That's what Polaris should have done from the factory on a 10K bike.

 

Thanks, for the advice i will be putting the reflective tape on all areas that need it.

 

Put 4650 miles on a 09 550 , never had a problem.. Have 800 miles on my 2010 550 and no problem yet..

 

I don't have any melted plastic on my 850, but I could easily burn flesh if I left my calf too close for a time during the summer. It gets VERY hot on summer days and would literally cook you thru rubber boot tops.

 

There have been quite a few review out there (not sure if it was a 550 or 850) of them testing these machines and boiling/very warm water in the rear storage compartment.

 

I putt around my yard sometimes with my son riding with me. I check all the time for the "hot leg" thing because it obviously would burn his little legs. I javen't noticed it get real hot, but there obviously is some heat there. Nothing like My BF though or an Outlander.
I carry TP in the rear box, I hope I don't start a fire. If it's hot enough to boil water, it definitely could start a fire. Haven't heard of that problem yet though.

 

Yeah, I have not noticed the rear getting hot on mine. It's gotten wet a few times and there is never excessive heat in the box when I check.

I'm going to take side side off and make sure there's a good layer of aluminum tape, and add add clean where necessary.

 

Update i took the 2 550's back to the dealer today because they both back fire once they are warmed up so they are thinking the valves need to be ajusted. they said if the valves are not opening and closing when they are suppose to the exhaust will get really hot so i hope that is the problem get rid of the backfireing and some of the heat

 

I just bought a slightly used (5.5 hours/88 miles) 2010 Sportsman 550 XP, and noticed that it has heat tape placed in strategic places on the underside of the plastic and right fender near the exhaust. I mentioned this to my buddy who has a 2010 Sportsman Touring 850 EPS, and he said his machine did not have any of this heat tape anywhere. After a little digging, he and I figured out that in 2010, the heat tape application was standard on the 550 and 850 non-EPS models but mysteriously absent from the 2010 EPS versions and from ALL 2009 XP models. Clearly, there are different quality levels of exhaust piping being used between different models/years. Some obviously tend to radiate more heat than others and factory-applied heat tape is an attempt by Polaris to prevent plastic body damage from the cheaper exhaust material.

 

I have the same heat tape on my 2010 XP550.