well, the 2 kawi bayou 250's we had were just not quite a fit for our riding style. sold them and began my search for a 4x4 auto atv. ended up with a 2005 Polaris 500 H.O. ATP. This machine is in the mossy oak camo and came with a warn winch, polaris plow, front brush guard, new tires, cover, and a little 5x8 trailer. the radiator fluid was just flushed, was always maintained with polaris synthetic oil, and even had the headlights aimed properly! oh yeah, and it has a whopping 550 miles on it....all for $3200. i think i got a good deal, and im certain the dump box will come in handy. now with 2 wheelers with plows, the wife can help plow snow!!

anyone know of anything i should pay particular attention to for this model?

 

On the rear prop shaft coupler going into the rear carrier see if it has a grease fitting. Earlier models did and was easily overlooked,not sure on the 2005? And also keep the prop shaft zerks greased from the trans to the front gear case. Change hub fluid with Demand Drive Plus hub fluid every 50 hrs. Hopefully others can suggest things I've forgotten! OPT

 

thanks! what type of grease is recommended for the zerks?

 

Any good lithium based grease. Most of the good grease is lithium based. OPT

 

 

Nice looking quad.

Now, about that avatar...

 

That looks to be in really great shape. We had a 500HO ATP. The one thing you will notice is that the rear 400 lb. rated springs are on the stiff side. It will get bucking if you go through a series of whoops. But, it will tote and tow just about anything and with the Spicer rear diff. you get Turf Mode. Nice for not tearing up the grass too much. We only had one minor issue. It overheated and it ended up we needed a new radiator cap. Solved the problem. Not a great quad for riding 2-up though because of that little backrest.

 

Its a 2005 so your AWD Fluid goes in the front diff not the hubs, also make sure it had this ECM recall done. Polaris Expands ATV Recall

 

the ATP is not listed in that recall. I checked my serial and model number against the 2005 sportsman 500's anyways, and my serial number does not fall in the ones that are recalled, so i think i'm good. thanks for the info, though!