Hi everyone I am new to the forums. i am considering a 2000 Polaris 250 trailblazer. It is 4x2 stock concentric auto. I was curious if anyone had any thoughts about this model year of the trailblazers that might help me make my mind up. I have heard stories about the concentric drives having problems. Also you all might give me some other advantages and disadvantages i have not thought about.

 

Good bikes but remember it is a 2stroke and will need a topend if it hasnt already had one done.The concentric drives are the ONLY way to go.The ones with problems are the 04-up.

 

I got my wife a '98 Trailblazer 250 for Christmas. It needed a top end, but for $300, I couldn't go wrong. We haven't had a chance to ride it yet, but it did a pretty mean burnout in the driveway before I replaced the tires.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

so is it better in general to get a 4 stroke engine? I was also looking at a 2002 250 ozark which is a 4 stroke manual.

Do the concentrics slip if they are run through small creeks etc? Also is there any place that sells cargo racks for the trailblazer style quads ?

 

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

so is it better in general to get a 4 stroke engine? I was also looking at a 2002 250 ozark which is a 4 stroke manual.



Do the concentrics slip if they are run through small creeks etc? Also is there any place that sells cargo racks for the trailblazer style quads ?</end quote></div>

2-strokes IMO are easier to maintain. The belt won't slip unless you get water into the CVT cover. The covers are sealed. The only way water can get in is if it gets into the intake/exhaust tubes for the CVT cover, the CVT cover seal is bad, or the CVT cover has a crack in it.

Polaris makes front & rear racks for the Trailblazer.

 

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

Hi everyone I am new to the forums. i am considering a 2000 Polaris 250 trailblazer. It is 4x2 stock concentric auto. I was curious if anyone had any thoughts about this model year of the trailblazers that might help me make my mind up. I have heard stories about the concentric drives having problems. Also you all might give me some other advantages and disadvantages i have not thought about.</end quote></div>

Concentric drive actually refers to the method used for maintaining drive chain tension at the drive axle. Polaris came out with concentric adjustment around the begining of the 90's and has kept this same type design up to current production.

The axle is actually "offset" in the concentric housing, so as you rotate the housing, it increases/decreases the chain tension. This is a great design compared to others in that you do not have to ensure that both sides of the axles stay in alignment as you adjust chain tension.

The biggest problems people have with chain drives is not keeping the chain tension correctly - for rear chain adjustment, Polaris quads require 1/4" deflection with the shock fully compressed (this is the longest point of the arc for the swingarm). Many people look at a quad with no load on the suspension, and think the chain is too loose, so they tighten it - then when load is put on the suspension, the chain is then too tight, putting unnecessary pressure on the tranny output shaft and bearing - OR, they don't realize the chain is too loose and drive it this way until the chain comes off and wraps around the front drive sprocket, forcing the "crammed" chain to bust the tranny housing.

Looking at the 2 stroke vs. 4 stroke engine side of things - many say 2 stroke is not as "dependable" as a 4 stroke engine. I have seen a lot of old 2 stroke engines that still run, that have never had anything done to them as far as engine repairs go - then I've seen a lot of 4 stroke engines that have had lots of engine work done on them - many of them that are only a couple/few years old. A lot of this all has to do with how you maintain and "treat" your machine. If you give your engine a few minutes "warm up" period before "putting it to work", the engine will last much longer - this even applies to automobile engines. Any machine that you keep the maintenance up on will technically last longer.

I will say that in the event of having to rebuild the top end of any quad engine (the right way), the 2 stroke engine will cost about 1/2 the price vs. a 4 stroke engine - least amount of moving parts = less money & less labor.

Just my 2 cents.............

 

i was curious u-joint what u think of speedwerx auto chain tightener.if it were to mess up it would be catistrophic,looks h.d.

 

A bunch of women and kids I ride with have Trailblazers and I don't think anyone does any kind of maintenance on them until something breaks. All of them have engine problems and they probably need to be rebuilt. I had a Trailblazer for a year or two and the only problem was that it wasn't enough power for my fat ***, and there seemed to be lag between when I hit the throttle and when it actually wound up and took off. I actually got better gas mileage on my Sportsman 500 because I was WOT (wide open throttle) a lot on the Trailblazer instead of half throttle to go the same speed on my 500. I wouldn't buy a used Trailblazer at all, but a new one would be okay, if you're a skinny girl and don't plan on going fast.

 

Actually the old non concentric chain drives you need to compress the suspension but the concentric models you adjust them with the suspension normal.The differance is the relation of the axle to the pivot of the swingarm.Most all Polaris from late 1998- now were concentric.
On the chain tensenors the HPD model is the best due to having a grease zerk on the pivot.

 

Well in the end on a good deal on a 2000 trailboss 4x2 auto It had a little more of the features i was looking for. It gets delivered tonight so i am officially a member of the polaris community =)