My Sportsman just clicked 5,200 Miles last weekend while riding in the Black Hills. Besides the glowing exhaust issues and melting plastics, which were fixed once I went to the HMF Exhaust, this machine has been pretty much trouble free. Original wheel bearings, original ball joints, and only a few of the bushings have needed replacing. But over the weekend, this happened:

I was coming up over the top of a hill, and when I got over the crest, it dropped off sooner than expected. I think the hard landing in combination with the extra weight up front from the gear and rotopax’s I was carrying took out the spring. Was able to get it back to the trailer, and luckily this happened during our last hour of riding.

I have to say, this machine has seen a lot of hard riding once the exhaust issues were fixed, so I’m impressed with how it’s held up.

I would recommend checking your springs and retainers if you’re getting up there in miles – it seems like maybe the springs get fatigued over time.