I do not do a lot of night riding. In December 2001, (my sportsman 400 was about a month old) I hitched a trailer to my machine. It was night and I wanted to bring the empty trailer to my driveway for an early morning departure. After attaching the trailer, I cranked my 400 and switched on my high beam headlight.

It came on for a second. Then I heard a "pop". Then darkness. The high beam bulb had actually exploded.

I took it to my dealer. His tech said that Polaris had a bad wiring harness on some models with winches. Polaris was recalling these. He replaced the bulb and the harness and said "all is well".

Now, if I had been smart, I would have taken that machine home and driven
it in the dark for a few hours. Instead, I switched on the high beam and saw
that "there was light". Didn't give it another thought.

All spring and summer I rode my Sportsman, but only in daylight hours.

Last night (Monday), my cousin called me for help. About 25 of his cows
had got loose and he needed help running them. About ten minutes into the chase, I smelled something burning. There was a cloud of smoke rising from
behind the high beam headlight. The smell was burning wire.

I was able to finish the job using my low beams. They worked fine.
All other lights and electrical seemed to be working also.

When I got home I tried the high beam again. This time the machine was
not cranked so I was running straight off the battery. Same result. Within
a few minutes smoke was appearing around the headlight. However, the headlight continued to give light.

The machine is back at the shop today. I have not heard anything yet.

Anybody been here before?

Thanks.