I OPENED AN ATV SHOP SOME TIME BACK MAINLY FOR POLARIS SINCE THATS WHAT MOST EVERYBODY RIDES AROUND HERE AND THE RATIO HAS BEEN 10 HONDAS FOR EVERY 2 POLARIS.I WANT GO INTO DETAILS ABOUT THE DIFFERENT PROBLEMS WITH THE HONDAS BUT THEY ARE MAINLY DUE TO LACK OF LUBRICATION(MAINTANANCE FREE NOTHING TO GREASE)AND BRAKES OR SHOULD I SAY LACK OF BRAKES. AND THE MOST PROFITABLE PROBLEM IS BROKEN REAR U-JOINTS THAT BEND THE OUTPUT SHAFT(YOU CAN CHANGE ABOUT 6 CV SHAFTS FOR THE SAME MONEY)I COULD SIT HERE AND TYPE ALL NIGHT ABOUT THE DIFFERENT PROBLEMS EACH MAKE HAS,BUT I THINK YOU GET MY POINT.

99GRIZZ GROW UP!!!

 

I always wondered if all polaris dealers were full of (it),but 800 twin cleared up any doubts. I've known my local polaris dealer for years, I buy polaris sleds off of him. I've asked him about the quality of polaris atv's,his response was."You've been in the shop,when haven't you seen me working on one". So 800twin spare me the (bovine fecal matter) about how great polaris quads are. The only reason polaris sleds are any good,is because they've copied everything from ski-doo.

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

99Griz,

Everyone here can express their own opinion, but when you curse, or get as close to it as possible by slight spelling changes, you start to exceed your own privileges and infringe upon other's enjoyment of reading an an informational and wholesome message forum. In addition, you violate the forum rules and regulations.

 

I have a '97 Scrambler400 that has gone 1800 miles to hell and back and is still kickin a$$. Have replaced tie rod ends once, steering bushing (installed the aluminum aftermarket one), one chain (stretched not broken), throttle cable (got in some realy deep gooo and stiffened up on me), one set of tires and rims, and a fan temperature switch. Given the way I ride this thing, this is not a bad list of repairs for 4 years of abuse. The only problem I had when I got it was a cvboot clamp that wouldn't stay on. Seems like most of the reliabily issues I have seen are with the shaft driven utility quads.

 

800twin, I agree that every atv has it own distinct problems. Hondas, Kaws, Yamas, and Polaris's all have their own little quirks. If I owned a Honda I would probably (sometime) be bashing it too. I just get a little frustrated with the Polaris that I own at the current time with all of the things that have gone wrong with it. I sometimes take for granted what the polaris has given me like the large fenders and the foot rests (this is really nice for keeping the mud off of the rider) and the worry free automatic. I am sure that there is more that they have to offer that is cutting edge but like you I don't want to write a book. On the other hand you might not see too much of these polaris machines back because I for one refuse to take it to a dealer. I took my bike in for its first service (to a very large ATV dealership here in Columbus, OH) and got hit with a $250.00 bill to have the bike lubed and the fluid levels checked and to have the back brakes changed and that seal replaced on the back brakes also. When I went to pick it up they put the bike on the trailer and I noticed that they had put the nuts on the front wheels on about 1 turn each so the front wheels were wobbling back and forth. I for one don't take the quad to a dealer, so a dealer will never hear about my problems.

Balzak
2000 modded up and still acting up scrambler 400 2x4

 

JUST THE FACTS..i have an expedition 425,it has about 400 miles on it,ive had it since august 2000..i owned a magnum 325 4x4 before that,owned it for 10 mos and put about 100 hours on it(too slow)..im in a group of 3 polaris,mine, a mag 325 4x and a magnum 500..theres also a yamaha grizzly(8 mos. old),yamaha banshee and a honda 400 ex..the banshee and the 400 ex are new to the group,no problems yet..out of all these machines only have had 1 break down and needed to be towed,the grizz rearend spun a bearing and ruined the gears,my expedition has had rear brake pads replaced(due to excessive mud riding)..my magnum had brake pads replaced at about 85 hours and that was it before i traded it in..so where in any of these quads can you say one is worse than the other..considering the riding us 2 4x4`s do is hammering the crap out of them where do you see any pattern that polaris is junk ??? i understand that all brands have problems but i dont think you can say polaris is better or worse than any other brand..there also used to be a bigbear in the group,not a bad quad at all but good luck keeping it running when it was cold,that thing just didnt want to stay running for nothing,oh and dont even want to ask about brakes,what brakes,had to be taken apart after every ride to be cleaned out and even then they didnt work that good,sure they didnt wear out but only because they hardly ever worked..im not bashing yamaha but just showing what problems have happened with the group that i ride with..oh and yes 2 of the 3 belt drive polaris have had wet belts,it does happen when you expect the machine to act like a submarine..i cant say id buy another polaris or maybe ill get a grizzly..who knows,all im trying to say is you can get something that has more problems than most from any brand for any type of vehicle. ride what you have and enjoy it and be glad you have anything to ride and a place to ride it..hell im not prejudice,ill pull anything out,polaris,yamaha,honda..hee-hee

p.s. nor do i go to the other forums and post crap like others do..i think if you have nothing good to say then dont type..this is just my .02 cents

 

I now have a 94 Polaris 300 4x4 and I like this quad. It starts right up, runs good, looks good and it's not overly big and heavy so it can be manhandled in bad situations. I just did the grease zerks and no big deal, kinda cool actually. I've had it in deep mud/water and it doesn't take on water. I think Polaris makes a decent bike and my buddies have had good luck with them. One friend sold his 00 sportsman because it was too big and took 2-3 people to get it back on the trail when it kicked off due to width. We respect the sp's mud ability though. Around here, you can go around a mud hole but you can't dodge the super steep mountains, so engine brake in the FRONT WHEELS is a safety factor which Polaris doesn't have. My Polaris does have the engine brake, ( I wouldn't have a freewheeler), it works nice but not as much hold back as a Yamaha. A buddy of mine was a Polaris dealer and said the Expedition used the same oil supply for the tranny and everything and it took 7-8 qts. of oil?? He felt this was a design flaw. I think each maker has their pros/cons, good quads and less desirable ones. Polaris junk ?I don't think so[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

all atvs are junk if you think about it.if you ride hard and abuse it you will break down and you will have to buy parts.now if you ride slow as hell like most of the honda crew chances are that you wont break down.anyway parts are a lot cheaper for polaris.

 

I see a lot of you guys saying that your Polaris has 300 or 500 or 1000 miles on it without any problem. I don't think this is enough mileage to say that your quad is reliable. I own a 99 Yamaha BigBear which I ride very aggressively in mud, water, rocks, dust, snow in a huge range of temperature (-40 Celsius to +40 Celcius). I hate working on my quad, so I simply take it to the dealer twice a year to change the oils. The only problem I had is a damaged ball joint because the protective rubber got torn. I currently have 12,000 km (7,500 miles) on it and it still runs like a new quad. I never even wash it, it still full of the mud from last april thaw.

Before I bought my Yamaha, I talked to many people. Those who had a Polaris STRONGLY advised me to keep away from them because of poor reliability. They loved it ... when it worked. One guy who maintained it very carefully blew off the engine after 2 years ... he changed it for a Yamaha. Another friend of mine had 2 Polaris, the last one, a Sportman, blew of its engine 1 month after the warranty expired, he changed it to a Kawasaki KVF400 and he is very pleased.

I agree that Polaris are leading to way with a bunch of very interisting features on a quad, if they only spend time and money to make them more reliable. I for one, would like to have an independant suspension like the Sportsman, but I like riding my quad, not lying under my quad for hours between each ride.

I hope I did not offend any of you Polaris owners, I just don't think Polaris is not ready for me.
I am no mechanic and I don't wish to ever become one ...

 

Don't know how Minnesota got there...I'm in West "by God" Virginia!![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]

 

I want to start by saying I have 2100 miles on my Sportsman without only a tore CV boot replaced. None of my Polaris riding partners suffer any problems with there machines we all put 1500-2000 miles a year on them. I owned Yamaha and Honda before and quite Honestly they were not anywhere near as reliable as they claim, Motor on Yamaha warrior went after 3 months and it took 6 months to fix it, Honda 300 4x4 had electrical problem get it wet it would not start for days and dealer could not fix it, these were the major problems I had, there were other things but to many to mention and to aggravating to revisit. I have owned two Polaris machines a 2000 Xplorer 4x4 250 and now a Sportsman 500, they have been way more trouble free than the other machines I have owned.