I guess someone slipped us Polaris riders the cool aid. I cannot figure out any other way that they have sold so many quads and we just keep coming back for the same crappy wheelers. Could the other possiblity?

Thank you for those "positive" contributions to this forum. How this post got turned around from someone asking about HP to an all out bash.................... anyone remember the question??? Bueler...Bueler....

 

Know what you are bashing, before you bash it.
Bone stock my Scrambler was as fast as a 400EX.
With my mods, it still costs less than a 400EX, (Bike and mods combined) and is at least as fast as a DS650 (unmodified and where i ride, dunes and fire roads)
My Scrambler makes my brothers new 700 Sportsman look like a garden tractor choking in my dust,
So im not sure how this all makes it S-L-O-W to you, but whatever?
Have fun in your delusions. Too each his own, I guess.
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I do love all the new sport-utes, and am not brand biased.
My Sportsman is mostly ridden by my wife, and I've already decided when its a couple years older, I'm going to replace it. I realy liked the Kodiak 400, ( smaller, lighter, just as fast and easier to steer)
The only bad thing about it was the clutching. Yamaha has them set up so that the motor is always reving high.
The Polaris's are set up so that when you get up to speed, you can back off of the throttle and still keep the speed. The engine is able to turn fewer revs, which is better on the engine, and gives you better fuel milage. But I guess thats just my preference, not a problem with the Kodiak.

To re-answer the actual question of this post,
stock 400 Scrambler has 36 Horse.
Mild bolt on mods, 50 Horse.
All out race motor, 75 pluss
Race motor with Turbo and NOS, not sure but I would definetly be in line for a ride on it.
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An awful lot of misinformation in these forums. Lots of bs. The stock 500HO puts about 27 hp to the rear wheels and goes about 57 mph in stock form. These engines and even the new 700 fall off on top end for some reason (design). The old 400 2-stroke did about the same but could be built more, I ought to know since I did lots of the building with some radical stuff and radical clutching. By he way, toward the end of our running P's the radically modified clutch on our 400SS worked very, very well compared to all the other setups out there today. Tremendous acceleration improvement over even an HPD or Aaen Roller setup. I'll be happy to share with those that want "true" improvement and no bs like so many here.

I've done modifications on more equipment than I care to say with many mods to Polaris and have changed more Polaris clutches than I care to even admit. We hear all the bs about the 75 hp Polaris engines, (normally aspirated) but where the hell are they . . . sitting on someone's bench dyno, that's where. I've never seen one get anything much over 48 on a rear wheel dyno, from even the best shops. Lots of bs, hype and excuses, but no real world results that we can all relate to. The speed merchants have won those battles at the bank, not the winners circle.

The real losers in this battle are the good Polaris owners who have spent tons of $$$$ trying to get them up to speed like may of us have. Polaris could have changed that, but elected not to. They offered nothing. The best thing the "sport" riders could do today is hop on a Raptor, Canon or DS650 . . . it would send the correct message to Polaris.

Do I sound like a former scorned Polaris owner . . . I certainly hope so. Never, ever again. The resale value on Polaris eqiupment is very poor also.

Oh yes, what sanctioned races have the P machines ever won . . . now that is a tough one. Sorry for that embarassment, some of you asked for it.

 

Here ya go again Jack....thanks for all the help.

 

After 7 post he finally came up with an answer to the original post, with a few added put downs. Oh well, at least I think he tried that time. Thanks for your input Jack.

 

Gotta love this discussion, I rode LT 250's for many years, left the sport and came back at 50 something. After looking around and realizing that I didn't want to spend time pulling the quads out of holes, dragging the rear ends around etc. the polaris 500 looked very inviting even with the plus 500 pound factor. Well, it suits my size 6'3" x 230 much better than the 250's used to, and the ride is pretty damn smooth. Handles well etc. Realibility.... my old Suzzies ran like watches - and I maintained them too. Time will tell on that side of this subject and it seems that people love em or hate em. Could it be that some just beat the %^it out of them and expect to ride forever? Kinda like rode hard and put away wet? Oh yeah, back then no forums existed so all information came from mags (all pro Honda) or small circles of riders. This is great!!

 

To clear up a couple of comments. The 75hp Polaris is measured at the crankshaft....that's before the parasites of the driveline take their toll. Anyone been over to HPD lately will be greeted by a 5 foot tall trophy Hieder is parking in their front office after some pretty impressive wins. Once again it all boils down to opinion. No one person's choice is any better than anyone elses. Someone might even skip the performance when choosing a quad, and just not like the ergos of the machine. Who cares what you ride, pick your fave, and have a blast.

Ken

 

27 hp at the wheels my ***. Maybe in a Yamaha magazine. You need a pretty damned good dyno operator to do a correct pull with an automatic tranny quad. I've seen stock LS1 vette's flash the converter at 625 ft lbs. I've then seen the converter lock up and show 325 ft lbs 2 minutes later. It's all how the run is performed.
It's 40 hp on the bench and I'll bet it loses 2 in the tranny. Why do you think clutching works so well? It put the motor in the usable power band and sustains it. You need to know where to hit that button on the dyno and how to roll into the throttle to get a ture figure. Put a 3600 lb roller under the chasis and that's bound to throw off a centrifical clutch. Dynos are made to simulate cars and the road, not quads. It's easier with a chain drive since there is no slippage trying to turn a 3600 lb wheel.
I wonder how my stock Scrambler is much heavier than a 400ex, I'm over 6'5" and 2XX lbs, yet I beat them all the time. If they both had 27 hp as stated, there would be no discussion.
A sport quad is a warrior, scrambler, TB and some other middle of the road machines. A sport cars is more like a vette, 300Z and supra. A race quad is a modded 400EX, Raptor or shee. A race car is a funny car, rail or blown alcohol dragster. No the same use. One purpose and they all get stuf in the mud. I'll take my all around, fast machine anyday.
I was chasing a 400EX around the practice MX track last weekend. He was BARELY pulling away from me. He might have pulled about 5 feet per lap. Radial tires and I'm there. Crap, I've only been riding a quad for a few months and this desked out Joe and his buddies were startled. heh heh, Now come chase me up a trail or in the mud. You'd be crushed JACK.

 

Well guy's, I just wanted to stick my nose into this discussion and say that Polaris makes some good machines. I looked long and hard at the Scramblers, and indeed they are as fast as a 400ex. Very impressive for a 571 lb. quad, so we all know that they are making more than 27 hp, 36 hp at the crank is correct. The Scramblers offer lots of suspension travel, good looks, and a fun ride. As far as the SP 700 goes, it makes 30.2 hp at the rear wheels, and yes that is more hp than the Big Bad Grizzly makes, as it only puts out 29.8 hp at the rear wheels. The Grizzly 660 is a nice machine also; I thought it was the machine for me right up until the point I decided to buy. But the bottom line here is, that all these machines that have been mentioned are good quads, we just have to pick the quad that suits are particular needs best. If someone decides to buy one quad over another, it doesn’t mean that the other quad is a piece of junk; it just means that the one chosen works best for the individual in question. I ultimately chose the Prairie 650, because I thought it fit my riding style the best, but I still think that the Scrambler's, Sp 700, and the Grizzly 660 are all great machines. And as unbelievable as this may sound, I have ridden my 650 through some serious rock piles and I haven't managed to get high centered yet, shoot I haven't even scraped a skid plate. I guess it's a good thing that I didn't get high centered though, because we all know that if I did, it would probably lead to those clutch problems that I'm supposed to be having [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Jack,
What is the 2003 'Bomb ??? The 400cc sport quad rumor?

BTW, I agree with you. I had a modded Scrambler I really liked. Then I rode a DS650. It was a done deal, within that month I traded the Scrambler & got a DS650. To each his own I guess, but the DS makes a modded Scrambler 400 seem weak. Plus the handling, suspension etc. etc....
Scramblers owners are loyal & Scramblers have their place, but when you consider not only straight drags but all around performance the gap between Scramblers & the "other" sport quads is getting bigger. At one time the Sport was the 2nd fastest quad made behind the Banshee, problem is it's not 1998 anymore. Sinking more money into Polaris mods just to TRY & hang with STOCK DS's & Raptors just does not seem like a good way to spend money. I liked my Scrambler but I have yet to see a modded Scrambler run with a stock DS/Raptor/C'dale & I believe any that can are are few & far between.
Fact is, the bar has been raised & Polaris hasn't brought anything to the table.
Maybe Polaris will introduce a great new sport quad, we'll have to wait & see.