I want to know why Polarises are so heavy, where the extra pounds are and if they can be easily reduced?

Also, I would like to know if you all think I'll be happier in the mountains with a Trailboss or a Trailblazer? I don't have many hours of experience on belt driven 2 & 4 strokes. I have rode the Prairie 4x4 and the old 250 Cyclone from Polaris. I hated the Prairie & wasn't real pleased with the Cyclone. I liked the power on both, but not going down hill on either.

HELP...........

Duster wantin' an S400 but don't have nuff $$$$ YET

 

I would say the weight is here to stay see no way of reducing it unless you absolutely cut up or destroy the bike on the other don't know bout the boss or the blazer but I will tell you they are definetly a learning curve on the sportsman 500 because of the weight, height and the automatic trans...

 

I have a 2000 trail boss and just went on a 5 hour ride through some rough stuff yesterday. I wanted a 4 stoke and the price for the boss was right. I was surprised at how well it handled. My friend has a 2000 expedition and I was able to keep up (not at top end but with the rough terrain). It does not have neck snapping excelleration or screaming fast top end but that's not why I bought it. It is very muneaverable and fun to ride. I was actually surprised at what I went through yesterday!

 

TALK 2 ME PEOPLE!!

 

I have both a Trailblazer and a Trialboss, and they are two different machines. There's not much difference in performance, the blazer handle a little better and is a little quicker (not much though) and the boss has got more torque. Top end is about the same on both.

If you want to do any utility work at all, go with the Boss

If you want performance, go with the blazer and modify it, there are a lot of performance mods available for the 2 stroke.

sorry, don't know anything about the weight.

 

I just bought a 2000 trailblazer 2 months ago and so far i love it. The guy i ride with the most has a 500 scrambler and as far as the trails go i
usually have no problem keeping up, they ride great and handle really well i was sort of surprised but very happy with it. As far as the weight if you find a Polaris that isnt heavy please let everbody know i would like to own one.

 

DUSTER---THIS SAME TOPIC WAS GOING THROUGH MY MIND. I have a 99 sportsman 500. I have owned many sport 3 and 4 wheelers. The only thing I see looking under the plastic is a massive frame that would attribute to the weight. The rest of the bike looks like a Honda or any other make. It takes more framework and arms to make up the independant rear end. I don't feel like it is top heavy at all now that I have put over 500 mi. on the machine. Overall I believe the weight does'nt hurt anything as it has the suspension and brakes to handle it. When I had a Honda 300
4x4 I thought the 500 looked like a jeep. After riding on one a while I knew I had to try one. Polaris has to pay for steel like everyone else so I figure they have a reason to put an extra 100 lbs. of it in their wheelers. Guys they have engineers and draftsmen (cadcams ect.) so, if they wanted them to weigh 450lbs. they could make them.

Gardner10 '99 Sportsman 500 THE PREMIUM RIDE

 

The weight of the Sportsman help put traction to the ground this with it's 4wd system is the reason it will win a pull off against any other stock bike.If you had a pull off with a 500 Magnum the lighter weight of the Magnum would put it at a disadvantage, if you really want to pull hard put a passenger on.

 

Whoops! I Forgot about the 500 Traxter it is true 4wd and even heavier so I would say it would be the pull off king.

 

Atving, did you find out which machine is faster between your AC500 Auto and the Sportsman 500 yet?

Tim, you're right, the Traxter is the king of pulling. I went to an ATV pull, and the Bombardier Traxter that was there outpulled like 5 Sportsman 500's, and the Suzuki 500 did real well too, as did the Grizzly.

About the weight, Polaris just needs to learn about the metal known as "aluminum". If they threw aluminum rims on the Trailblazer, aluminum floorboards like the Scrambler 4x4's have, and aluminum bumper, they could get it under 400 pounds with no problem at all. I think that back transmission in the back of the Sportsmans is the biggest contributor to it's weight, plus the independent suspension components, of course. I was wondering if they couldn't just run a shaft from the engine to a back pumpkin, like the Magnum 500 has, and then from there run shafts to both back wheels, with no changes to the suspension. That would be real simple and would probably knock 50 pounds off the weight of the machine. That's probably why you don't see an IRS Honda utility machine yet, cause of the complexity and the weight. Actually, I know that's why, cause Honda is working on resolving these issues.