sportsman transmission knock
 

Was out this afternoon on my 500 HO with my nephew on his eton 90. Didn't go anywhere or do anything he couldn't on his little 2-stroke.

At one point I took off from a standing start quite quickly then noticed a rough sound and a vibration from under the bike.

I crawled home from that point (about a mile) and free wheeled when posible as this seemed to stop the vibrating although it would not free wheel once on the flat.

Got the bike on the ramp once I was home and took the belt cover off hoping it was a lump of belt hanging off and whacking the cover but the belt was in mint condition with no debris in the cover either.

The bike has only done 45 hours so this was as far as I was willing to go myself.

The noise seems to be coming from the centre area of the rear transmission but I can't be sure. At one point I thought it was coming from the front diff! I was in two wheel drive when it happened.

Also, when in neutral on the ramp I can't turn the rear wheels.

It will be off to the dealer once I speak to him tomorrow but anyone with similar experiences??

All the best

James

What year and model is your bike?

so the belt is junk, but you think the tranny has an issue as well? you say in neutral you can not move the bike?

He said the belt was fine but that he could not move it in neutral. He has only 45 hours on the bike. You think maybe they forgot to put oil in it some where? Sounds like one piece going south and another headed in the opposite direction. Hopefully he has warranty and a good dealer or at least a good dealer.

When in neutral the bike would free wheel but not easily. With the wheels off the ground I couldn't turn them.

The bike is a 2010 500HO Sportsman, and it is four months old. It has 20 months of warranty remaining.

I'll keep you posted.

James

if it's under warranty, then take it to a dealer to have it fixed.;)

Right, and I may get some stick for this but........

the belt was burnt out after all. According to the chart, it was "hour glassed".

I never noticed this when I checked the belt but didn't really know what I was looking for. It is very obvious though.

They also replaced three plastic ramps in the clutch and it got it's 50 hour service. Haven't seen the bill yet but it wasn't a warranty job and I couldn't argue.

Was back out on it tonight and it is as sweet and tight as a nut.

Complete driver error but I'm happy with the outcome all the same.

Thanks guys

James

Wow! You just got the 50 hr. service done and replacing a belt too! Were you riding in high range alot when you should have been using low? My 07 has 90 hr, over 800 miles and the original belt still looks new. What the heck?

I got near 4000 miles on my 2006 Sp 450 and still the factory belt.....
He did say he was riding with the little one on a Eton 90 cc
Maybe he was too slow speed over a long time in High gear................................... (heat in the clutch)

I know now where I did the belt in. And at the time my first thought was "shit, I've just burnt out the belt" .

The simple reason was as you guys say, I was in high when I should have been in low.

I'm surprised how rough the bike sounded with the "hour glass" belt though and I was convinced I'd done more terminal damage. On the bright side my Polaris isn't as soft as I was begining to think.........just the rider!

You live and learn

James