I have a 2004 Sportsman 700 and after doing alot of searching I have found this out so far.
1. The battery is most likely bad since I had it charged and with out hooking it up it wouldn't start.
2. Checked the voltage on it and it is below 10 volts.
3. When I get it started it is pushing 13.5 volts at idle then when I got to rev it up the volts drop to 8.

Would a bad battery cause this or would it be a regulator or stator? I checked the regulator and all connections look good.

Thanks for the help.

 

Bad battery. Replace and your problems will dissapear. A bad battery will cause crazy symptoms...to include blowing headlight lamps at night due a varying (non-stable) voltage.

 

It takes a 30-L battery , check out the gel filled ones, better battery arund $120 from o'reilly's

 

Thanks for the info. I thought that would be the problem but appreciate the help. The battery is less then two years old, after doing some research I guess it is best to disconnect it if I'm not going to be riding it for a month or so. Spending over a hundred dollars on a battery every couple years is tough to swallow.

Have a great Thanksgiving.

 

If you get some kind of float charger for it, it will probably last a lot longer.

 

That's what I have been told. Do you just leave connected whenever your not riding them? and would you disconnect the cables from the battery?

Still have a lot of little things to learn about taking care of these quads.

Thanks for the insight.

 

If the ATV sits for months at a time,it maybe worth the time to take the battery out and store it in a heated basement or porch, never let it sit on concrete.

I buy the cheapo Wallmart "Everlast" batteries for my sleds and ATVs and get 3-4 years out of them.

 

Yeah, you can just leave it in the quad while it's attached to the tender. On my dirtbike i wired the plug so it would stick out enough that I could hook it up without taking the seat off. That made it really easy to hook up, or unplug. I'm gonna do the same with my 06 700 as soon as I get a plug for it.

 

Just bought a float charger from Harbor Freight for$10.00

 

I have a 2004.5 600 and started to have a few low voltage problems after about two years. I figured that it was the winch running the battery down from plowing snow. I put a Battery Tender Jr. on it and have had no problems since. In fact it is the original factory battery in it since I got the machine in August of 2004. I can't believe that I have gotten over six years out of the original battery. I do plan on changing it out next summer, I've read that getting the thing out is a real pain in the @*$.

I have had to put a new battery in the tractor every two to three years, so I now have four Battery Tender's, one for each of my machines and tractors. Hopefully I won't need any new batteries for awhile.