So, The movers will be here next week to ship my stuff and atv. To virginia for my next tour of duty. So I figured I’d do a little review or my likes and dislikes of the bike.
2013 sportsman 500ho carbureted
Purchased at Hals equipment in ketchikan alaska brand new for 6k. It has seen everything from mud up to the headlights, deep river crossings, And long 50+ mile days on hard pack.
Likes: for a 500. Way more power than I thought for. 500. Even compared to my 2000 sportsman RSE.
– ride is amazing. I often. Only when on flat trails will ride 3 up. My son in front of me (he’s 3). And the wife out back. And have never had an issue.. Power, suspension, over heat……..nothing.
– it’s not bad on fuel at all
– I loved the true AWD. SPECIALY WHEN MY BUDDIES ON THERE 3 wheeled wonders would get stuck. And I would crawl out of it.
– very reliable, ( knock on wood)
-polaris brand 2500 winch. So far no issues. It has many days of full length 30-40ft of heavy load ( had a kawi brute force tied to my bumper) pulling up a mountain. Has been submerged…..a lot. The only dislike about it is the engage/disengage swich feels cheap, Like break off when you touch it cheap. But no issues yet.
Dislikes: the stock tires are almost bald with 1000 miles of hard pack, sharp rocks, rock crawling, drifting corners, and the occasional mud pit. I will say when new. They were not that bad. They just wore out way to quickly for me.
That’s really my only dislike.
Broken so far. Right front cv axle. Had a torn boot. But drove it 45 miles at a high rate of speed. Before I noticed. And completely fried the joint.
-transmission selector switch. (I think the lake had something to do with it). But it was replaced under warranty
-thermo switch. I had a constant hot light. I disconnected the switch 120 miles ago, and so far no problems. Fan comes on and off as normal.
Fluids. Mobil one 520 synth in trans. Mobil 0w40 in engine, Synth ATF in front diff. Is changEd to these after the first oil change at 25 hours.
Overall… I’m at 1025 miles, over 100 hours and this thing us taken everything I have thrown at it. I’m convinced the engine (500cc). Is bullet proof. My first one survived my teenage years.
I know, I know. A full size 4×4 utility quad was never meant to be jumped, drifted, wheelied. Or drivin with the throttle pinned for miles on wide open logging roads. And she has done so, without a hiccup.
So, The movers will be here next week to ship my stuff and atv. To virginia for my next tour of duty. So I figured I’d do a little review or my likes and dislikes of the bike.
2013 sportsman 500ho carbureted
Purchased at Hals equipment in ketchikan alaska brand new for 6k. It has seen everything from mud up to the headlights, deep river crossings, And long 50+ mile days on hard pack.
Likes: for a 500. Way more power than I thought for. 500. Even compared to my 2000 sportsman RSE.
– ride is amazing. I often. Only when on flat trails will ride 3 up. My son in front of me (he’s 3). And the wife out back. And have never had an issue.. Power, suspension, over heat……..nothing.
– it’s not bad on fuel at all
– I loved the true AWD. SPECIALY WHEN MY BUDDIES ON THERE 3 wheeled wonders would get stuck. And I would crawl out of it.
– very reliable, ( knock on wood)
-polaris brand 2500 winch. So far no issues. It has many days of full length 30-40ft of heavy load ( had a kawi brute force tied to my bumper) pulling up a mountain. Has been submerged…..a lot. The only dislike about it is the engage/disengage swich feels cheap, Like break off when you touch it cheap. But no issues yet.
Dislikes: the stock tires are almost bald with 1000 miles of hard pack, sharp rocks, rock crawling, drifting corners, and the occasional mud pit. I will say when new. They were not that bad. They just wore out way to quickly for me.
That’s really my only dislike.
Broken so far. Right front cv axle. Had a torn boot. But drove it 45 miles at a high rate of speed. Before I noticed. And completely fried the joint.
-transmission selector switch. (I think the lake had something to do with it). But it was replaced under warranty
-thermo switch. I had a constant hot light. I disconnected the switch 120 miles ago, and so far no problems. Fan comes on and off as normal.
Fluids. Mobil one 520 synth in trans. Mobil 0w40 in engine, Synth ATF in front diff. Is changEd to these after the first oil change at 25 hours.
Overall… I’m at 1025 miles, over 100 hours and this thing us taken everything I have thrown at it. I’m convinced the engine (500cc). Is bullet proof. My first one survived my teenage years.
I know, I know. A full size 4×4 utility quad was never meant to be jumped, drifted, wheelied. Or drivin with the throttle pinned for miles on wide open logging roads. And she has done so, without a hiccup.
Hi guy’s I’m looking at 2004 sportsman 800. Now the owners family member was riding it and there was no oil in motor. So there’s a constant and really loud noise from sounds like RH bottom of motor.
My thoughts is its the bottom end and needs a full rebuild.
My question is has anyone had a shop rebuild one? and how much was it?
Hi guy’s I’m looking at 2004 sportsman 800. Now the owners family member was riding it and there was no oil in motor. So there’s a constant and really loud noise from sounds like RH bottom of motor.
My thoughts is its the bottom end and needs a full rebuild.
My question is has anyone had a shop rebuild one? and how much was it?
For mothers day the wife wanted to go on a bike ride, she took her mtn bikeiI took my Polaris Figured it has been raining all night and morning. Found a few puddles in the road and went through them, my 1998 Polaris sportsman 500 sputtered when wet. But ddidn’t die. It started to rain more and it seemed to want to die when it got wet. After a few times it would die, but always start back up. My question is what the $%&#& happens. I take this elk huntingin rain and snow so iI’d hate to be stranded because my ATVgets wet. What should I look for? When it starts up I can’t go too fast because it Biggs down and dies.
New to the forum. I have a 2015 sportsman. When I start off in high it stutters for a moment them goes. It only does it in high not low. Has anyone else had this problem? Does anyone know what it could be? Thanks. It is all stock.
over a Outlander Max XT 650?
I’m working 2 deals on both quads, they are near the same price.
We rented a Max a week ago for 8 hours, it was only a 500.
I read so much stuff about the Max having issues.
I’m sure the Polaris has It’s share also.
I know, this is probably a stupid question to be asking on a Polaris
site.
The wife and I will probably like either quad, I just hate the thought of
spending 10 grand on something we won’t like.
Thank you for any advice you may/can give.
I have a strange starting problem I have not been able to find when searching. The machine is a 2007 Sportsman 500 Deluxe EFI.
ATV ran fine, was parked in the garage. The next day, it would not start. When you turn the key to run, the dash goes through it’s dance. It normally won’t turn over, and the dash seems to clear to just a check engine and HOT graphics. Then it reboots and starts over. If you hold the key on start, then it might crank during one of the reboots, almost catch, and then stop again.
Using the pull start didn’t work either.
Any ideas? It sounds like some kind of fishy electrical problem I am really not looking forward to. Didn’t expect my first post would be for a problem.
Any of you 500 HO guys have the snorkit stealth snorkel kit on your bike? If so can you send or post pictures of it please. Would like to see what it looks like. Even install pictures if you have them. Thanks
I brought it around mid 2014 and I think I now may have it setup for my requirements. Attached are a few pictures.
Not photographed but I quickly learnt (after 6 stakes on one trip) to replace the tyres with run flat tyres.
Also not directly photographed, I installed a Runva 3,500lb winch and following on the same principals of 4WDriving I installed a second battery.
I wanted to quieten the unit down so I brought a Kolpin run quiet exhaust… waste of money.
For the LED Bar light I utilised the wiring to the original highbeam light as this light is useless when gear is placed on the front carry rack.
