Bruce when was the last time you rode a Polaris? The EBS seems to work pretty good to me.

 

The last time was last summer it was on a step down hill when a new rider lost his nerve and didn't want to go down a step hill on his Polaris.The hill was about a 1000ft long with a sharp turn at the bottom.He had a 05 SPORTSMAN 500 so I rode it down for him and he rode my outty.down the same hill.After that I was happy to be back on the outty.Until you come down a steep hill with a outty you don't know what it's like to be in control desending a step offcamber hill.If I had to go back to Polaris I would put split the brake system on it so you could add front brake before EBS started locking up the rear wheels.Wensday on our weekly ride I watch a X2 come off a step hill a lot better but not as good as a outty.All of the X2s have ADC or so the Polaris boys tell me.

 

For the folks who question the Polaris AWD. For 99% of the unwanted engagement problems this is the main reason for it. Maybe Polaris should put some type of saftey switch or something in that made it to where you had to stop. But that would defeat the purpose of the "ON DEMAND" feature. I personally love the system even though on my first one I had an issue like what is described below. I do wish dealers would do more in education to let customers know how to prevent the issues they unknowingly cause.


It is rare for the Awd to grab while in 2wd. In rare conditions like maybe on ice or on a lift sometimes when you get the rear wheels spinning at about 45-50 mph it can try and snap in. In MOST cases as long as the front wheels were moving at some speed (it doesn't have to be alot) the front wheels would not engage. On the other hand, if you do alot of wheelies or jumping with the AWD turned on you can cause this to happen. The propshaft can twist itself out of index and cause a vibration that can cause unwanted engagement. For those that don't know, The AWD doesn't engage until the rear wheels slip. If you have it turned on and go and jump off a ramp or hill or whatever you can get air on when you leave the ground the rear wheels increase dramaticly in speed and since they are spinning faster than the front wheels, the awd engages and it slams in really hard to catch the front wheels up with the rear. When this happens it puts way more stress on the propshaft than under normal engagements and it will overtime twist itself out of index. The yokes change there alignments and this causes the engagement issue. So if you keep it in 2wd unless you need it may help reduce the possibility of this happening. This has caused the unwanted engagement in all but one and it was a warped front driveshaft. Oh, and don't say you don't play like that in 4WD, we all do. Maybe we forget its on or just not think about it. But I bet you will now. The AWD setup on the Polaris is simple. So simple it can give you a headache when there is a problem

 

I got my first Polaris in 91. I have ridden them ever since. Right now I have an 05 500 Sportsman. Down hill problems are due to experience. If you are on soft dirt covered in leaves, or gravel, the back wheels are going to chatter if you just try and idle down it. Once you get used to keeping a little throttle on, and feathering the brakes before you get up a bunch of speed, you will be fine. The only hill that even made me a little nervous was an old drag line, about a 50% grade. It had not been used in 30 years. It had no ruts what so ever. Going up was not bad, but it had a huge tree down at the top and we could not go around and had to come back down it. It was a little soft, and it was in the fall, and covered in about a foot of leaves. It was not slaming into the trees on the side that worried me, it was the 10 foot ditch 8 feet past the bottom. You had to make a switch back turn right when you got there. So any speed was not an option. The person behind me, was worried watching me slip and slide, and get rolling down it. But I was ok when I got there. They guy behind me wanted to know if he needed to iron the pucker out of my seat when he got down lol. This situation is just the visco lock vid, where the guy could not get up the rutted hill. Most of the time, when you learn what, and how your machine does what it does, you will be fine.
On a funny side note about AC, man those are tough. We we out riding, when a guy slamed a Rubi into the rear of an older ragged out AC 500. It almost threw the AC rider off of the bike he was hit so hard. When they stopped, the Rubi had the front bumper pushed into the tires, and the front rack pushed back to the point all the front plastic was pushed over the gas tank. All it did the the AC was leave a ding about the size of a dime in the muffler, and rinkled a mud flap. I would not have believed it if I had not been right beside of it when it happened. I still wont give up my Po Po, but those AC's are a rock.
A nice little sight I found with some good video.
Polaris 4wd Review

 

I owened Four Polaris and have had to many out of control down hill rides to ever go back.

 

I may rag on their visco-lok but I'll say that their EBS is the best I've ever ridden hands down. The Outlander had the most amazing engine braking I've ever experienced on an ATV. It impressed the heck out of me. BRP/Can-Am really did an outstanding job on the EBS on the Outlander. I think so anyway.

 

James-thanks for the video link. I had seen most but not all of those videos. Steep ascents with rocks or trees on the trail makes the visco lok look pretty unpredictable. I read that if you put bigger tires on, it increases the lock in time. Again, they all have good and bad points. I ride trails similar to those on the videos, and will state that the Polaris' handles them well uphill. And I don't have anymore trouble than the AC, Yamaha, Kawi that I ride with going down them. Like to ride with a Can Am on them to see first hand up and down hills, know it will smoke me on the straights.

 

I enjoyed that link also James1701.

Yes. The EBS on the Can-Am I have heard is really great. Of course, in a downhill situation it had to be because if you crash your frame is pretty much toast. Relax BRP fan boys. I'm just giving Bruce a bad time here. I don't know much about the Can-Am frame and I really don't care about it.

In regards to AC, isn't that pretty much a Suzuki with a different body? I thought I heard they were paying Suzuki to supply their engines or something.

 

They are building their own engines now, the 650 H1 motor is the first one.

 

Here is a nice ADC review.

Polaris EBS Review