Hey everyone,

I just bought a new leftover ?06 Polaris Sportsman 500 H.O. I really like the bike; it has a ton of power for plowing snow and just general goofing around. I have a couple of questions about the general operation of the bike.

1. If you are letting it idle on the level when you get off to check the plow or you are stopped talking to someone do you need to shift it into park or neutral? It doesn?t seem to creep or anything, but I don?t want to burn the belt.

2. I was also coming down a pretty steep bank in low gear off the throttle and the bike started to roll forward because of the angle and I could hear it whine, is this normal? I imagine it is.

3. When you first got your 500 did it shift hard sometimes between High, Low and Reverse? I only have 14 miles and 3.5 hours on the bike, and I was wondering if it was going to get any better (or worse).

I broke the winch cable about 45 minutes into plowing snow and I was steamed about that until I read up on this forum and found that it was a pretty common problem. This is a great place to find out info on the bike and I appreciate any answers you guys can give me.

Thanks

 

it will start and idle in any gear and it wont hurt the belt. park is good so it doesnt roll on ya. yes thats normal of the wine. shifting hard is what they do, if you use one swift motion it seems to help. welcome to the forum clambake hope we all can help ya.

 

My shifter has smoothed up quite a bit my 06 700 has like 16 hours and 91 miles. If you get in mudd make sure to get your linkage clear of mud

 

Stendori is correct.

About the winch cable, I replaced mine with a short synthetic one just for plowing. Might give that a try.

Shifting: Don't shift it like a manual transmission on a car, where you move the stick smoothly between gears. Instead, move the lever with an FIRM and quick nudge. I have 60 hours on mine and the shifting has smoothed out a lot, but I still use this shifting method. Make sure the shifting linkage stays lubed.

Whine: This noise is made when the rear wheels outdrive the clutch when the transmission is in gear. This noise might also be accompanied by rear end hopping or ratcheting sounds while you're on the brakes. What I have done to avoid this annoyance, is to shift it into neutral before going down the hill so it can just coast. My wifes Hawkeye with EBS doesn't have this problem.

HERE are some pics of my ATV.

Have fun!!

 

Welcome clambake, there are a lotta guys here with a lotta knowledge. I've been helped plenty. I leave mine in gear, always have for what you are mentioning, no belt problems. I have noticed whine on all 3 of mine on steep descents. My 06 has been the hardest to shift. Dealer shimmed clutch(?), helped a little, not much. I do as others mentioned for shifting-hard, firm motion. Mine will shift easier when off. No winch yet.

 

Guys,

Thanks for all of the info. It is just about what I figured, but I knew there wouldn't be any harm in asking. I do have one other question. What is the little plug on the left side of the headlight pod for? It looks like a PC harddrive power connector. It isn't molded into the side of the pod or anything, just kind of hanging out from under the plastic.

 

Think you are referring to the 12 volt acc. plug. Run a compressor, etc.

 

The Polaris will start and idle in any gear ,it's not the safest system but sure is the most convenient. My buddies 660 Grizzly needs the foot brake held to shift in any gear and only starts in neutral, it is safer but it,s a drag . My friends 500 Foreman needs to be in neutral than you have to push a red button down than sueeze the brake leaver than you have to put it in 1st gear (and make sure Jupiter is aligned with Mars) just to get into reverse! Its enough to make you want to kill a kitten, but it is safer. Imagine plowing with that set up.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Outside2day, it isn't the molded 12v plug, I know what that is, it's another connector that would plug into something. The connector is probably supposed to be under the headlight cowling. I just didn't know what it was supposed to go to.

TLC, My dad has an '88 terrapro that has the same kind of machinations to get it into reverse, but he's got a clutch on that bike. It's taking some getting used to, I keep sqeezing my right hand looking for the brake.

I rode my motorcycle through the Soo one day. I went from Manitoulin Island to Duluth in 20 hours and stopped in Sault Ste. Marie for lunch and to buy a sweatshirt at Wal-mart. I talked to some people at a chip stand, really nice couple and that sweatshirt saved me (I was freezing).

 

Don't know what that is clambake. Mine doesn't have anything like that. I think there are 2 looms that plug into swithces on left handgrip area. Wonder if it is the diagnostic lead that should be inside pod as you mentioned?