A friend of mine bought a Sportsman 700 a few months ago. I took him on a ride with me to the UP of michigan over the 4th of July. It's really the first chance I've had to see what the 700 is all about. I will say that the big quad, with it's awesome tires, intimidated me. We had a great ride though, and although he was disappointed to see my little Xpedition handling everything his ride could take, we were all happy to get back to the campsite at night (Noone without casualty's ). Anyway, He is experiencing the waterpump leak, and is complaining about a noisy motor at somewhere mid throttle. I did notice at idle, the lifters seemed a little noisy. I was under the impression that the pushrod motor had hydraulic lifters. Is this not true? Also some sort of transmission clunk. I've grown acustomed to the noises my Xpedition's motor makes. They've been there since day one, 3 years ago, and it still runs like a top. I'm just curious what other owners of the 700 have to say about this, and if there are any other quirks about this bike that I can relay to my buddy.
Thanx,
Brian

 

I am a faithful polaris owner...never had a problem.!!!with the first 3 atv's i bought,,i like to trade every 2 yrs.

1996...mag 425
1998...mag 425
2000...mag 500...
traded the mag 500 for the sp700...awesome power,great ride......big....but not that much bigger than the sp500..
but the water pump kept leaking..had it fixed twice,kept leaking, dealer giving me the run around,,,,ate gas, like 5 miles to the gallon,,,clunked,,and rattled,,throws off alot of heat......

i loved the power..and the feel of the biggest machine around...but i felt that it was undependable.......so there was only one option..

traded the 700 in on my sp500ho,,at a different dealer,,,and have not been happier,,,all the power you need,,and depenable,,,,,give the 700 a few yrs. to mature!!!!!!!!!!then i will have another......since my 500ho is a freedom series,, i will have to trade for a SP700 freedom series...

cant wait...

live fast...ride hard......polaris rules....there's no comparison..only dreamer's...........

 

hey there, i've had my sp700 for @ 7 months now. haven't had any water leaks yet[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] but i noticed a clanking sound started about 2 months ago in the front end, everytime i would go over a big bump i would hear this clank. i had several friends look at it and could find nothing but a little slop in the front drive shaft. i went ahead and greased every fitting i could find, and that helped some, but you can still hear it if you listen! hope this helps

 

a lot of 700s have an air snorkel rattle. Put a Piece of high density foan between the snorkel and the tank, qiets it right down..Rmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

I was having the same noise for a while and I finally found it. Check your A-Arms. Check to make sure the bolts are tight. Mine worked loose and were making a clunk sond every time I hit a bump.