My friend's 2004.5 500HO with the new style trans shifter is sticky. Any ideas what to check or adjust?

Would a slightly higher idle contribute?

 

High idle can have something to do with shifting,plus if it creeps any at all or if there is any pressure on the driven clutch from worn washers on the drive clutch one way bearing,that can cause problems also. Plus it has the same external shift quadrant that the troublesome 700/800 shared and it may be time to remove the outer cover and clean/grease the shift gears.Item#3.Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Polaris, Suzuki & Kawasaki OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse Internals are similar to this one.Hard to Shift 700 Sportsman 2004 - Polaris ATV Forum