Unless your pushing or pulling something heavy, your in high range all the time. You can clime steep hill better in high range than low because you have more speed.One exception ,when you want to clawl through thick bush low is more controllable than high because if you give it a quick shot of gas in high range the bike wants to leap forword and you can not pick your path as well.

 

Thanks. Like I said I may have had a lemon which just so happened to be a Polaris. Maybe I should have stated that my thoughts are not solely for this manufacture but rather belt driven quads in general.

Belt slippage on any quad is always possible even if it is a rare occurrence. Keep in mind though Polaris are strong machines and will out pull and out mud anything (Hummers excluded). But do require a little more TLC.

 

Douger -

I recently faced this same dilemna and ended up buying 2 2001 Sportsman HO's. The best advice I got from this forum was to go out and test drive as many as you can!!! I drove Honda, AC, Kawasaki, and Polaris and it was a no-brainer for me. I, too, got hung up and statistics, reviews, specifications, and opinions of others... until I just drove them. I can't say your favorite will be the Polaris, but I will bet anything your choice will be much easier once you have driven a few. As far as the belt slipping, everything is designed with a purpose in mind. If you intend to test its limits, be prepared to be disappointed on occasion. The people that complain the belt slips are the type of folks that drive an SUV a 140mph down the highway and bitch that it shakes too much. If you noticed, all the folks that acknowledged belt slipping quickly followed up with tales of extreme riding. Riding you toys to the limit is part of the fun and mechanical disappointments should be an acceptable and expected trade-off. With that said, I can't wait to get myself in a situation where the belt slips... ride hard and have fun. Good luck!!!

 

First of all, my Polaris is a 92 so they have made some changes since then.
But I've slipped my belt lots and have burned up 4 belts now. Deep water has never been a problem if you don't go in up to the seat, but my problems have been with deep mud and/or towing. Especially since putting on the mud tires, the belt is now the weak link and sometimes in the mud I gas it and the wheels don't spin, I just get smoke from the belt. And the lack of engine braking is downright dangerous on steep hills!
As I said, it's not all the machine's fault but consider what you expect from it and look carefully. I'm looking to upgrade and it will NOT be a belt drive machine. They may have come a long way since '92, but they're not there yet IMHO.

 

Forgot to mention in my earlier post:
The word I keep hearing now from Polaris owners and dealers lately is to use low range for all mudding, towing, steep hills etc. I've been doing that more and it does save the belt. Kind of a pain though since you have to stop to change in/out of low range at every obstacle.
Keep in mind I'm talking about some hard utility riding here. For recreational play riding on packed trails the belt drive has been fine.

 

Sounds like your primary clutch is done or needs some mechanical help.You should spin 4 wheels no matter what, before a dry belt will slip.

 

The *ONLY* time my belt has slipped was when I hit deep water fast enough to splash into the vent holes by the gas tank.

Notice, the new Sportsman has eliminated those vent holes.

I've mine in water up to the top of the bumper ... no problem.

 

This topic may go on but, I did make a choice this weekend. After further review and research and a lot of hashing back an forth, I decided to purchase 2 Polaris' this weekend. Bought a 2001 Scrambler 500 4X4 for me and a 2001 Trail Boss 325 2X4 for the wife. Have only ridden it around the yard so far(3 acres with a few hills) and have had no problem as of yet. I will take it to Munster Texas this weekend(a very big & challenging place located on the Red River here in Texas next to Oklahoma) and give it hell for about 10 hours. I expect the Scrambler to do just fine against the 4 other people riding Honda 300EX machines. Thanks again to everyone for your input.

Doug
Lillian, TX

 

Douger,

Those are good choices for quads. The most important item in purchasing a quad is getting one that fits you & you are happy with.

You will so many different opinions on quads. Each brand has strengths & weaknesses. The best thing is to ride as many as possible.

 

Douger

You are right, this topic could go on for weeks. Congratulations on your new toys. You will thoroughly enjoy them. One word of caution, I would not go out and beat the daylights out of them until you get them broke in. The engines are pretty tight at first and need a good 10 hours to loosen up. I would putt around the yard a few hours a night a varying speeds until you get approximately 10 hours on it then I would change the oil before beating on it. No need to ruin a great toy because you didn't get it broke in properly. Ride safe.