I was curious as to the reliability of a Polaris Sportsman 500HO? I dont want any of the belt slippage when going through deep water! If the belt slips the quad is useless? What is some of the problems with this quad?? Thanks

 

The sportsman 500HO is basically the sportsman 500 with the scrambler 500HO engine.
About belt slippage, that a thing of the past.

2000 SCRAMBLER 400 2X4

SCRAMDADDY400

 

People really blow this out of proportion. I saw 2 belts slip this year while riding with our club. One was a SP500 & the other was a Yamaha Kodiak.

IT doesn't happen real often but it does happen. Polaris tranny is as watertight as any other manufacturer who makes a belt drive tranny.

 

I had an old 93 polaris that was just a big headache, however it had the original belt and it NEVER slipped on me.. one friend has a 2000 sportsman500 and another has a 2000 trailblazer, both have never had any problems, the trailblazers belt is getting worn but still works, never had a problem in water or anything.

 

WHY DONT WE BEAT ON A DIFFERENT DRUM. I HAVE HAD 4-POLARIS WITH NO PROBLEMS AT ALL.TAKE CARE OF ANY MACHINE AND IT WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU.HAPPY TRAILS AND TREAD LIGHTLY.VOTE BUSCH(JUST IN CASE GORE WANTS THAT TOO.)

 

I ride with five Polaris owners, including me. I have never seen a problem with one of them, not even a belt slip. My buddy with a 95 just replaced his original belt. My 2000 Kodiak, however, is miserable in water.

 

I have never had it happen on either of my Polaris machines, have only seen it once, when the Polaris was totally submerged in 5 feet of water. only the edge of the back rack was sticking out. You will not have troubles it is just that simple. Can it happen yes does it very often no. It is really way overblown. I ride in water up to the gas on/off switch almost every time I ride one of the main trails takes you 100 feet down a brook. In the spring it has been up to my racks and I power through no trouble even riding double. Other than that I have 1800 miles on my 2000 and have replaced a CV boot and that is it. My fault big time.