In two situations my 500 Sportsman bogs down. If I'm in water (about floorboard depth) or working uphill where the unit is on an incline. The quad will bog down under acceleration then straighten itself out after a few seconds. I smell gas when I ride as well. I'm kinda scared to play with the carbeuration, small adjustemnets in that area make me feel uneasy. Is it hard to rebuild the carb? Do I need to? the dealer in our area charges waaaayyy too much for such things, I'd love to find someone that knows these things locally and ber willing to pay them to tune this thing up...

 

i would doubt it needs to be rebuilt seeing its only 3 yrs old.check all your vent hoses to make sure there free and not pinched or blocked.maybe the float might be out of adjustment or could be dirt in the carb. if you have basic skills you could carefully pull the carb off and clean it your self if you save some money. maybe check to see what the air screw is set at.

 

My friend & I both have sp 400's & had that same issue. I looked at the spark plug with only 50 hrs on both the 400's the plug was sooted. I replaced the plugs & we haven't had any more problems. I don't Why the plugs are sooted with only 50 hrs on the machines. But , if it happens I'am changing from NGK to something else.