iIve got a 05 sportsman aswell as a 01, both 500 ho's, Both broken in very well. The 05 is lucky to hit 50 half of the time, the 01 goes 65 for a fact(had it clocked) the 01 blows by it no matter what we are in or on or whos driving, both have great tires, running same gas ect. I heard the 05 is the slowest of the years and i beleieve it. Also heard the 06's are fast(65) can anyone give me insite on this ordeal? Thanks, Brian

 

Is the air filter clean?

 

yes, it has been slow since day one, the 01 has been a rocket from day one. im not sure whats uo. ive heard a couple other people said there 05 500 was slow too

 

Maybe you just have a realy fast 01.
Do you know anyone with a 05 to ride side by side?

 

Well when we run with the other 500's on the 01 we are all togetherin a group, not one really faster than another but a couple could slowly pull away on the dirt trails. We havnt had a chance to run the 05 out on the good dirt roads like we used to ride on. I have heard other people talking of how thier 05 500 is slow. I wasnt sure if soeone on here has an 05 that could verify if theres is, or if someone has an 06 that could stomp a 05. Its just odd that it is that slow. Brian

 

My 04 sportsman was faster than my 05 500. I think some is due to 05 having 26" tires and the 04 having 25.

Noble

 

they have a different clutch set up the 05's are stronger on the bottom...

 

My 04 400 will go 50 on the flats anytime..... and You are always hereing how underpowered the 400 was.....and thats with mudlite xl s on it. Maybe its cause i rode it hard to break it in!

 

They changed the gearing in 05 to accomodate for the larger 26" stock tires. Lower gearing and larger tires slowed the machine down, but they mud and pull better than the 04 and down. I get 58mph with my 05 500ho, and i personally weigh about 160lbs. I ride with a couple of guys with older 500's as well and they all top out about 60mph. Never heard of a 500 hitting 65mph. Sounds like you have a one of a kind 500!

 

thats good to hear that others have slower ones aswell. I could be wrong about the 500 going 65 but thats what the truck told my friend when we were going down the road. Its also got a K&N in it which helps some. tires could be ballooning about because of thier age too. It all adds up.