Thenewfiebullet, off the subject a little, you said something about an explorer 500. I know of an explorer250 and an explorer400 but never an explorer500, when did they make the explorer500, i can't find it on the polaris website, is it an older model?

 

 

I have seen many races between the bikes in question. This is how I would call it.

Explorer 400
SP500HO
Rubi & SP500
Wolverine
Kodiak

 

Psycorider,
The Xplorer500 that my friend has is a 1996, but I have no idea how many years they were made. It is exactly that the same as a SP500 only without the headlight pod.

Gregsims,
Unless there was some kind of improvement from the Xplorer500 to the SP500, then a Wolverine will beat it. I know it sounds hard to believe that a 350 will beat a 500 liquid, but that's the way it is.

Tim1, didn't you say once that a Wolverine was faster than your SP?

As for the SP HO, it probably will beat the Wolverine, though I'm sure not by much. As I said, except for right off the start, the Wolverine will keep right up with a Rubicon, which is supposed to be slightly slower than a SP HO.

 

they do have an explorer 500, i think they stopped making them in 97 or 96 or something

 

A Wolverine has a faster top end than my SP, that I seen for myself .I would like to know what there pick up is like.I ask at the Yamaha forum and most ower of the Wolverine say the machine hits the high 50s and even 60mph.

I know the made a Xplorer 500 in 97 it looks the same as my SP after I rolled it and smashed off the pod.LOL

 

The top speed depends on alot of things, and not having a speedo doesn't make it easy.
I've been clocked at 55mph, in the winter on a icy road. I think it's alittle faster now that I've got 25" tires and it's well broken in.
ATVConnection clocked it at 58mph in their test.

The midrange is where it's strongest. When it's winding out in 3rd and 4th gear it accelerates pretty strong. As I said, against a Rancher, we were dead even until I switch into third. Then it's all over for the Rancher. That's about where I start to pull away from the Xplorer too.
That's what makes it so strong in the trails too, As long as you don't have a lazy left foot.

 

My son has a 98 Wolverine and I have a 98 Sportsman and in a drag race we were dead even up util 40 mph then he pulled away forever. The Wolverine has a top speed of 1 to 2 mph faster than the Sportsman and just might be better off the line too with dry conditions. Our drag was on a snow covered gravel road and the SP hooked up a little better due to the extra weight.

 

My 2000SP500 will hang right with a Rubicon, so it must be a little faster than the Explorer500 you are talking about. I have yet to be beat by a Wolverine on top end either. According to my speedo, my bike is running about 58 top end right now which is down from 60+ with the snorkel I had installed a few months ago.

Greg

 

It's true that Polaris top speeds vary alot depending on belt wear, but is you say that your speedo was registering 60mph, and Polaris speedo's are notorious for being optimistic, I would guess that a Wolverine would beat you.
Like I said though, it depends on conditions. The Wolverine is geared fairly high, so to get it's top speed it needs a really hard packed surface.
Other factors, like tires and tire pressure have to be taken into account as well. It's possible that the Wolverine you were running with wasn't set up right.