That's probably why the head gasket could have leaked. They're designed to only use once and if you loosen the head bolts up,the squish band on the gasket which has already been seated when torqued is flattened out and prone to leaks. I had to find this out the hard way myself years ago. 1970 as a matter of fact when I took the head off an old 66 CL77 305 Honda Scrambler and tried to reuse the head gasket.Didn't do too good on this old copper gasket. http://www.ebay.com/itm/COPPER-HEAD-GASKET-FOR-HONDA-305-DREAM-SUPER-HAWK-SCRAMBLER-ENGINES-/271949139779?hash=item3f516e8f43&vxp=mtr Plus the guy selling it says it can be used over and over.. Big joke that is..

 

Just got my 1996 sportsman 500 project tegether w motor and axle swap from a parts machine i had. The parts rig was a 1997 500 i noticed the transmission shaft for the brake rotor was threaded for a nylock nut on the 97. On the 96 the trans. Shaft for to hold the brack rotor has no threads for a nut. It the rotor suppose the just float on the shaft. Seems odd to me. Cant find any pics of how it should go. Would rather not swap trans from the other one.

 

96 model the rotor just slipped over the splines,held solid against the caliper pads. Had a few problems with these if the rear caliper piston froze or brake was adjusted too tight and would overheat the rotor and make a squealing noise. 97 models went to a floating type rotor,but rattled like crazy on some. Both systems had their own faults.. Later they got smart and moved the brake to the rear wheel. Shows both type rotors here.Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Polaris, Suzuki & Kawasaki OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse

 

Wow dumb design. The spline shaft is worn so the rotor sits crooked in between the pads not to mention binds up a bit when brake is not on. **** poor on there part. At least on 97 model they got smart and put a nut on the shaft to hold rotor in!

 

I know the primary clutch is balance, but if i take and use the inner sheeve off of another clutch from another 500 non ebs that i have will it thtow balance off. I was kind of asuming kist the spider and outer sheeve were balaced more so.

 

Have had customers at the shop buy old clutches for parts and do this with no ill effect.At least what most told me. Only way to know is to try it. You can tell pretty quick if the balance is way out while machine is at an idle. Plus if you can get the inner sheath cheap enough,better than forking over over 400 bucks for a new clutch.

 

I Will give it a go. I decided to replace the inner and outer brass bushings as well as worn clutch weight bolts. Even the epi rebuild kits are high priced for what your getting. Only reason i want to do inner sheeve is because one of them was pitted from corosion where the bushing rides. The other sheeve i have is in perfect shape except for a slight groove where belt mainly rode. I just hate to press new bushings in and get it all together with ill results, but i think it will be ok.

 

Just wanted to update the use of a rear clutch sheeve from another sportsman 500 clutch. Got it all back together and it works fine. Does not appear or feel to be misbalanced.so yes can be done with out any problems. Thanks for the advice! Now the primary is nice and tight like it should be.

 

This will help others that have the same problem.