Ok, I bought a Polaris Sportsman X2. We have put almost 3hrs on it and 24miles, our first big ride we put 22miles on it and used less than a gallon of gas.

It is a single 500cc HO EFI, 4x4 w/awd/2x4/and turf mode. It has a 6gal fuel tank/ a dump bed and a passenger seat. It has a different style of IRS than used on single passenger Sportsmans. It came with stock 489 tires, which I replaced with PXTs. The turf mode sends power to the inside wheel when turning, allowing for tighter radius turns. It feels squirrlly at high speeds when in the turf mode and Runs much better in 2x4 when going any faster than 35mph. The powerband is much smoother than my 600 and handles like it has power steering (due to the turf mode).

I was afraid of the "power loss feel" going from a twin 600 to a single 500cc, but That was laid to rest quickly. When I hit the throttle, it goes with out hesitation. It is no 800 but you said it, no one needs more than this. Especially for what we are going to be doing, trail riding. Like I said even with two people I could not tell a difference in handling or ride. The Turf mode another key to this machine.

The passenger seat is somewhat stiff, but the back seat driver has yet to complain. The X2 Performed well over the few ruts and rocky trails that we went on. I forgot, At times that I had another person on the quad with me, at other times it was hard as Teresa would remind me with a jab in the ribs or with a shriek of fear. It handled as if i was alone on the machine.

We did not have much loaded up on the machine for this ride, 1 gal of fuel, two 6pack coolers and miscallanoas tools. Oh and another gal of fuel that Doc thru on, there is alittle bit of room left in the bed after the passenger seat is up but not much. I pulled a u'ee on the road w/turf mode w/two people on board and slowly, not breaking loose the rear end to slide around, that would have been a three point turn or a jump up on the shoulder with ANY other quad. Some of these roads were just big enough for a single pickup and trailer to go down.

We are happy with the machine and can not wait to ride it more.

 

Good review. Did you take it to any of the ATV parks nearby KC?

 

No. We went with a group of folks from Rolla MO on some back county and forest service roads.
Very dusty.

 

Congrats, glad you like it. We have had similar experiences with ours. I have been woriking it pretty hard and it hasn't grunted once. I am starting to like it more than my 800 when we are just working around the house. We don't ride 2-up much, we use it as a utility most of the time, but it is nice to have the 2-up ride when we need it.

 

Good ride report. The X2 must be set up really different from my 500EFI Sportsman because I can tell a difference in both power and ride with me and my wife on, or any other adult for that matter. It does have a nice cushy ride though. With the riding I do, a combination of trails, mud and rocks (mostly mud and rocks) i'm getting around 20 miles per imp. gal.

Planning a longer trip next weekend, so hopefully I'll have better mileage to report then.

On the turf mode ... I thought I read on here somewhere that it wasn't for open trail riding at higher speeds .. just more meant for ease of manouvering on grass and tight places where you need to get around slowly and not tear everything up?

 

Nice rear rack with the tailgate, dumping box and passenger seat; but it seems to be a well-designed feature with little practical use!

95 % of all Sportsman quads sold here in central Newfoundland go out the door with a Kimpex (or other brand) seat and storage box on it. The Sportsman (and others) are used by cabin/cottage owners for transportation, touring and utility. We were looking for Polaris to give us a suitable replacement for when the new regulations take effect. Although the X2 is potentially better suited to the task, the X2 will not be replacing the Sportsman/Kimpex combination around here until Polaris offers a more appropriate seat.

Can anyone convince me the dumping box is worth the extra dollars?

 

Hey Ebel,

Where in central are you located? I grew up in Grand Falls (well, I guess I'm still growing up and will be till I pass away I imagine ;-))

Lots of great riding in Central. I'll be out there this weekend to visit the folks, but unfortunately won't be able to take the bike ...

I had the same dilemma as you re: the X2 dump box. You really can't fit much of anything worthy of dumping in it. What I did like on the X2 over the kimpex sportsman was the built-in foot rests for the passenger, as opposed to the foot pegs on fender protectors .. Much more comfortable. So my wife picked out the Red Flame LE edition of the 500 EFI. She liked the color ...

 

For what it is worth, I have been using the dump bed on ours quite a bit. I am planning on buying some more Lock-n-Ride mounts and putting some bed sides on it with a slide in, slide out tailgate extender. I have hauled fill dirt, wood, Quikrete, chainsaw and all associated equipment, and Momma's flowers. For my needs, the X2 is working pretty well. We only occasionally use the second seat so it is not so vital feature but is good for what we need it for. When we were doing our comparisons before buying the X2, we decided that for our occasional use, that the second seat was quite acceptable. No problems so far.

 

Hello all, new to forum. I have a X2 black/silver with the 500cc EFI. I recently took it up some power line trails in NH and found it to have plenty of power to move my 340 lbs. I've gone through some pretty deep soup and over rocks and sand without a problem. This past weekend my wife joined me on a ride (she won't tell me her weight) and with her on it still climbed 45 degree slopes with ease. I didn't have to use Lo at all but tried it to see how it would go. With or without Lo it did great. I would estimate our combined weight in the 490 lbs. range. Its' acceleration, with or without passenger was fine. My wife was quite comfortable even over the rougher terrain. I too am hoping for lock and ride boxes for the back when the seat is in use. Saddlebags Polaris? I do find the front box pretty watertight and have a trailer hitch, TP, pull strap, first aid kit, cargo nets, owner's manual, toolkit, and more in it with room to spare. Do I like it? YES!!! The winch that came as an incentive was a Warn 2500 lb. made for the Polaris. Fits like a glove and will not have any problem if you find a bottomless mudhole. (PS Don't wear your wedding ring when installing: + terminal, + lead, wedding ring, and engine block make a good circuit). The comparable Bombardier 500cc with the seat and winch is about $1100 more. Your call. As an added comment, look at the Polaris website and the new 2007 X2 colors and available 800cc.

 

Back again. We went back to Claremont, NH with a friend who is a club member in that area. I had my son with me on the X2 and he weighs about 125 or so. I hardly noticed him on the back other than when I hit the brakes to hard and he bumped my helmet with his. We scaled steep rocks (as in, drape myself over the handlebar steep) and drove through mudholes to the depth of the front tire (I try to stay out of anything deeper) without any big issues. Being a longer wheelbase we scraped the bottom on a few spots and being wide brushed the footwells a couple times. All and all it performed very well. The winch that came as an incentive was put to use with my oldest sons 2 wheel drive a few times and it worked great. As a note the two main types of mud here in New England are black soil and clay. Both usually have water on top of them so it can be hard to guage depth. The soily stuff can be very deep and usually is best approached with a decent head of steam and constant velocity. The clay usually has a hard bottom and can be taken a little slower but still constant. All in all the machine did not get stuck and performed with 0 problems. On three trips it has used about 4 gallons of fuel and I have gone about 89 miles.