Just curious? at what point do you take your quad to the dealer? Some seem to take it in to have it serviced, some seem to take it in to have a clutch belt replaced, some seem to take it in to have a CV boot replaced. Im MUCH more confident in my wreching ability's than anyone elses. My HO has about 300 miles on it, and its time to set the valves. I could take it to the dealer, but Im comfortable with doing it myself If I have the specs. Should I go with the specs out of the 99 scrambler 500 service manual or not? There doesnt appear to be a manual for for the 01 Sportsmans yet.

Thanks for your input,

Dave

 

Setting is .006 I. and E. Manual has been out for several months.

 

Chopper Bill, My good man, can ya give up a part number for me?

Dave

 

Part # is 9916581. They sell for about 30 bucks.

 

Since im more particular than any mechanic I've ever known,I do all my own work,unless it's warrenty work,than it goes to the dealership,
Bill

 

I do as much as I’m comfortable with, and sometimes stretch the comfort range a bit to learn something. This of course includes routine maintenance, but I’ve replaced strut and shock springs, front and rear plastic body clips, belts, rear CV boots and such. I’ve had a few blown front axle seals over the years and for some reason this isn’t something I want to do myself so that goes to the dealer.

Years ago in another life I was a parts man (no jokes, please. This experience afforded me enough mechanical knowledge to be dangerous, as they say. And sometimes it’s true. The dreaded “it worked better before I fixed it” is sometimes the result of my efforts. But I do like to tinker with our machines. And it’s a good thing too or I’d be spending a lot more at the dealership.

After our last ride (which I hate to admit was almost a month ago) I noticed my SP was leaning dramatically to the left once it was out of the snow and on the flat surface of the trailer. I bounced on it to test the suspension and everything felt normal. Since then I’ve spent many hours on it plowing snow and it’s seemed OK but it still leaned left. A check of the tires showed they are all inflated equally, but that’s about as far as I investigated until yesterday. While replacing my front “cab” (that’s the whole plastic front fender body clip. The RSE finish came bubbled from the factory and a new one was provided under warranty) I almost accidentally found the problem. The left front strut spring had snapped about ¼ of the way down from the top and was tangled securely in the lower remainder of the spring. And to think I’d been pushing snow for a month with the weight of a 5’ blade hanging off the front end this way! It just so happened I have two new firm springs sitting here waiting to go on another machine so within an hour it was fixed, but now I’ll have to wait for a new spring to do the swap on the other machine. Oh well…….

A lot has been made of the amount of maintenance required on Polaris products. To those who don’t what to become that “intimate” with their machine I always suggest they buy something else. I understand and respect that perspective. But to those of us who are into the sport beyond what’s seen from the saddle and don’t mind a little grease under the fingernails, there’s a subtle pleasure to be found in pumping grease into zerks to see the water and contaminants squirt out of a suspension joint. I feel much more in tune with my ride after greasing it and inspecting all the boots, fluid levels, etc. every-other trip.