I have a dumb question. We got the first snow of the year and the first snow of over 6 inches since I got my Xplorer 400. This will be only about the 2nd or 3rd time I will be driving it in the snow. Is there anything I should be aware of? Do the brakes freeze? Will it hurt the CV boots? All my other riding in the snow was in temps in the 40s or better, so it always melted itself away. I am just curious as to anything to watch for.
Thanks a bunch.

 

Hey Farmr123~
There is not a whole lot that you have to worry about. Grease the machine up before you go riding and be sure to oil the chains. Snow actually is abrasive and will polish a chain up real quick. It appears that for your area the temps will be back above freezing, so there isn't much you have to worry about. Brakes and CV boots will be fine. BTW, how much snow did you get? That same storm is going north of where I live, and it makes me mad! I want snow!!

 

The brakes could freeze but most likely will not. What may freeze is your throttle/oil injector cable. On the pre-99 models this was a common occurance.

 

We got about 10 to 12 inches all together. The wind re-arranged a bunch of it, so it is now anywhere from about 3 inches to maybe 3 feet, depending where you go. The snow is kind of fluffy and doesn't take a whole lot of wind to get it to blow. I sure hope it gets above freezing tomorrow enough to make it stay put. Every time I clear the driveway (it is almost a half mile long) it blows back shut, a little deeper than before. It is good to know I don't have much to worry about with the ATV as we are going to move cows tomorrow. We got caught with them not quite home yet. There is a small acerage (about 25 acres) where we cut about half for hay, and let the cows graze the hillsides where the tractor won't go. At least it is only 2 miles from home. Thanks for the info.

 

Farmr123

Nothing at all to worry about. Check that your air box drain tube plug is in place, otherwise the light fluffy stuff has a tendency of getting sucked up through it.

Enjoy

 

I think all you need to worry about is snow clogging the radiator and to re-jet for colder temps. Am I making any sense here?.......

 

I took my 2000 polaris xpedition 425 cc 5 speed out a few times last winter, up in northern minnesota. I did not have any atv trouble. I did find it is harder to start. I found that if i added some of the isophy???pol in the tank that helped allot. Also If I shut off the gas when transporting it. That helped allot. I'm talking about when it gets pretty cold. Otherwise, the atv
would work like a plow allmost as the atv's body does not glide the snow off the machine.

Last winter, I drove with my 25 inch stock tires. but now I have 26 inch mud bugs tires. I am anxious to see if those tires make a big improvement driving in deep snow. First we got to get the snow though. rangerchet

 

Like fasternu said, make sure your radiator doesn't clog with snow. The only time my 4x4 temp light came on was in the winter when the radiator clogged with snow.

 

Thanks to all who gave advice. The only problem reported were the brakes icing up. As I wasn't the one driving it at the time, I just had to take the guys word for it. I drove around in the snow a couple of days later & didn't have problems. I did have to 'pump' the lever once in a while before the brakes would grab, but then they always did. I just wonder if the guy driving tried that or not. Knowing him, he didn't, just pulled the lever once & complaned they didn't work.
Thanks again, all!

 

You should make sure you dry it out before you park it. Last year I took my sc500 out, the snow was about a foot, but there was still water under it, my trails are mostly swamp, mud and a stream crosses in a few places. But after riding and having a ball, I parked her that night without cleaning it or anything, The next day started her up , put her in reverse and hit the gas, she backed up, but the front tires did not move just drug. I had to put her back in the shed and crank up the heat for 30 min all the snow melted off and it was fine(except for a bent drive shaft,from motor trying to turn shafts) I now melt all the snow off before I leave it for the night. Other then that I don't rejet or nothing(gets below zero easily around here) and she runs great.