sparkplugs!
a tube of Polaris graphite-enriched grease (for my mini greasegun)
The untouched/unread owner's manual (thank God!)
a map of all the grease zerks (cool!)
A plastic-wrapped Polaris safety video (which actually played!)
A killer emergency tool kit
An ounce of the best cocaine I ever had (OK, so that's baloney)

The compartment had obviously NEVER been opened. It was like dipping into an 8-year time capsule.

I dunno if you have ever seen a 1997 Polaris safety video, but it's chock-full of GREAT fashion tips if nothing else. (Oh BOY!) It DID teach me that sometimes the front wheels will not disengage out of 4WD and one side can stick and try to pull yer arm out of socket, and how to disengage them. That was cool, but the rest was pretty funny. No one ever goes over 3mph in the whole thing.

BTW, I'm pretty sure the remote starter will work.
Even ice cold it starts in a heartbeat; with or without the choke.
It barely turns over before it's running.
I doubt it will work every time, but I'm gonna give it a shot.
I love gadgetry.

D

 

Please provide details of the remote start kit, i.e., brand, cost, where you bought it, ease of installation, etc. Thanks.