Bob,good idea going to Minnesota, except I beleive that I wont have to go thru all that traveling,nor does my Lawyer.We are armed with excellant records of repairs and maintance.Bob,dont you mean to say you have a 98 instead of 88 Sportsman? --BILL

 

Bill, A friend of mine bought 2 new 1999 SP500s earlier in the year, and have had absolutly no problems with them. He rolled it down a canyon the other day, and it landed so hard that it knocked one of the rear tires off the rim. He reseated the tire with a little 12 volt compressor that he carries with him, and rode it home. I am the one that does all of the mechanic work, and in return, he lets me ride one every now and then. The plastic racks do not stand up to a 20 foot fall onto rocks, but then again, I don't imagine that steel ones would have either. He is happy with his machines.

 

I have a 98 Sportsman 500 bought it in Jul 98 and it has 600 mi. Only problem so far was replacing a left frt a-arm bent by a large rock. Easy to change and nothing wrong since. I had the oil changed at 100 by dealer and just changed it again myself. Keep it lubed after every ride if I go through water or every other ride if it stays dry. Also clean my prefilter if it gets some dust. This is a dependable ride but it does require a lot more maintenance than my Honda 300. Where I ride there are a lot of Polaris quads and I never see any breaking down. Hope these posts help you Bill.

 

Bill.C
We purchased a 98 Sp500,in April 98. It was
a lemon also. High maintance, and very costly. Brakes at 550 miles. Belt shield re-
placed at 110 miles. Problems with override
switch. Over heating five times on a 28 mile
ride. With 5 other different kinds of machines that had no problems. Many other
polaris atv's on same ride over heated too.
We SOLD this Lemon and went back to Yamaha
Kodiak. Have done nothing but ride. Love It.
We also have had susuki, and honda without
alot of problems in that short of time. We
ride in mud, hills, and work them hard. Would
own anything but Polaris again.

 

A friend of mine has a '99 Sportsman with 1250 miles on it. Repairs to date, one drive belt at 1200 miles and one set of rear brake pads at 1150 miles. Other than that the machine has been very reliable.

 

Hi I purchased a 99 Sportsman 500 in January. I am 40 years old and have owned many bikes and muscle cars. So far I have to say I am disapointed with the repair record of my Sportsman. It has only 400 miles on it, I dont get to ride as much as I would like these days. So far it has had a new pvt and belt becuse its max speed was 40 mph. After repairs it goes a wopping 45 mph. The pvt cover was replaced because battery vent hose was not routed properly and spit acid all over pvt cover and etched it. Speedometer was replaced because it was sticking at 45mph. The engine sounds like it has a bad wristpin or it is detonating. It only does it under hard midrange acceleration. The dealer is unable to reproduce this condition. I wanted to check the timming and valves, so I ordered a master repair manual which is not yet available from Polaris as of 8/99 (back orderd?) yet webpage says price T.B.A. At 400 miles the front strut blew out(leaking Oil). I have never jumped the machine or abused it in any way. I am waiting to hear from Polaris to see if they will extend the warrenty 20 days to cover the strut, since it has been at the dealer more than my house. Polaris customer service rep says "Polaris does not guarentee or imply a max speed". So for $6495.00 after taxes, I own a machine that can almost out run my sons 15 year old 80cc Yamaha Moto4!
I asked the Polaris sales rep what happens at 1000 miles? Does it EXPLODE? Sales rep said "Polaris makes no garauntees against explosions". I have to say that I love the way it rides and bottom end power of the Sportman but something must be wrong with the top end to only go 45 mph. I was considering buying a Trail Boss or a Trail Blazer for my son, but am now reconsidering that purchase. Maybe a Blaster would be a better decision.
Harry Hacker
Mt. Sinai New York

------------------


[This message has been edited by sixty9cobra (edited 09-20-1999).]

 

Bought my 98 SP 500 in August of 98 after many years of being a Honda owner. I have 2840 miles on it so far. At 2400 miles I replaced the back brakes (I have the EBS model). On the week end the speedometer cable came off at the odemeter and I can't seem to figure out how that happened. That is it so far, very happy with performance.

 

Bill, Good Luck! I had a brand new 97 Sportsman 500 that I was told was a 98 when I bought it, started having problems right away. In the first 7 months I had 6 broken ujoints and alot of other "little" problems. It stayed in the shop for days, weeks, months. I would get it back and ride it once or twice usually right around 5 to 10 miles from my house and it would break, back to the shop. It never ended. I went through the BBB and two different lawyers and alot of letter writing and still nothing happened. I had every piece of paper work, everything well documented and I still got screwed by this dealership and/or polaris. Everytime I ride with somebody they tell me horror stories of this dealership THAT SCREWS EVERYONE that walks through their doors. They should be put out of business!!!!!! After a year and a half of this crap I put $850 into fixing all of bushings and u-joints on the whole atv at the best dealership I could find and then I sold/traded it for a 99 Scrambler 500. Bill, Polaris/dealer will screw you!! I had it happen to me first hand and I did put up a long hard fight! I wish you the best of luck. I hope you can stick it to them! :<

Later,

Steve "Riding everyday on my LEMON-FREE Scrambler"