I went riding this weekend with 5 other guys. One Suzuki, 3 Yamahas, 2 Polaris, and my Honda (Rubicon). Well to make a long story short, both Polaris machines had mechanical breakdowns. One would overheat (2000 Sportsman) and had to be continually shut off to cool if we weren't moving fast. His fan was not working. The other (2001 Scrambler) started leaking trans fluid and it appeared his case was cracked! The only thing he had done was small jumping along with the rest of us. He ended up going home early and the Sportsman kept pulling over and sitting for 20-30 minutes at a time while we rode around. So the moral of the story is All wheel drive is only superior when the machine is capable of running long enough to turn all 4 wheels! I know you guys hate this "bashing" , but it's not bashing as much as it is an observation. Who do you think enjoyed the ride more- The non "all wheel drive" imports or the Polaris push and coast riders? Ask the Polaris riders from our ride- or wait, don't- they will be banned for the language they will use to descibe the joys of Polaris ownership. If you think I am biased, you may be right, but do a search with my name, you will see that I have supported Polaris and it's superior features in the past. I was considering a Sportsman myself before I rode the Rubicon. I still think Polaris has a lot of great features that should be on Hondas and other manufacturer's quads, but this kind of experience is what makes me shy away from Polaris ownership. Polaris, if you are reading these posts please try refrain from spending money to make "special edition" scramblers and instead use that money on quality improvments. If you succeed you can count on me to be one of your customers.

 

The guy with the Sportsman probably had mud stuck between his radiator fins. It happened to me once.

 

Hey Shumdit~
Thanks for stating an experience that you have recently had. The only thing I am confused about is what all wheel drive has to do with overheating? What good is your 4 wheel drive machine if it overheats? The guys that had the breakdowns obviously didn't have as good a time as you. They just happened to be riding Polaris on that particular day. The next time you go riding, it could be the Yamaha that breaks down. It is all just luck of the draw! Personally, I've been riding 6 different Polaris quads since 1989 and I have yet to have a problem on the trail! OK, sorry, I have fouled a couple plugs! That's the extent of my break downs. Breaking down can happen to any given quad on any given day. $hit happens.

 

hummm,well I would love to post here too an I hope not to make any one mad.I don't bash any one or any one's ride, but they can leave all that fancy stuff off my bike,I ride a honda oo'400ex a 88'250x an a 84' 250kdx,an heck I don't even want 4*4 to much weight an they steer funny for me,differant strokes for differant folks.
the 4*4 industry are getting so big an heavy 500/600/650 cc??auto tranny's/winches/electric shifting/snorkles/lift kits / where's it going to stop ?maybe a 1000cc with a grill like a jeep heck you might as well buy a jeep hahaha just jokeing if that's what you like go for it hey it's a free country that's the neat thing about our land you can have whatever you want an aford/don't give guys a hard tme just ride,an have fun

 

I when riding with a 400 Foreman and had to tow him back to the truck for 10 miles .Turned out to be water got into the fuel or carb some how, I guess it was just not Honda's day.

 

I tend to be a little more biased in my comments as I own both Polaris and Honda and based on my experiences I would never own another Polaris. They sp500 does overheat, but that usually just mud in the radiator - but why such a poor design? The Honda 450 or Rancher aren't water cooled, and I have only once seen one overheat compared to countless sportsmans overheated.

Most of my trouble are stuff like malfunctioning AWD, CV issues and electrical problems.

I think as a marketing organization Polaris runs cirles around many of the foregin companies but there product is still not up to the same quality standards.

I know the Polaris guys will come after me and say my 3wd bike can go where the sportsman goes and to a point there right. But my Rancher will go through all the mud I ever care to deal with, and the sportsman will do a little more but it's gonna break also. I guess it depends on what your priorities are, if you just think you need the nasty mudder ever then maybe you should consider Polaris, but be ready to wrench on your stuff cause it will break!

 

Bummer. Too bad for your friends. Glad you had no problems.
I think the single biggest factor in Polaris breakdowns is the fact they take far more maintanence than the other brands.
Overheating is usually mud in the radiator, or something blocking the fan, keeping it from spinning. Occasionally, the fan motor will go out or the sensor or control. Hopefully it will be easy to fix. Might be as simple as washing out the radiator or re-hooking a wire (we can hope).
The Scrambler may also be maintanence-related. They are not truly concentric. The chain needs some slack because as the suspension moves, it takes away some of the slack. It is possible, if the chain is adjusted too tight, that a sudden hard compression of the suspension (landing off a jump) can put so much strain on the system that it breaks the chain, or, worse, cracks the case. It also can happen if something gets between the chain and sprockets.

I think Hondas are more reliable partially because they require so little maintanence. No chain to mis-adjust, no radiator to clog, no IRS system to grease or else have wear out. The trade off is somewhat less performance/features. It all boils down to what works best for each person in their own situation.

Look at it this way: a Beetle is a reliable car, but a Corvette is more fun!

 

Mine has never over heated nor has anyone I ride with. your Polaris incidents are isolated and not the Norm.( and really hard to believe, AKA made up) Get a life people. Basically it Is like this, if anyone brand ran as bad as you guys ( interesting it is almost always a Honda driver that is telling the story)claim Polaris runs they simply would not be in business. Why so many repeat customers? i mean come on you really believe so many people would come back if they were that bad? I am on my second( traded first one on a Sportsman wanted the best atv on the planet and got it) and i am the guy who traded in his Toyota because it needed and alternator, I have a zero tolerance policy against breakdowns I do not deem reasonable.
Keepe talking all we here is blaa blaa blaa.

los programas pilotos del honda son estúpidos

 

Pathfinder- You are correct that I own a Honda ( I never tried to mislead you on that). I agree that I am biased, but I was not as biased before this weekend! I also will not say my Honda is as exciting as a Polaris-(couldn't tell you since my riding experience on a Polaris is all of 10-15 minutes. My point is that my Honda may be dull, as some of the other replys have stated, but I guarantee the Polaris owners were much more bored on the side of the trail than I was on my "boring" Honda. I also told you to look at previous posts I have made. While not all are Pro- Polaris, I think I have supported the benefits of Polaris' design and features in the past. I am only telling you what I witnessed. You also overlook my main reason for posting this, which is that I hope Polaris Industries reads this forum so that they may learn from it and improve the product. As for your point that Polaris would not be in business if they had these types of problems, I disagree completely. Jaguar made the biggest piece of crap on the road for years and sold plenty. Saabs had huge quality problems but the buyers came anyway. They have improved their quality recently, but still for years they made junk and they stayed in business. So your point doesn't wash. Polaris will always have a lot of first time Polaris buyers, because of the features and design which everyone knows are great, including me, the biased Honda owner. Polaris needs to concentrate on repeat owners, which Honda dominates. Some Polaris owners never have a problem and buy Polaris again. Hell, I had a 96 Ford Explorer with Firestones and didn't have a rollover, that's luck of the draw. Polaris loses alot of customers to other brands because of the lack of quality. One final point in this very long post- Polaris may indeed create their own reliability problems by requiring so much owner upkeep. That also may be an area that they should consider improving to help themselves. Pathfinder and all other Polaris owners- Please don't jump on me- I am only one person trying to report the facts as they occurred in hope that I too may own a independant rear suspension, true 4x4 quad one day. but I only will if it is built to last.

 

He told me today it is a fan motor, he said it should be covered by his extended warranty, thanks to you though for trying to suggest a fix.