Top speed on 2003 700 sportsman
 

45 does not sound good. I would say around 60-65 MPH or so. Depending on conditions.

you should at least pulling a good 60 mph for sure. how many miles on it and have you ever smoked the belt? welcome to the forum.

I agree that you should see at least the low 60's. My 600 will see that number as well. Is the air filter clean I know I had an issue with my 600 once the air filter was packed with dust and dirt and the machine had no top end.....

my 03 sp 400 does over 50 and it only has 2100 miles and its never blow a belt

I can hit 50 on my Hawk on pavement...and its a 300 in high altitude. So yea, u should be getting alot better than 45.
Attachment 21922

Make sure you have the carb jet needle (the real long one) clip in the middle position and the spacers in the correct spot. My 2002 was put together wrong and it ran way rich about 40-44 mph max. I bought a manual and i spotted the problem right away. The last guy had the tick spacer inside where the long needle needs to drop in at. In other words the needle was way to high. Runs awesome now. 65 mph...

Wow! 65 sounds radical!
Is your Sportsman bone stock? My 2002, 700 will only hit 50-52 max. with new plugs and everything greased. ;-)

50-52 MPH! My old 89 350 Big Bear would hit 45 mph and my old 450 Honda Foreman could do close to 50 mph. I get 55mph easily with my 500 Sportsman.

It is bone stock. This is speedo speed. I will have to try it with gps. Speedo goes to 60 but it will bury it pretty easy. No idea how accurate though.

Also my cousin bought new a 2004 1/2 sportsman 700 efi and its speedo goes to 70 and it will use it all. That is moving pretty good on these big wheelers.

it should be doing more then just in te 50 mph range. it should be inthe low 60's imo.

When i first bought my 02 700 it would top out around 45 and hit the rev limiter. The plastic nut that limits the amount that the clutch sheaves can close had loosened up, not allowing full shift out. After fixing that it now runs in the low-mid 60's.

Same here... My '96 500 will bury the stock mechanical speedo at 65. I'm not sure exactly how fast it is, but I'll be gps'ing it with my handheld as soon as it quits raining.

I'll tell you one thing for sure - it's plenty fast for a four wheel drive wheeler!!

-J

Holy smokes. I bought my machine second hand two years ago and even after talking to the original owner, he said it never went over 55 downhill!
I suppose there might be something wrong with mine somewhere... any ideas guys where you would look first?

belt and the clutches.

Man, you guys and your "dream-o-meter" numbers, get a GPS out on your runs and then lets talk, I'm betting a solid 7-8MPH will be dropping on those meters!! I push my 800 X2 to the 70MPH limiter on the dirt roads, then put a GPS on board, and those actual runs are closer to around 64-65MPH consistently, and that is with stock tires and clutches cleaned and new belt. So, if anyone questions the beam off a satellite for accuracy, let me know, I know a few police officers that would like to hear your vote!!! Also, just wanted to let you guys know, that is is a great site to sit down and have a beer and chew the fat with all. I don't know if I can run with Chuck all the way up and back on that Soo Line trip, but I am starting to think seriously about!!

I don't know about anybody else, but mine's been verified by gps as well 64mph (63.7 if you want to get technical).... Pretty much exactly what the speedo says by the way.

had a 03 sportsman 700 and it was regesterd for 60 and it would do it to but did not get there very fast but 45 mph no way thats write i had clutch prob you should buy a new belt this could be all it needs

Just GPS'd mine... 55.8, 55.7, 55.8 mph on 3 different runs. Appears the stock speedo is fast by about 5 mph, which is about what I figured. My machine is all stock, and running the factory GoodYears.

I agree, a GPS is the way to go. I used to buy/sell a few boats every year, and you wouldn't believe the numbers some guys think their boats will run - 'till you show them the light with the GPS. :p

-J

Maybe I'm hitting the rev limiter also, where is it located? will this make the wheeler caugh and spit and sputter at top speed?

Yup, the rev limiter cuts spark when the motor reaches 6300 rpms i believe it is, it will sound like it's spitting and sputtering and will just quit pulling. You may want to pull the clutch cover and look at your clutch to see if that white plastic nut has backed off...

(this is eric by the way, i posted on my girlfriend's computer and she was logged in, whoops)

I have a 08 800 Touring and it used to run 65mph+ stock according to the speedo but I swapped in 27" mudlites for the stockers and now will only run around 55mph does that seem right? No real complaints as it will walk thru more in turf mode now than AWD with the stockers so love the tires and don't use the top end much but appreciate others thoughts?

My 04 700 will top out at 64-66 on Garmin GPS and speedo. When checked with GPS my speedo in right on.

Stock 55-60 should be possible.

if you are hitting the rev. limiter, then it would be cutting out the same way as you would in reverse w/out the override pushed in i do beleave. if you are hitting the limilter then there something your w/ the clutches or belt.:twocents:

I do that with my 500.

I just GPS'd my 2002 sportsman 700 (stock) and the speedo said 64 mph and gps said just shy of 61 actual. So these speedo's are 3-4 mph high.

it should still be running close to the orginal stock speed, but you have to remember that bigger tires throw off the speedo... almost positive, but someone correct me if I'm wrong.

You are correct sir. Larger tires have a larger circumference, so for each revolution of the tire, you go further than with smaller tires. You are definitely traveling faster than indicated speed now.

I have two 700's...an '07 EFI, and an '02 Carb. Both are completely stock other than a K&N airfilter on the '02. The '02 will do 64 by GPS and the '07 will do 66 by GPS. I think that's pretty close given the age difference, and the carb vs. EFI. In a drag race, the '07 gets off the line a little quicker...it will get about one length ahead of the '02 right off the bat....then it's pretty even until about 50mph or so, at which time the '07 will pull ahead by another length or so. But I think the old girl does pretty darn good against the newer one.

Oh yeah, equal weight riders, and 300 miles on the '07, and 1,600 miles on the '02.