I am having major problems w/this bike. My buddie and I bought two new 500 HO's about a month ago. My bike has had a clutch replaced, (3) belts, and the egnittion switch changed because it broke. What gives? This is rediculous! My buddie has had his belt replaced as well. Yesterday, the gears locked into Reverse, and during the process of trying to get it out of gear, the gear linkage bar BROKE! His battery is not charging on top of all this. He found that out Friday, but because it is a holiday weekend, the dealer is closed. Just our luck. I do need to mention that on these belt swaps, 2 of the belts shaddered on the way home. Totaly shredded to peices! Just crusing about 40mph on a dirt road on the way home, and felt like the bottom fell out. Not a happy camper at all. Has anyone elese haveing this problem, or know of a friend that is having these problems? These bikes are brand new, and have been in the shop more than on the trails! Any help would be appricaited.

Thanks!

 

I hate to hear of your bad luck but my experience with the 5 Sportsman 500s we own is great. They have been tough, reliable machines.

 

I would call Polaris if your dealer doesn't get things right this time. This is clearly a problem with dealer set up. It sounds as if the clutch alignment is off, along with the linkage adjustment. If things keep going like this for you, I would either demand a new quad or demand my money back. You deserve better quality for $7,000.

What year are the Sportsmans? I take it they are '02 or '03s?

How long ago were they purchased?

 

There was a fellow on this forum once who had a problem in his front clutch. Seems whenever the pulley halves would try to grab the belt, a broken washer in the EBS system would rise up from between the center grooved pulley and one of the sides, and totally shred the belt, for no apparent reason. After idling down, the washer would retract back inside, where it couldn't be seen. Might be something to check out.
I agree this is something the dealer should have found already, though.

 

Thanks guys for the info. I am going to the dealer on Monday morning, and see what they have to say. The oddest thing about this like I was saying is that it is happening to two bikes! They both came from the same dealer, and both bought with in a week of each other. Could just be a bad run on these bikes. Hopefully they will have some answers for me. I will let you know what I find out.

Thanks again!

 

Sorry Offrdr 15, I forgot to answer your questions. They are both Sport's Man 500 HO's, and they are both 02's. They where both purchased at the end of Oct. 02

Thanks again!

 

7 sportsman 500s
1 sp500 6X6

NEVER a single problem you have mentioned.

ALL were great ATVs!

do you run yours in LOW all the time? or HIGH?

"during the process of trying to get it out of gear, the gear linkage bar BROKE!" -- does your buddy use his foot to shift?

 

I think I'm the guy Farmer123 is talking about.
I went through something like 9 belts in 5-6 weeks[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img]
I would take it to the dealer and they gave me the same old BS stories,
your not riding it right,your not useing low,your getting the belt wet,bla,bla,blaa.
I heard everything
Turns out it was the PTFE washer in the drive clutch.Half of it was broken so sometimes the belt would go within 50 miles,sometimes 1 mile.Depending on how the washer was sitting.
But you said they replaced the clutch,so that should take care of it.(they probably replaced the washer and told polaris they replaced the clutch so they get money)
Did they "replace" both clutches
Getting stuck in reverse sounds like a minor linkage adjustment.
He actually broke the bar?or the linkage?How the hell do you break a bar?Hopefully nothing in the tranny got damaged
Battery =did you check the terminals?are they tight?
You'll never get your money back.
And never get a new quad.
They just dont work like that(wish it did)
Lets just hope the dealer can get it taken care of in one shot

 

mtpockets:

Anytime I go through a major hole that I think is going to slow or bog down the bike, I put it in low gear before entering. If I am riding down trails or the street, and I am staying under 12 mph, I have it in low gear.

The bar that runs from the shift handle back to the trany broke while he was trying to get it out of reverse. The part that accualy broke is where the screw meets the ball part that meets the shift handle on the side of the bike. It is the threaded part of the handle near the shift handle. Thanks for you feed back.


500DUSE:
The dealer told me that the clutch was changed out. Being a new ower of a Polaris, I am not familar w/all the working parts that have to be changed for this to be a complete job. I am just taking their word on the work they did. I do not know if they changed one, or both clutches. I was not aware their were 2 clutches. I don't know if they just changed the washer, or accually changed the clutch. The clutch is working better than what it was for the reason I took it in. The gears still pop out when I first put it into gear and give it some gas. When I put it back into gear, it normaly stays. I have to take a few extra seconds than what I think it should take to get it into low gear, but I have just been dealing with it lately. It seems like i ride the bike on a Sunday, and come Monday morning, it is going to the shop. The orginal clutch problem was all gears where hard to get in and out of. The bike would die during idle, and during the shifting of the gears. That was the reason I took it in the first time to get the clutch fixed.

Battery:
When my buddie checked the battery when he started having a problem w/it on this past Thur., he checked to see if it had water in it. Three of the cell where bone dry. He called a different dealer that was open on Friday, and they said the reason it is probably not charging is beacause some coil pack or something that they believe is gone out. About a $300 fix out of warranty they said. If you have no battery and no charging system, you have NO 4x4, NO lights, and NO Speed dometer! He found that out as well! LOL...


Thanks guy for all your feed back. If you can think of anything else, please let me know.

 

500DUSE,

I know it doesn't work like that. I just figured he could raise a little hell if that stuff keeps happining. Heck, I would.