I have been looking long and hard at getting a new or slightly used scrambler 500. I would appreciate some input on all reliability issues as well as how they handle and is the belt system water proof enough or does it leak. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks

I guess it's all in who you talk to and what kind of riding your in to. I love mine, i've had it for a year and a half now.I like the fact you can mud it and ride the trails fairly fast,you just can't do both as good as a true sport or utility machine. The only problem i've had with my ride is it likes to take water in the clutch cover vent if you go to fast through it. This can be fixed by adding a extention to it like the 400's style has. It's just a simple fix that takes a trip to the hardware store and you have a good all around quad.

They are really fairly well put together machines, as long as you respect their limitations. Try to run with a sport machine, you will be left behind on any kind of track. Try to jump it like a sport quad, and you will overtax the suspension, and likely break some things, starting with the chain.
However, as far as a fun, go fast 4x4, it has no equal, or at least didn't up till this year.

I have a 97 which I purchased new. I cannot begin to explain how reliable my Scram has been. I have had only to replace the lower steering bushing on mine because of part failure. All other items were wear related, brakes and such. It is an all around great quad. I would tell anyone who is concidering a Scrambler to absolutely go get one. They do many things very well. I have had water get in a few times but it was allways because of the water being to deep or hitting the water to fast. I dont think the Scramblers get their due for their 4wd capabilities.

let me start by saying I'm not a polaris fan at all.

BUT one of my riding buddies had a Scrambler 500 4x4 at one point in time. He did quite a bit of work to it. Piped, jetted, clutch kit, K&N, think he did some porting work, etc. This was THE FASTEST SOB I HAVE EVER SEEN IN A STRAIGHT OR OPEN TRAIL!!!!! He could hang with 250 dirtbikes. No joke. He was also the best quad rider i have ever seen. He raced a GNCC race with it one time. Only completed one or two full lapes before the clutch froze on him. His lap times were 14 minutes ahead of EVERYONE ELSE, EVEN THE PROS, he has the magazine to prove it. He did eventuall wreck it on a trail ride and totalled it......lucky he didn't total himself but thats another thread. The tranny froze because of him improperly installing something with a clutch kit. Other than that he never had a probelm with the bike.

He had a Wolvy before the Scram. He liked the speed of the scrambler but said it was so heavy the it was like "riding a pig". But somehow he rode it FAST.

I have not had any problems with my Scram to this day. Only got the belt wet once.....But I had water over the seat playing in the river. Other than that I would recommend it to anyone. I am currently looking at putting mods on mine too.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

I have had some troubles with mine. I have broke a clutch spring, a chain wore out, the throttle cable was trouble, and the carb had some problems. I have 1200 miles on mine. I do love it though.


Rainman

Far from junk, my SCR500 is a 98, 0 problems. It performs great, and I only have minor mods (HPD pipe and clutch). It has about 3500mi on it now, and still running as good as ever. For all the stories I here about how the Kawi650 is faster, WRONG! A friend of mine got a new one and we raced for about a good 1mi. stretch, I got him of the line he came close to me in the mid and I beat him by about 3-4 lengths on top. Not that you will, or have the opportunity to drag down a blacktop road for a mile, but even in the trails the SCR out-performed it. In my opinion, the scramblers are hard to beat for a super fast 4X4. They have super handling, compared to other 4X4's and great power. I had a wolverne for a spell (96-98)and I thought the world of it despite constant u-joint failer(my fault 26in Bear-Claws constantly tugging the front end apart)then I got on a buddies Explorer, and I thought holy S*&T, is this fast. That's when i saw the light and said what are these people talking about Polaris being junk. Well if they are junk, they are still better than what the other guy has. Based on model and displacement, I do not think there is a machine in thier class that a Polaris can't out perform (Sport/High-performance machines aside, until the rumor comes to life anyway). Not to sound like a commercial, i know all the guys/gals that read these fourms take truth to what is said here more than anywhere (mags, etc...). I read all these and believe most not all, but what I do and say i'm not playing you people for fools. The SCR 500 is the perfect Do-All machine, granted it has faults due to weight(compared to true sport bikes), and it 's rack space is limited for the true hunter/outdoorsman. But for blazing down a wooded/snow covered/or in my case sometimes column it is great. To some it up, it is good at everything master of none (there is always a better machine at a particular task, but i think the SCR500 is a great blend of all).