I recently bought a used 01 Sportsman 500 HO. I wonder how much "normal" effort is required to shift from N to R and from N to either L or H? It seems to me that it requires a little too much elbowgrease? I'm making the comparison to my friends 04 Grizzly which requires no effort to shift. Is there something that I could check or adjust to assure its normal for the Sportsman?

Thanks in advance,
Jocko

 

Does it creep when in gear? This is one thing that can cause hard shifting. if does then need to address this problem first (clutch). Another problem can be linkage out of adjustment!

 

Thanks, OPT,

It does not creep while in gear. Maybe I'm just a wimp? LOL

Is the linkage adjustment something I could do? or is that best left up to a qualified tech?

 

When I had an '01 it shifted really easy until the linkage needed adjusting.

 

Mine shifted very stiff, It gets used all winter and trailered a lot.
There are 2 or 3 Hyme joints and a non lubricated pivot up toward the front. I took every thing apart one link at a time and cleaned them up and relubed them with grease. I didn't adjust anything and now it shifts like new again.
I'll probably include that in an annual clean up.

 

Thanks for the suggestions all. I'll try cleaning and re-lubing first before adjusting.