I recently bought a 02 Sportsman 500. Several of my friends already have 01 & 02 Sportsmans and some of them start creeping when they are idling in gear. My brother-inlaw's was so bad he had to shut it off to change gears. We thought maybe the belt was burnt so we bought a new belt with no change. We took the bike to the dealer who put shims in the clutch which solved the problem but has reduced the bike performance enough that it is noticable. Has anybody else had this problem and know of a better repair. I think the people at the dealer are professionals but this seems more like a patch to cover a greater problem. Thanks for any possible help!!!

01 Scrambler 500 4x4
02 Sportsman 500 4x4[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

 

Sounds like maybe to many shims were put in making it engage at too high of a gear ratio. This will solve the creeping problem but sacrificing performance. The proper tension is around 1 1/8" or where the machine wont creep. Another possibility is not enough side clearance between the sheaves and belt of the primary clutch. I have not seen this very often but have heard of it happening. That clearance should around .010". Belt deflection and side clearance really affects your bottom end performance and how the clutching system was designed to operate.

 

Also,
there are two types of belts,a belt for EBS model ATVs,and one for a non EBS model.My dealer put a non EBS belt on one day on my EBS type clutch,and it crept at Idle.He changed it over to the EBS type belt and that cured the creeping.

Bill

 

Brooster,.
"We took the bike to the dealer who put shims in the clutch which solved the problem but has reduced the bike performance enough that it is noticable."
same problem with one of mine. in fact, i drove it for the first time yesterday and found the EBS hits so hard whenever i let off the gas that my body lunges foward. i can't stand it!
(my other sportsman doesn't do this so i know it's not normal)
i have no idea what's wrong now.
MT
P.S.(that yammi's look'in pretty good these days!LOL)

 

Brooster,

I have been told the following on this topic -

on the ones made before feb 2001 (shows the date right under the headlight on the plastics)may need some shims for the driven clutch if it creeps in gear,and/or old stlye sprag gear gets caked with dust and doesn't disengae on the drive clutch causing clutch creep.

I was also told that Polaris would fix the ones with problems.

From what I have read, the response from Charlie above is correct. The clutch needs to be shimmed to achieve the proper belt deflection for best performance. Too much or too little will affect performance.

I have an '02 HO also and hopefully will not have any problems. Do you know anyone having the problem on an '02?

 

HomerS

I haven't heard of a 02 creeping yet but I didn't think there was much difference with the drivetrain between model years. If I do I'll let you know.


Someone farther up this thread made a comment about the yammaha, I guy I ride with bought one and had it for three months then traded it in on the 700 sportsman. Nothing mechanically wrong with the grizzly just that the belt gets wet very easy through the exhaust vent and he said it always felt top heavy, (I thought it was to narrow).

 

My 00 Magnum after 2500 mi on same belt started creeping slightly. The prob got worse over time. Eventually I had to shut off the engine in order to change gears. I checked the primary and found the belt rubbing on the engine sheave. I corrected this by shimming out the secondary and it help for a short time. Eventually the creeping slithered back again. I replace the belt and the creeping completely went away, so far so good. I beleive my problem may have been a combination of bad belt and the need of a secondary shim.
My brother has a 01 SP and it creeps occationally but it's very slight and not worth correcting at this point.

 

My 2000 SP 500 was idling a little high, pushed the gear selector into Forward-high, and quad lurched forward, stalled, and found that a weight had jammed, and sheaves stuck together. I am looking now for a new clutch, the whole assembly, as the whole clutch is warped. Mine too had creeped before, but idle adjustment and after 500 miles, no more. a fresh belt may creep on you, but once it has a few miles on it, no troubles.

 

The creeping problem is probably related to the EBS clutch. Take a look at the clutch faces in the drive or primary clutch to see if you can see or feel a groove caused by the belt riding in the same spot all the time. I was told that if you use high range all the time you will burn a groove in the aluminum and the machine will creep. Just saw a clutch today that was trashed with 600 miles on it. You will probably have to take your finger and feel for the grove.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

 

Ended up replacing the whole clutch, found the problem. The weights and spring I had bought from AAEN. The weights had worn so badly on the 'axles' they ride on, that the holes were oblong. the pins were deeply worn, and the whole clutch assembly had to be replaced, so all clutch assembly is now back to stock. Will be in contact with AAEN, as I could not believe the amount of wear on the weights nor the pins. Machine never raced, only other performance mod was their pipe, but I am turning 27" claws. This was all after about 1500 miles of riding, so I am not happy with what happenned here, any one else see this kind of weights/pin wear/damage? Just wondering if I am the only one........