Just had my new Sportsman H.O. out for the first trail ride this weekend. What a disappointment! Bought it new late last fall with 27" blackwater tires and winch. Worked great for plowing snow, but found it has a top speed of about 50 m.p.h. and taking awhile to get there at that. On the trails, moderate bumps and sharp corners caused the front to "bottom" and the tires to rub. Paid too much for the tires and wish the dealer would have warned me of these drawbacks. It also seems the front end has somewhat of a shake to it when getting over the speed of 40 m.p.h. on a hard-packed trail. Have a feeling this is due to the tires also. Never experienced any of these problems on my stock 1998 500 Sportsman. Any ideas on resolving these problems besides going back to stock tires?

 

The solution to your front end bottoming is to buy the Polaris HD front springs. They run about $25 each and help out. You could also go with the progressive suspension springs, they will set you back about $160 or so. I went with the HD front springs on mine and my buddy went with the progressive setup. End result is basically the same, no more bottoming out. As far as top speed and vibration, those tires are alot heavier than stock.

 

if the dealer installed the tires and sold it to you that way i suggest take it back to them and tell them to replace the struts,in or out of warranty..i have seen other people on forums saying the same thing and they had them replaced for free..while there changing them have them throw in the h/d springs..the shaking i would have to say is the larger tires or one of them or a wheel could be out of round,just a possibility..and as for the power i have heard some of the ho`s are slugs out of the hole and have low topend..different people have done different things such as changing clutch springs,weights,etc..i suggest for this problem read around and see what others have done to improve the acceleration and top end..i cant help much with the clutch but there are others on here that have played with them..oh and make sure there isnt excessive play in the throttle cable,you may not be getting its full potential,leave about an 1/8' of slack and that should be ok..good luck

 

hey bowtie,
where is swamptown,ma? never heard of it?
MTPOCKETS

 

there is no such place..im in northeast mass about 20 min south of nashua n.h.

 

bowtie,
hey, i do a lot of riding in tolland state forrest. if you're ever in the area, look me up.
lots of mud, hills, and some steep riding- not for the weak.
usually 3-5 sp500 and mags go each ride.

'01 sp500ho red
2000lb warn winch
26" outlaws
'00 chevy tahoe