Hello, new member here. I've owned Polaris machines since the late nineties and presently have a 2004 1/2 Fiftieth Anniversary Edition 500 that I bought new, and now I drug home a 2006 Sportsman 500 efi. The 2004 has all new bushings, axles, wheel bearings, tires, and runs great. The 2006 was bought cheap as a project. It idles great but bogs quickly under throttle. The guy that sold it to me said that it just never got used, so I'm hoping that it is a gas issue. I put a good slug of Seafoam in the gas and ran it as hard as I could on Sunday afternoon. It straightened up a bit but started bogging down again after about seven miles of riding. I limped it back to the house and put some fresh gas in it along with another good slug of Seafoam. I had cataract surgery yesterday so I'm working a little lopsided today with just one functional eye. No wrench twisting for a few days, at least. I watched some videos pertaining to the fuel system and decided to r&r the fuel pump, pressure regulator, filter, and injector as I assume that ethanol gas has worked on the hoses, etc. I got those ordered this morning. I went out and disconnected the battery for about a minute to let the ECM dump then hooked it back up and went for a ride. It tried to bog down but I kept pushing it and got the best speed yet, which isn't great at about thirty mph.

I don't really think that there is a camshaft issue, but no more than they cost, I'm not opposed to putting a cam in it while I have all of the plastic out of the way. The machine has 330 hours and 2900 miles on it. I was told that it was serviced. If so, I would find it hard to believe that the cam is worn out already. Can someone please describe how they behave when the cam is worn.

 

Hard to start.backfires, not think 2006 has had any camshaft problem in my area, I wouldcheck fuel pressure, compression,plug,charging system

 

Just a quick update. While tinkering around with it the other day I noticed the sticker on right front of the frame. Manufacture date 09/08/2006. I thought to myself that the guy that sold it told me wrong. I came in to the computer and ran the VIN number. It is a 2007. I don't think that makes much difference when shopping for parts but I will at least enter the correct year when shopping.
The fuel pump kit arrived on Friday. I pulled the plastics and fuel tank. The contraption that I pulled out of the tank appears to be someone's Rube Goldberg of a fix. The replacement pump was about a half inch longer so I didn't even bother to open the plastic bag. I took the old contraption apart and cleaned everything as best I could and reinstalled it, thinking that I would just order a new aftermarket pump. Unfortunately, I have yet to find one. After sleeping on it, I think that I have figured out how to make the kit work after all. It certainly would be nice if they included some instructions and a half dozen pictures with the kits for us slow learners.
While I had every thing off, I went ahead and pulled the valve cover. I found the exhaust rocker arms to be a little snug, one intake was about right and the other one was sloppy loose. After adjusting the valve lash I cranked it over several times to see if the exhaust lobes were still there. It looked pretty good, so that is a relief that I won't have to drop another hundred bucks for a cam. I pulled the fuel injector and rigged up a cheap and easy injector cleaner. I found that a six volt lantern battery was sufficient to open the injector solenoid. Several squirts of carburetor cleaner had the injector working fine so I reinstalled it. I have a new one on order that will go in the spare parts bin. The new fuel filter arrived yesterday. I hate trying to open those clips where there is no room to work. It took about twenty minutes to get the old filter out and about a minute to put the new one in. It appears that the filter had never been changed since the machine was built.
While fussing with the filter, I looked down to see that the right side A arm had taken a hell of a hit. The front tube was bent back to within about two inches of touching the rear tube. I could probably straighten it but decided to just order a new one. That explains the broken plastic and missing headlight on the right side. The front wheel is lined up pretty good or I might have noticed that problem sooner. Bad eyesight is not your friend when deciding whether or not to purchase a machine.
I put it all back together and primed the fuel system. It runs good now. I took it up to about forty mph then backed down as I had no eye protection over my less than a week old new lens in my eye. I parked it and came into the house and started ordering the new plastic, a headlight assembly, and all the suspension bushings. It looks like I'll only have about $2100 in the project until the CV boots start giving out. Not bad!