Tell me the good and bad of a Xplorer 500. A friend of mine is looking at a 97 with 2200 miles which is priced at $3900.

 

has he looked up the book value? 4 grand for a 1997? It is the 3 chain deal, most people have little trouble it is just more to take care of.

 

Sorry xepathfinder the 500 xplorer is shaft front and rear with irs. In fact it is a sportsman without the headlight pod.

 

Sold my "97" 500 Exlorer last month with 1400 miles. Had EBS and a winch for $4900, so I think $3900 would be a pretty good deal.

 

Any problem areas with Xplorer 500? Is it really just a sportsman without a head light pod? Any info would be helpful.

 

I believe that polaris made this machine for 1 year only and then discontinued it. There was only about $250 differance between it and a sportsman. If you wanted a red polaris (500 cc 4-stroke irs) this was your only option since the sportsman was only offered in green. I beleive it was discontinued due to poor sales and a somewhat confusing lineup. The headlight pod including speedo purchased seperately would have cost somewhere around $600 and most people opted for the sportsman at only $250 more. Since there are not that many of them floating around I would suggest you ask 1997 sportsman owners for there input.

PS be carefull how you word things on this forum otherwise you just might get your head chewed off.
(is it really "ONLY" a sportsman)

 

The reasons I purchased a 500 Xplorer is because I wanted red and didn't like the head light pod. Still don't, high beam is useless when my front rack is loaded for a trip. But will have to admit don't do much night driving any way so it wasn't that big of a deal when we got our new 500 HO's

 

Thanks for all your help. I'll pass the info along to my friend.

 

i'm will be asking 4500. for my 96 sp500 with winch and more.than i will get an h.o.

 

I never knew about the 500 Xplorer but if it,s a SP without the pod then just treat it like one.From this forum I read the tie rods ends,rear U joints and pads are a promblem.I now have a after market pads(Polaris ones suck)and I grease the bike regularly.I even at least grease the rod ends and u joints after a real muddy ride just pump out the water and dirt from these known promblem spots and not the other fittings to speed things up.It must be worth it ,after 3 years I have the same rod ends and u joints.

I did roll the thing once, had to change the speedo and top half of pod plastic and if it ever happend again I will just call the bike a 97 500 Explorer from now on before I pay out like that again.