Dave - You can check out the changes we made better on our web site and forum.

www.godigital-design.com/96Polaris.html

 

Lyle,
First, catch some guys either at a local riding spot, or in town that have their Polari?? with them. Most guys that ride, or around here anyway, are MORE tha willing to answer any questions and talk to you about them. Ask THEM about choices between local dealerships, and their opinions and experiences with sales, service and parts.
Then, go to those dealerships, maybe with the name of the guy you talked with, and tell them that THEY were recommended to you. (When you stroke their ego, they tend to be a little more free with test rides, information, and prices)
Test ride a Magnum 500, its the same as a Sportsman 500, but a less complicated and controversial rear suspension. The conventional rear axle on the Magnum transmits MORE of the engine power to the rear wheels, and I have YET to hear of a bad Magnum 500.
Maybe with the money saved on buying the Magnum, you can have Stick Stoppers, and a performance kit installed???
Oh, BTW.. If you DO buy a Sportsman, when you buy the a-arm/CV guards.(trash the stock plastic ones) make sure you remember to buy a set for the rear a-arms/ CV joints also. I've heard of people backing up and ramming the tree they just pushed down right into the rear CV boot.
Its Just a Thought...

 

yo mud come back in there with more info on cv guards.

 

I thought the sportsman 500 was a good bike until the belt broke a couple of times and had to replace the tie rods a couple of times and had to fix a heating problem on it and it is kind of slow on the take off.had to replace a rear boot that a stick pocked into and had to replace the clucth. the tank plugged up from bad sediment in the bottom, had carboration problems, broke the front rake.
well then again I can't blame it because we put at least 18000 miles on it.the speed ometer quit working so you can't see how many miles is on it, but you can still see a couple of numbers.