I have to change oil and service this beast and i don't have the manual. I'm going on a trip next week so i'm not taking it to the shop and spending $150. Anyway, what do i need to look for and can you guys give me some pointers. I have fluids left over from when i had my 2003 700 but does the 800 take something different. Any and all help is appreciated. I also need to replace my brake pads. Do you guys recommend the Polaris heavy duty (i have to drive 1 hr to get to the shop) or should i order a set online. And if so, where?

Thanks for inputs.

 

Go to www.polarisindustries.com (USA), click on ATV and navigate to the parts/manuals section. They have your manual in .pdf format and you can download it assuming you have acrobat reader (almost all computers do).

Did your dealer quote $150.00 to service this machine???? YIKES!!!!!!

 

Hey SACtrainedkiller,

Where in SD are you? I was stationed in Belle Fourche for nearly 6 years. I bought a motorcycle instead of an ATV. I'd love the ride the Black Hills on this 800!! Wow, that would be awesome.

Anyway, my dealer said about $120+ "whatever else it needs" for the servicing. I hate these guys. I spoke with the guy that distributes the Heelclicker and he says that Polaris doesn't have any Quality Assurance. Just want to move units, that's the motto.

 

Dealers are people too, some are great, some are okay, and some are awful.

Get the Polaris “severe duty” pads if you’ve gone through a set already. And good for you for keeping an eye on pad wear, most don’t. The Polaris pads have come down in price from years ago, although they’re still pricey they compare favorably with most aftermarket prices.

A “service” on that machine (depending on mileage) is an oil and filter change, grease the zerks, check the air filter and clean the sock, check (maybe change) some fluids. Your leftover ’03 fluids like hub oil and engine oil will be the same for your 800.

You can get a lot of good technical information from these guys and they can ship you EBS brake pads too if that's more convenient.

 

03sportsman700

I live about 6 miles Northwest of Rapid City and ride mostly in the Black Hills. It is great, but like everywhere else the Forest Service is closing the forest. About 50% of the trails I used to ride in the last 10 years are closed to everything but the uber-environmentalists with their $300.00 hiking sticks and $1000.00 fly rods.

I have lived here for 24 years, but the last 6 years or so have seen a vise-grip like squeeze on any use of the forest that doesn't provide some kind of tourist dollar. If it produces tourist income, TEAR IT UP!. If it provides the local population with recreational use and doesn't produce an income, CLOSE IT!!!!


This place is growing and yuppie scum seem to be taking over and making forest policy. I have watched them coming from Seattle, Wa, Portland, OR, Missoula, Mt., Bozeman, Mt, and Jackson Hole, Wy. to name just a few. They come here with unlimited cash and drive the cost of living up while providing nothing productive for the area except more service related jobs for the area. Land values are riduculous and the local people here are finding it diffucult to produce enough income to buy housing, transportation and food.

Of course, everyone has the right to come here. The problem is that this particular demographic demands infrastructure that we neither need or want locally.

For example: The local campgrounds here are almost all pay-to-camp areas (including most of the Natioanal Forest campgrounds). After the tourist season is over (approx. the first week in Sept.) it has been customary for the USFS campgrounds to remain open throughout the Black Hills for free for the local population to use as they wanted. This was a good thing for us because this is a tourist area. Mount Rushmore draws people here and there is a flood of humanity here from June through August. I am not exagerating when I say it is almost impossible to find a decent area to camp during tourist season for us locals. The tourists simply are everywhere and reserve practically everything in advance. Our local solution for this was to leave the forest to them until September and then we could use it in the Fall. Once the yuppie scum demanded better facilities, our National Forest Service improved the campgrounds, leased them out to private vendors to maintain during tourist season and promptly put locked gates on the campgrounds that remain closed as soon as tourist season is over.

I talked to the USFS about this and it was like talking to a brick. I fired off letters to my representivives locally, at the state level and the federal level. Ditto. Apparently Ayn Rand was right; some people don't count. Unfortunately it is us common folk that pay all the bills that get the abuse.

There are still a few trails left and the forest service roads that are open are a blast (most are seasonal and close Dec 15-May 15). However, I maintain that the motto for the Black Hills National Forsest should be:

"You can log it, graze cattle on it, cut roads for houses in it, put WalMarts on it, snowmobile on it, put tourist campgrounds on it but don't even think about driving an ATV anywhere in it".


I have friends all over the USA and this seems to be the way of the country now. I fear we have lost OUR National Forest and now it is beginning to belong to an elite select few.

Overall though, it is still enjoyable to ATV here, it is just getting more difficult to do it legally. If you have a reason to visit the Black Hills (family, vacation etc.) it is a nice area to ride in; bring your ATV. If you come here specifically to ATV you are going to be very disappointed with the limited availability of open access for your machine.

How is the "ATV culture" there in Florida??