I fully intend to do so... if they ever get it fixed, and collect the huge chunk of money for a part that was obviously defective from the get-go.

 

Polaris loves customers like you!

Seriously though I understand sticking with it,buying another....ummm,not just yet if it were me
The 850XP is an impressive machine for the most part,even more impressive if you came off an older Sportsman. Yes it has some issues, but then you look at what you would loose to get out from under a barely used machine...might as well hang in there right? And don't you kind of feel that you own some of the issues,you did buy a 1st year machine afterall..issues are to be expected.

What does get me about the whole deal is how Polaris is handling it.....shady at best.

 

HO, you said that you "ride hard" and rode your XP for about 10 months and didn't have a problem, right?

I thought you had a pic of an official recall letter??? Or was that something else?

Maybe everyone should sell their machine and get something different, this is horrific.

All seriousness, it could be fatal to someone, but the problem is still rather new. When was the bulletin......about 3 weeks ago?

 

I read also that the Outlander has a recall already on one of the minor changes they made for 2010 (DPS). The machine has been out, what 4 months?

I'm not sure what to tell anyone when they ask which 4wheeler to buy. They all have problems.........

 

Yep I didn't have any issues with the front end,my post wasn't meant to be negative towards the XP....
Negative towards Polaris handling of the problem yes. 3 weeks on the bulletin...exactly my point..the issue has been around alot longer than that..but it took Polaris a long time to do anything about it and the response is still shady IMO. By that I mean...they only covered certain build dates,when there have been machines outside those dates reported to be affected and the process for determining what to do about the issue is left up to the dealer..IMO if they can't definitely say a machine did not get defective parts, ie by a lot number or some other means then they should be replacing ALL the parts on ALL the affected machines,but they aren't,and apparently they aren't even recalling ALL of the affected machines..
I do think I ride fairly hard,by that I mean,hard on the machine and probably faster than I should sometimes lol. I do about a 33/33/33 mix of utility work,slow trail riding and fast trail riding. I won't set any mileage per year records but what I mean by riding hard is alot of the riding I do is probably better suited to a sport quad honestly..but I prefer the utility machines.. I'm no GNCC racer,but sometimes I try
No good action shots on the 850 but here is a couple on the 800....I rode the 850 the same way alot...wide open,jumps ect.and the front end stayed tight.

 

Had mine in the shop for 3 week's waiting on the correct axles to get rid of the clicking sound in the rear. Now I have to bring it back in when they get the front end kit. Hope they can get it out a little quicker. Maybe I'll submit some freight charges to Polaris for hauling the bike back and forth. I really like the way the machine rides and handles but I hope these little problem's can be corrected.

 

If there isn't an official recall soon, I'll have to agree with you. I don't think anyone can say for sure how long the problem has been known.

 

The axle thing bothered me too. The dealers have been replacing them for almost a year already, but dealers were not stocked with them. Mine took two weeks also, and it would have costed me if I didn't have a warranty because it was not a recall.

 

They have known about it for several months...there have been many brought to the dealers with low hours on them with ball joints loose in the knuckle for quite some time now...the dealer has to explain that to Polaris to get them warrantied. Not everyone with the problem has posted about it. I know a guy who is on the boards...he had to have one side replaced about the time I sold my XP...Polaris warrantied it...and he was far from the first to have issues..everyone posting about the issues made hime wonder if that was why his sometime was harder to steer than others...he took it in.. and yep one side was shot..Polaris warrantied it,as they should..but that goes to show they have known about it for awhile,probably longer than we have. Polaris doesn't just find out about an issue when someone calls them directly to complain,actually I bet they rarely find out that way as they refer everyone to a dealer. It's when the dealers try to get the stuff warrantied that the red flags go up...
Not everyone is on the forums,and not everyone that has a problem post about them. Some who have talked a machine up don't want to post anything negative about it...

 

Dealer I bought the bike from has an excellent mechanic and he assured me he would get it right. They sell Polaris, Can Am, Artic Cat's and Suzuki and all of them have some issues. No machine is bulletproof, not even the almighty Honda's!