so i'll be ordering my sportsman 500 in a few months here and was wondering if most of u order your upgrades right from the dealer or put them on later?
i'm mostly talking about a winch and upgraded tires and rims. Looks like they want around 900 for the rims and tires, seems like a pretty good deal.

thanks

 

Personally, I kept the stock rims and tires until the tires needed replacing. The 489s were pretty good in just about every terrain I rode. After that I went a size up and kept the stock rims which meant I had to put spacers on the front hubs and get longer studs to make room for the wider tires that were one size up. I didn't go with a more shallow ofset because where I ride has 50" gates, so I couldn't go any wider than the quad with the new tires is now. The Polaris quads are pre-wired for a winch so it's a pretty easy job to install a new one (at least it was back in 2006). Not sure where the battery is on the newer 500 but if it's near the engine or anything that's a tight area take off any jewelry before you do it. I grounded my wedding ring between the batter contact and the engine block and lost about an 1/8" of skin off my ring finger. Very hot...

 

depending on what you want and how good the dealer wants to treat you i would do a little shopping around.

 

I would start with the dealer and then shop around too, definitely shop around before hand so you know what the ball park should be.

 

sounds good thanks. the stock tires and rims were totally good enough for me until i went into my dealer showroom and saw some other ones that look really sweet. ugh. this is going to be an expensive sport i think ha

 

it can be.

 

Not sure about the newer Sportsmans but HD (Heavy Duty) spings where a nice/cheap uprade for me.

Also silicon your pull rope handle in place, water will work its way down the rope hole and there are many expensive parts inside the recoil that do not like to get wet or dirty such the Stator,Bendix drive,pulse coil and flywheel.

 

do the 2012's even have pull ropes?

 

You know I,m not sure.

 

At least on the Pure Polaris Parts Catalog it shows no recoil assembly is offered on the 2012 500s ,just the blank cover on all the 500 models. If mine I would shell out the couple hundred bucks for one or try to find one on e-bay! I could see not having em on the twins,but on the 500, it really needs one! Just cutting corners to keep the price down I guess? OPT