I just sold my 94 300 4x4 to a friend and I never had any trouble with it but tightened chain once. Since he's had it, on one ride his chain kept coming off and barely got home since we didn't have the right tools. On the last ride, we tightened the chain before we left and after awhile, his chain got overly tight and was making some popping sounds. It may have had some dirt or something in it but don't know. I hate he's having troubles...is this normal or is something wrong. Personally, I like shaft drive but I was impressed with this Polaris until this started happening. Also, he turned the bike over and caused the throttle lever to not stop where it should. You have to reach over with your thumb because it goes to far to the left. The bracket underneath it doesn't seem to adjust it either. Any insight appreciated...

 

JHAM

As for the problems you are having with the chain, it sounds like the bearing carrier is spinning within the holder. The bearing carrier will spin forward to tighten the chain and spin backward to loosen. It sounds like it is moving and causing the chain to be overly loose or tight. As for the popping sound, this is generally from the chain getting dry and dirty and sticking on the sprockets. The best order of business would be to remove the chain and inspect it for damaged links and links that seem to bind. Also inspect the sprockets for any signs of unusual wear like hooking. The chains are more maintenance that shaft drive, but can provide years of trouble free service if they are maintained. My 98 magnum has not had any chain related troubles, although my wifes 2000 trail boss has. The trail boss's chain got damaged by some rocks that my wife ran over and the chain guard wasn't able to protect the chain. I plan on replacing the entire chain and putting a better skid plate under.

As for your throttle question, I have no idea, sorry.

 

i will tell you what happened on my 86 quadsport....
on the swing arm, on the axel carrior/ brake assembly, the thing broke, and the chain will not stay on, i need a new swingarm, check that

 

Sounds to me like your chain and maybe the sprockets to are wore out also.
The chain is wanting to jump the teeth because it has grown in length since it was new, thats the popping sound you hear. Grab the chain at the backside of the rear sprocket and pull to see how much play there is. More than the half the length of the sprocket tooth is too much and its getting time to replace things. Bearings gone bad will pop also but its not as common.Charlie

 

Thanks for the replies. How would you stop the bearing carrier to stop moving?, that sounds like the problem. Also, that is the original chain but the bike only has about 4-500 miles on it. The sprockets look good and the original owner had taken one link out.