Went out on a run with a few folks yesturday and put the 500 through a pretty good test. I'm not going to brag or nothing but I had 0 problems with any obstacles that we came across. There were 5 different manufacturers of bikes there and its so obvious that polaris has one of the best stock tires. I was a little weary when going through some rough water/mud holes but I was out just as fast as I went in. I also had a passenger which made it more of a challenge for me. I tightened up the rear suspension which I'm sure helped a lot. Only thing I plan on doing is changing to stiffer springs, especially when plowing season rolls around again.

There was that one guy in the crowd, you know the one who hates Polaris.....any how he went on to say that he doesn't like polaris for this and that reason, says they all need to be winched out and so forth. Even goes on to say that he doesn't like the sound of them......WTF? The sound? HA. I told him straight out that I like my machine and thats all I have to say about that. He also just bought a new bike and was the only one out of us all that needed to be winched. He also had lug nuts falling off his bike. Is that what you call Karma? HA!

I'm also not knocking any other brand of bike here, but anyone who says that Polaris is weak or no good does not know anything about them and has obviously never drove one.

 

Hey RandyL, your up late. I see your happy critter is too. I would like to put in my two cents. I love my polaris too. I will buy another polaris after this one. I will say that my polaris is starting to show its age and is needing some attention. On the other hand polaris is the easiest machine that I have ever worked on. I have plenty of room to do what I need to do and everthing is just so simple. For example; a freind of mine had a tie rod end come loose on a ride the other day and we had to tie it up with zip ties to get it to the road.(Honda) He got all of the tie rods replaced because he said that he didn't want to take any chances with another coming off and throwing him off the quad. He said it took him 3 to 4 hours. I looked at the job and beleive him. I replaced the two inner ones the other day on my polaris and it took me about 15 minutes. Also if a tie rod end fails on a polaris you will hear it. The tie rod ends have bolts running through them so they can't just fall off in the middle of a ride. I have only had trouble with the inside tie rod ends, I have found out why: if you watch the boots has you turn the handle bars you will see that they open right up. I filled the new ones up with grease and put zip ties on the ends to stop this. The outers still tight they come from the factory. Pass that tip on. I pump grease in all of the tie rod end boots, that has to help. Speaking of karma, I have a freind that runs a yellow suzuki vinson and he kept at my polaris all the time. I went and had a license plate air brushed that said suzuki sucks in bright yellow and fastend it to my polais. The first ride that we went on I made sure he was behind me to read it. He picked up on it pretty fast and I new he was going to hit me in the rear to tear that plate up so I goosed it. I looked behind me and he was nowhere to be seen. I went back to look for him and the quad had choked off and wouldn't start. We finally got it back to running but it ran like crap all day. All the other riders that went with us just laughed at the coinsidence. I took the plate off after the ride and put it on my trailer.(it is still there) He has not had any more trouble since I took off the plate and he doesn't keep after my polaris any more either. Now my mother in law borrows my trailer to haul her quad.(also a suzuki)(like I said the plate is still there)sorry felt like talking.

 

No problem. I have a habit of staying up late when I don't have to work the next day. The only thing I'm enjoying as much as my new machine is my service manual. Its like a repair book for dummys. Its got all the answers not like those other aftermarket manuals.
I still have more learningto do about the bike but your right, really looks like doing any repairs sholdn't be much of a problem.


All tips are great to know, hopefully I never have to use them though. This is the best forum I have found so far. Theres so many hits a day, it doesn't take long to get an answer to any questions.

 

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

Went out on a run with a few folks yesturday and put the 500 through a pretty good test. I'm not going to brag or nothing but I had 0 problems with any obstacles that we came across. There were 5 different manufacturers of bikes there and its so obvious that polaris has one of the best stock tires. I was a little weary when going through some rough water/mud holes but I was out just as fast as I went in. I also had a passenger which made it more of a challenge for me. I tightened up the rear suspension which I'm sure helped a lot. Only thing I plan on doing is changing to stiffer springs, especially when plowing season rolls around again.



There was that one guy in the crowd, you know the one who hates Polaris.....any how he went on to say that he doesn't like polaris for this and that reason, says they all need to be winched out and so forth. Even goes on to say that he doesn't like the sound of them......WTF? The sound? HA. I told him straight out that I like my machine and thats all I have to say about that. He also just bought a new bike and was the only one out of us all that needed to be winched. He also had lug nuts falling off his bike. Is that what you call Karma? HA!



I'm also not knocking any other brand of bike here, but anyone who says that Polaris is weak or no good does not know anything about them and has obviously never drove one.</end quote></div>

each to thier own opinion on their bikes. i seen them all brake so you like what you like and they pull you out or vice verse then that the best friends bike at the moment lol. its good that you liked your bike and had zero issues.

 

I've seen them all out on the trails. All have good and bad points. For me, the Polaris is the best all around ATV out there. The combination of features, especially with the new ADC, tells me they are serious about creating a great all around quad. Perfect? No. As good as the other major brands? At least.