Talked to a dealer today and he said there will be a Sport machine from Polaris with the 700 twin motor. Claimed dry weight around 400 lbs with an aluminum frame and a 5-speed manual clutch tranny. Almost sounds too good to be true, but this dealer has a good reputation in the area and he gave me no reason not to believe him.

As for the new SP700. It is supposedly going to have a new chassis, smaller tranny, and weigh about the same as the current SP500.

 

Is there an advantage of having a 5-speed over a 6-speed? Just wondering.

-Josh

 

the big question is WHEN???? this all sounds good but i want to see one. I dont want to die of old age before it is released, and im only 24.


later
jon

 

both machines can show up anytime between August and October. I would rather have them make sure the machines were built right versus rushing them into showrooms and have them falling apart as soon as they get out the door.

As far as the 5 or 6-speed. The 6 speeds work better with smaller bore engines that require a close gear ratio and need to keep the revs up. The 5 speed, if spaced correctly, works better on bigger, more powerful machines that can pull the higher ratios and not require as many gear shifts. I have heard of several 400EX owners that wished they had an extra gear though.

 

Lep7mm, if the Sportsman 700 is the same weight as the current Sportsmans, then to Wisconsin owners it won't matter when they're released, since we can't register them anyway. The sport machine sounds cool.

Did you go to the National Oliver Show in Le Sueur, MN last year by any chance?

 

Rooster~

I have heard that there will be a "Wisconsin edition" SP700 that will be under the weight limit. I have ONLY HEARD THIS and cannot tell whether this is true or not. BTW, is the limit for Wisconsin 650 or 700lbs now? I definitely agree with you that any sport machine that Polaris comes out with and is close to 400 lbs will kick sone serious A$$~~~ But I also think Polaris will have a hard time making a machine under 450 lbs when steel is the only material they know how to use!!!!!

 

WIscrambler, it is 650 pounds right now. I've also seen the post by Odin that there will POSSIBLY be a Wisconsin model. But that doesn't make a whole lot of sense though. If they're gonna make a certain model lighter, why not make them all that light?

 

You know, I wish I had a dime for every time I've heard that Polaris is coming out with a new sport machine. I could retire right now and I'm only 37 years old. Let's just say that I'll believe it when I see it.

 

Something for you guys who think that steel is a bad frame matterial;

First off, how much do you REALLY think a bare-bones frame weighs? 65# maybe depending on model. To go to alum isn't going to save the weight diff between their respective atomic weights. To get the same strength out of alum you will have to go with a thicker walled tubing. Double? Sure it will be lighter, BUT maybe 30#?

The other thing is that you can take that steel frame almost to the point of breakage all day every day. Alum does not work that way. Alum fatigues. If you run it at 60% stress all day every day, eventually it will crack and break. So with this in mind I would think that a designer would build the alum frame to 150% needed static strength so that it would last long enough. This in turn is going to add that much more to your weight. Sure, it will still be less than the steel, but how much and how reliable?

Just something to ponder.

 

Rooster,

I would guess you are talking about a show at the Pioneer Power grounds. I don't make it out there too often any more. It was a different story when I used to live withnin a mile of the place, but now I'm in town and don't venture that way too often.

As far as the SP700 weighing the same as the 500, this is only what the dealer told me. It wouldn't be a good business move for Polaris to offer a machine that weighs in at over 700 lbs. and then offer the same machine that weighs under 650 in WI. Everyone and their brother would be over there buying up their inventory. I think would just have one machine with a set weight that could still turn out to be under 650 lbs. I have heard from another source that the new motor weighs 4 lbs less than the 500 currently in the SP. But all of this is second hand information. You all know how things can be changed from one person to the next.

Ox, you have some good points about the aluminum chassis's. But with the aircraft aluminum that is sometimes used for abusive conditions, fatigue isn't as much of a factor as it used to be. Although they still have to use a thicker material to gain the strength needed.