I have a 2000 SP500, and have been having problems with the brake pads rubbing the rotors and making noise. It sounds like I'm riding an old junker at low speeds. After I ride for a while and get the rotors all heated up, the sound is much less noticable. I took it to the dealer and he said it was normal.
I raised it up and removed all the wheels yesterday to grease all the zerks, and noticed that as I rotate the hubs with my hands, there are one or two spots on each rotor that they rub the brake pads, creating the noise. It also took quite a bit of effort to rotate the hubs with my hands. I'm used to servicing my mountain bike, where the wheel should rotate freely with little effort. Is this normal? The manual says that the brakes are self-adjusting, and that no adjustments are necessary, but it seems to me that they need to be loosened up a bit. All that rubbing while I'm riding will surely reduce my pad life considerably.
Also, what the heck are those zerk-like fittings on the back of the brakes? The ones with the little rubber caps on them. Is there some sort of lubricant I should be putting in those, if so, what type of a gun or tool is used for that? TIA, enjoy the ride.

Scott

 

The "little zerk fittings on the calipers" are brake bleeding valves.

It sounds like you have a couple of warped rotors on your Sportsman. You can help the situation a little by jacking up the quad ( all four wheels securely braced off of the ground)and putting it in fwd. As the rotors turn place a file along side of the rotor and let the file wear down the high spots. It is a crude cure but will work.

You may have metal deposits on the disks left from burning up a set of pads and applying the brakes with the rivets dragging. I have also noticed this annoying sound and it is usually after a brake pad or two has worn out.

 

Thor is correct with his anology of your brakes,however,I would tell the dealership of my warped rotors and demand they replace them.You did'nt spend your hard earned money on a new quad just so you can give it a half *** fix.My 99 Sportsmans front brakes do have an adjustment for the pads,im not sure about the 00 models.==Bill==
If you want to come in second ''FOLLOW ME''

 

Arcosanti,

I had the exact same trouble with my 99 sp 500. I took it to the dealer and one mechanic said it was normal. Got pissed and took it back again a week later and this time got a real mechanic and he said it had problems. I picked it up a couple hours later and it had 2 new rotors and a new set of pads on it and all is well. That clunking noise will drive you crazy!

 

we also had the problem with the brakes squeaking on our 99 sp500..talked to the dealer and said it was normal and put some stuff on it to sliet it for a week then it came back...called polaris in mn and then were jackasses and didnt answer anything...we had many problems with our sp500 but its a quality product...the brake pad has warped, there was a chip in the plastic when we bought it,(got a new piece put in) squeeky brakes rubbing all the time, and jirkey starts...i think part of our problems were our dealership...they were never much of a help...email me with ?s

 

and to add a bent shock...all this sounds like abuse but we treat it very good

 

I took my machine back to the dealer and asked him to look at the rotors, and they found that they were warped. So he ordered up two new ones, (both were warped)all covered under warranty. That had to be robbing me of some speed, with the brake pads rubbing so much, so I'm pretty excited to see what my speeds are now, I'm one of those lucky people who has a Sportsman that can hit 50MPH.

I also mentioned to him that I was still getting condensation in the speedometer, and printed off the list of replies on the topic from this group. Instead of opting for the "drill a hole in the back of the speedo" method as some say Polaris is recommending, he ordered up a new one of those as well.
I'm off for a week of atving in Moab, Utah, so I'm outta here!!!!!!!!!!!