I read on hear all the time about people considering their purchase of an ATV. I usually do not comment; however, I decided to stir things up today. I ride with so many people that I get to see every bike on the market perform. We all have fun, and just about everyone I ride with seem to happy with their quad. BUT, one thing seems to be true of all of them. Every person I know that has spent any time whatsoever on a SP500 prefers the SP500 to their own bike. Some of them even get as disgusted as I was the first time I jumped a SP500. Most of the people that bash the SP500 either had a 98 and earlier SP500 or have never rode on one much. I understand you diehard 2-stroke people, But what I do not understand is why someone purchasing a new bike right now would consider something like a Kodiak, Prairie 400, or Grizzly etc... I have ridden all these bikes extensively and they are not even in the same class with the SP500. I would even put the SP400 over these bikes and it is around the same price.

So, if you are considering the purchase of a new bike right now, take the time to ride a SP400 or SP500 first. Many of my friends have made the mistake of buying into "The Polaris is Junk" mentality that is everywhere. Most of them regret the fact that they did not buy the SP500, and the upgrade is going to cost them money. Don't take anyones word, go see for yourself, and I do not mean a ride around the dealer parking lot.

Lot more people are overcoming that "Polaris is junk" BS here too. I see more and more people riding em(polaris). They have no complaints. Except this one dude who beats the heack out of his quad. He jumped pretty high on his Scram500 2x4 and he broke the whole weel off the axle. He still said he loves his quad. Seems like everyone who owns one enjoys it and thats all that matters.

when will the other manufactures learn that they need to put IRS on there biks to compete with the sp500??? its been what? 5 years and the sp is the only quad with IRS. the auto tranny helps too.

This is the thing ,it's the plush ride.Who cares what type of tranny gets the thing going or what type of brakes stops it, if you closed you eyes you would not know what machine you were riding.But when you ride over rough terrian you know what type of suspension you have, even with your eyes closed.How many of you SP owners go out riding with your all your buddies and trade bikes for the heck of it?What is the only thing you think of when your on another machine going down that bumpy trail? I know what it is ,IT'S LETS TRADE BACK MY BUTT IS KILLING ME ON THIS THING!

Tim1,
The problem is that it is very difficult for someone to understand without actually riding one. You just can not tell anything about a quad on a flat parking lot. I remeber the first time, Tazgrizz rode my bike at WolfPen. I am not going to say what he thought of it but his first started with an "F".

Greg

i'm sure there are a million reasons why some people don't buy an sp500 over other machines.................here's one example, some people can afford to buy a corvette, yet they buy a mustang, seems insane to me, but they just won't buy a chevy. personally i have owned nothing except nissan and toyota vehicles (2 nissans, and two toyotas) and combined, i have spent less than a thousand dollars on them for repairs. actually, less than five hundred, not including periodic maintenance (brakes, etc), while my cousin who won't have a truck unless it has z71 on it has spent several thousand dollars on repairs on his last three trucks, and he is definitely not hard on them, but he would never even consider owning a "jap-mobile". thats his perogative. as far as quads go, i did a good bit of shopping around when i made my last purchase and tried to ride everything i could get my hands on before making a decision. my first choice was the sp500, next the yamaha grizzly, then the foreman 450..........once i had it narrowed it down to these it was time to bring my wife in on the decision as she rides with me about 70% of the time and after all its her money too :) after driving and riding on the back my three choices she liked to drive the grizzly because she felt she could steer it more easily and she was more comfortable riding on the back of it than the sportsman. i still kind of had my eye on the sportsman, so i told her since it was that close lets go with the better deal and started talking to dealers. two polaris dealers that i talked to would not come down at all from the msrp (which i believe on the 2000 it was 6995?) i talked to a couple yamaha dealers and found one that let me have the grizzly for right at 5900, and would throw in any accessory they had in stock, for cost. would the sportsman have been worth the extra grand? to some people yes, to me, no. in the end, i have been extremely pleased with my purchase and would make the same decision again under the same circumstances. another thing about this yamaha that i am very pleased with is yamaha's customer service. i have owned nothing but hondas before, and everything with them in regards to warranty was for the most part cut and dry. i currently have my grizzly in the shop right now, and even though it is four months OUT of warranty, yamaha is covering it anyway. so you can talk all day about how big and bad your sp is, but i feel that i made a very sound purchase.

bayougrizz,
I am glad that you are please with your grizzly. I owned a 1998 Grizzly and I had several problems with it.
1) It ran so hot, the oil turned black after one weekend.
2) The ride quality was terrible, and the suspension would bottom out with a mild jump.
3) Rear Drum would fill with water and mud after 3 days of mud riding.
4) Front brakes sometimes had hydrolic preesure... sometimes they did not??? No clear answer on the problem.
5) Crank case seal leaked oil.
6) Very unstable on off-camber situations.
7) Starter would stay engaged on occasion.
8) Broke CV Joint (My fault)


The bike only had 200 miles on it when I sold it.

Some people have good luck with certain Quads and some do not. I guess it is just the luck of the draw.

Greg

i must admit, I was a bad boy when I first got my 2000 Sportsman. I tore a new culvert out of my dealer, the Canadian rep, and the factory. All because I thought my quad could do ANYHING. Well, I have learned the expensive way. 12 months and 2800 miles later, I've ridden my quad hard, I mean hard. More like sand-duning without sand, and making trails where there were none. Learned the hard way that -35 degree days are not conducive to riding, for the rider or the quad. But, but I have to admit that as of today, after the last 30 mile ride in sub zero weather, my SP is performing nicely. Damn the dealership for telling me not to put on big tires, lift kit, clutch mod, or a pipe. Now they are doing the same, jeez I wonder where they got that Idea from?

Dealership! I bought the bike and after the warranty was over I hoped to never see the dealer again.Bumping down the old happy trail, knowing the dealership is better will not help my butt!

The last time had my sp500 service at my
dealership,i did not get home and they where
calling me to come get it.
No problem.....
00 sportsman 500