Hello everyone. I'm new to the ATV world as I have just recently purchased a new Stealth Black Sportsman 500 HO. I really enjoy the rig as there is very little I don't like besides I may prefer traditional racks vs. the plastic ones.

Anyway

Over my first week I've put a bit over 100 miles on it and I've done my 1st oil change. I've generally been riding off road going up hills and through some decent mud, however, nothing extreme as I'm more limited by my experience than the ATV itself. I didn't really open up the throttle 100% until I had hit 70-80 miles which may have been a touch early but I was excited to see what it'd do.

On to the problem... Today after changing the oil I took it up and down the road about a .25 mile each way to just make sure everything was OK but on the pavement the thing bounces like I've got flatspotted tires. I've not locked them up nor have I rode much on the blacktop (perhaps 5-10% of the total miles thus far). The bounce is more noticable at lower speeds but less so at 30+ MPH. I'm running 3 PSI in the front tires and 3.5 or so in the Rear tires. I'm just concerned there may be an issue, or it may be related to the tires and/or I'm making something out of nothing (which I"m prone to do from time to time)

Thanks guys!

 

They do "bounce" a bit when going slow on hard surfaces, mainly due to the lugs on the ballon tires. You really feel it with the super lug mud tires.

 

Thanks for the quick reply. It seems to have gotten worse the more I ride it though as it was hardly noticable when new. I also rode my dads Suzuki Eiger with a decent tire (aka, deeper lugs) and his bounce wasn't all that noticable either.

The bounce I"m describing isn't like the lugs making the handlebars vibrate or anything.. it's like I"m actually moving up and down in the seat if that makes any sense.

 

Add more air.

 

Well... I've rode it on the road with that much air and it was no problem... I'd like to leave my fronts at 3 psi to increase stability on hills... Think any water could have gotten into the tires (since I drive through some shallow creeks.. etc etc)?

 

no theres no way water could have gotten in the tires. if youd gotten water in the tires theyed be flat. air them up then drive it. there supose to have least 7psi in them. what kinda tire do you have?

 

I think the Max is 7psi which if like car tires you usually don't want to run max (44psi in a car tire for example). Does anyone suppose they may be flatspotted from sitting still for 2-3 days? I may add some air back to the rears... perhaps up to 4-4.5.

Edit: the tires are the stock Carlisle "789's if I remember correctly.

 

I would say you have thr air pressure to low also. I run 6psi both front and back on my 500 ho with no problem and there is no problem with stability. Check your owners manual but I think 5 psi is the minimum recommended tire pressure. also check lugs to make sure they are tight. If it was anything else like a axle bent bad enough to make you go up and down you should feel that all the time.

 

Alright then... I'll give the 5 PSI a try and see if it helps. I don't think I've bent anything like a rim or even an axle as I've not really hit anything major to do such damage. I'm maybe thinking now that since I've got the pressures so low that they may have flat spotted since sitting still...

 

I think the proper pressure for that quad is somewhere around 5 pounds. Let us know how it feels at that speed.