I have just 700 miles on my Hawkeye 2x4 and ride the trails of the state and Federal parking here in Arizona. I purchased new Jan 31 2007.
Well today my quad started to sway in the rear with any turning of the front wheels. After closer examination I found the lower left rear A frame mounts had seperated and had to jerry rig it with wire to get it back to my truck. Luckely I had friends that were along and helped me back. This is the bracket that is attached to the frame. It looks like a bent 90 degree bracket that is welded onto the frame. Very thin material.
After closer examination I also found the right rear side was starting to seperate .
I don't ride my quad hard at all and plan to take this to the dealer tomorrow and see what they say.

I have read about other having this same failure.
Anyone else here had this problem or heard about others?

 

Yes I heard of some other post here in the past ,but many here thought it may just have been rider abuse!!..................My question now is the Sportsman 450 motor is now in the mid-size frame the Hawkeye is/or was in..............Is the new 2008 frame made of this Very Thin Material that IggyAZ stated??........Caper.............

Please let us know what the dealer tell you......And also ask if they know about any simillar problems with this model ??......I bet they know nothin" about this!!!!!..........Caper.......

 

I have no experience with this problem since I have an '07 Hawkeye, but there was a problem with the rear suspension on the '06 models. My understanding from what I've read here is there is a dealer fix for this, exactly what I can't say. Apparently they beefed up the rear frame on the '07's to take care of this problem.

There have been several threads on here about this problem. It's too bad Polaris let this happen. It has soured alot of people on the Hawkeye. I agree, get it to the dealer asap.

 

Hey 00XJ...................Do you know if your 2007 Hawkeye Frame is the one they use on the 2008 Sportsman 400 H.O.(450 motor)/......Or did they make any changes for the 2008 model?.....Thanks...........Caper.............

 

Caper, I have no idea. I was at the dealer the other day and they didn't have any of the new '08 Hawkeye's in yet. Seems to me they would HAVE to beef it up to handle the added weight of the watercooled motor, and the increase in HP. But you never know, Polaris should have known there would have been a problem with the '06's. It's called TESTING...until like something fails! Interesting concept huh?

I haven't had any problems with mine and I have ridden it through some nasty stuff. I haven't abused it at all, but I will agree it looks to be made out of pretty thin material.

I might not be the best judge of that since I tend to over engineer things I have fabed up. If 1 pound of steel will work, 10 pounds will work even better...right? ;-)

 

Thanks..............Nobody really know much about the 2008 Sp 400 H.O.....................Caper.............

 

Are you guys talking about this:



Where exactly is it failing?

BTW - above is for the '06, below is the '07.



The parts aren't up yet for the 400, so I can't tell if they're the same.

 

He said it was the 90* bracket that is attected to the frame.....................I don't see it there..........................

Wow there is quite a bit of differance between 2006/2007...............Caper...........

I sure they must have change 2008 or at least keep it like 2007!!!!!

 

My 06 hawkeye had the same problem. It had just over 700 miles and I notice the rear tire kicking out. This is my wives bike so I had her pull over. After looking, I noticed the front bracket holding the rear lower controler arm was torn and was separating from the frame. When we got home I took the part into my dealer and they told me to call Polaris 1-800. I called Polaris and they told me to contact my dealer. I ended up welding thicker material with a reverse angle on both sides as they were both breaking. My wife and I were out today and the bike worked fine. Too bad polaris gives you the run around when they have a problem with there quality. If you take a good look at this bracket it is a very thin piece folded with crappy tack welds. It should have been thicker and welded fully.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: atvmisfits

My 06 hawkeye had the same problem. It had just over 700 miles and I notice the rear tire kicking out. This is my wives bike so I had her pull over. After looking, I noticed the front bracket holding the rear lower controler arm was torn and was separating from the frame. When we got home I took the part into my dealer and they told me to call Polaris 1-800. I called Polaris and they told me to contact my dealer. I ended up welding thicker material with a reverse angle on both sides as they were both breaking. My wife and I were out today and the bike worked fine. Too bad polaris gives you the run around when they have a problem with there quality. If you take a good look at this bracket it is a very thin piece folded with crappy tack welds. It should have been thicker and welded fully.</end quote></div>

Seems that more and more folks have had this problem both here in the US and in Europe. I'm looking into a class action suit and have contacted the lawyers that took care of the earlier recall about the steering column and front bearings.
If we have a large enough group with the same problem they may take notice. Especially if we keep this going around the world. Who knows how many failures exist.

Thanks,
Iggy in Arizona