I was out riding my 97 Scrambler 400 today with my cousin and we were jumping in this big ditch. We had been doing it for a little while. I went up and jumped and when I came down I couldn't turn at all. Right where the handlebars meet the steering stem it broke. Does anyone know how much it's gonna cost me to get it replaced? I saw on the Hot Seat site they have them, but it says call for a price. Also, could I possibly just get it welded back or should I go ahead and get a new one? I figured I need to get a new one though.

 

I would suggest a new one unless you know a qualified welder that you trust with your life.
Polaris may be interested in seeing that post
because of thier liability. They may even pay fopr a new one if you contact a dealer that is willing
to talk to them about it.

 

I also had this problem. I am a good welder so I thought I would be cheap and weld it-well not a good idea about two months later it broke again just below the weld. If you weld it even if a qualified person does it it is still weaker. I do lots of jumping w/my scrambler (too much). I reckamend getting hot seat's one and also get the lower stering post bushing from hot seat(this will get rid of the play in the handlebars).

 

Mine bent/broke (rolled down a hill) about a year and a half ago, and I believe it was about $20 from the dealer. I just got a direct replacement from my Polaris dealer, and haven't had any probs with it.
Later,

 

I wouldn't weld it, chances are it wouldn't make it any stronger and would probaly break as easy. I reccamend the Hotseat one. Here is a review:

https://atvconnection.com/editor/rev...g/steering.htm

I have this one and it works great. I do some jumping, although not extreme, still pretty big. I bent my stem when I flipped the 500 back on me when trying to climb out of a ditch that was too steep. There was no trail, but I am always looking for a challenge. It landed on my foot, but thanks to my boots I was fine. It hit the fenders hard, and you can't tell except for the scrathes. Strong fenders!

Anyway, I love the stem and lower support. If you have the money, I highly reccamend it. I would put a set of strong bars on there too.

As far as contacting Polaris... I doubt they would do anything. First of all, they don't reccamend jumping. Second of all, you hear stories of people breaking little things even riding "according to the warning stickers" and they still won't do anything. Worth a try though I guess.

Good luck.

 

Hey, thanx for all the input. I think I'm going to go ahead and get the Hot Seat one and the lower support thing too. I looked at the pics of it in the review and it is designed way better than the stock one. Did you guys install the new stem and lower support yourself? Was it a pretty easy job? I still have to open up the front and see what wires I pulled out when I landed. I don't have any power going to my handlebars. Everything looks intact but something must be unplugged somewhere.
Thanx again for all your help

 

I installed it myself, it wasn't too difficult. The 400 will be slightly different because it has the larger pipe, and an oil tank. I am not sure if either of these will effect installation though.

Wires loose everywhere huh? I hope none broke, and they just came unplugged.

 

If you have any questions e-mail me i would be glad to help. It is not to hard to replace that yourself. First take the four handlebar bolts out. Then when you take your hood off there is a plastis bushing in there that you have to take out. then take the cotter pin out on the bottom nut and take that off. Then unhook your tie rods-make sure you remember how they go on. If I remember right They go on opposite ways. Then it is going to take lots of wiggling around to get the old one out and the new one in. Prepare to get greasy if you grease your quad

 

I ordered the parts from HotSeat today. I'm getting a friend of mine that races nationally to help me put in the new one. I took a look at the wires tonight...I found 3 loose ones. I plugged them in based on the assumption that they went onto the cleanest looking terminals...still no power. Oh well, I'll get it to work when I get the stem put in. I might get the old stem welded back together just to have a spare. But this new HotSeat one shouldn't break. Thanx again for all your help.

 

Hey chevytruckin Polaris does want to know about this i talked to Robert Novak today and he told me to post this Call PHIL RAKER at ext 460 his direct # is 218-463-4460 expain to him what happened and he should take care of it LoL Jaime