Sportsman comparison

[ridenhigh]

Hi there. I don`t have a quad. I sled and ride a sport touring motorcycle. I`m considering selling the bike to get a quad to ride at my parents farm and for the odd trail ride with friends. Mostly to use with my wife and young son. No mud bogging or hard riding expected. Considering buying one for less than $4500. I`ve always liked the Sportsmans for their ride and relatively good price. I`ve been looking at used sportsmans between 500cc and 850cc for less than $4500. There is a wide range of years and engine sizes to look at. 500, 600, 700, 800, 850, fuel injection, carb, on and on....

I`d like to hear your thoughts on the best bang for your buck and best model considering ride quality, reliability and performance. Also what mileage or operating hours should I stay below considering tying to avoid costly repairs. What common problems do different years of engines of sportsmans have that I should avoid.

Thanks for your thoughts!!!

 

[OnlyPolaris]

For yourself I would look at a 500 efi. the 500 is a bulletproof and trouble free motor. Plus the efi makes for ease of starting and no carb maintenance.

 

[ridenhigh]

Thanks. I didn't know they made a 500 efi. I thought just a 550 efi. I'll keep that in mind.
Where there any common problems with the 600 and 700 motors?
I believe drive systems were very similar most years of sportsman.
I've heard some complaints about sticky shift levers. Where some years better for this problem?
Also what mileage or hours do these quads start having maintenance issues?

 

[moyiesledhead]

I have an '08 (I think) 500 EFI and it's been great. Not a lot of miles on it yet, but no problems so far. I bought the touring model for proper 2 up riding. Certainly don't want or need any more power for what I'm doing, which sounds pretty much like what you have in mind. Can't go wrong with one IMO.

 

[whitegold]

I've had a couple of 700's ... one was an '05 the other an '06, the '05 we had to put new rings on the pistons at 4500 miles as it was going thru oil, bit other then that it was a great motor. I like the sportsmans as they are very comfortable to ride, and lots of power when you are riding with 2 people.... but as for riding on the farm it doesn't like to go slow... you have to have a real steady thumb on the throttle or it likes to jump ahead. Personally, I really like my 700, but that's just my thoughts on how it may work for you. Good luck... and happy shopping!

 

[Bnorth]

I've got an '11 sportsman 800 I picked it up with 140km on it and haven't put many on yet but it rides nice and keeps up to everyone I ride with just fine. If I was buying new I probably would have sprung the extra for the 850xp or a Can am but I think in the used market a sportsman is the best value going. If you look around there are some nice units with low km going very reasonably.

 

[OnlyPolaris]

Thanks. I didn't know they made a 500 efi. I thought just a 550 efi. I'll keep that in mind.
Where there any common problems with the 600 and 700 motors?
I believe drive systems were very similar most years of sportsman.
I've heard some complaints about sticky shift levers. Where some years better for this problem?
Also what mileage or hours do these quads start having maintenance issues?

Myself, I would stay away from the 600. there is a reason they only made them a couple years. The seven hundred was a good motor in pretty much any year. I would try stick with 05 and up. The 800 had quite a few issues in 05 when they first came out. Not so much the engine but the overall design of the quad. Never heard of any problems with the shift levers.

 

[ridenhigh]

All good points. Thank you.
I think I will avoid the 600 if I can. It might be a great motor but the fact that it didn't last in the line up very long must say something.
I'll look at 500 and 700 models mostly due to price.

Still have not heard from anyone what amount of miles and hours on a 4x4 sportsman should you steer clear of.
I'm sure I can tell alot just by looking at a machine in terms of overall condition, but I can single out many ads based on miles and hours if I know at what point they start to cost you money on maintenance.

Thanks again everyone!!

 

[ChrisG]

I own/ am parting out a sportsman 500 2007. It had a really nice ride but it just didn't seem to like to drink water for some reason? When I bought my used grizzly 660 I checked ball joints, tie rod ends, brakes, suspension bushing and whatnot just to see if it had been beaten on or maintained. My thinking is that if suspension is fairly tight over 1000km then it hasn't been beaten tooo badly. Or the guy has taken the time to replace worn parts therefore puts my mind at ease knowing maintenance was not neglected. Just my 2 cents. Personally I would stay away from anything with over 2500-3000km on it. BTW I payed 4500 for my griz with 1300km on it which I thought was not to bad considering what guys are asking for them on kijiji right now.

 

[ridenhigh]

Well I bought my first quad. Lucked out that a friends quad mechanic was ready to sell his personal machine that he owned since new. 2002 Sportsman 500 HO Special Edition. 1,400 miles on it. It is in fantastic shape. $4000. I tried it out and am enjoying it. Thanks all for your advice! I now have a little personalizing to do and this isn't the right section to ask necessarily but I'll give it a shot.

Where can you buy front and rear brush guards/bush bumpers for a 2002 Sportsman? Seems hard to find. I'm looking to muscle up the appearance a bit and give some added protection. The front brush guard will need to accommodate the factory Polaris winch.

I'm also looking for fender guards with adjustable passenger foot rests and a Princess worthy passenger seat/quad box. I think I have these tracked down but if you have input on a good source with good prices I'd like to hear from you.

Thanks again all!

 

[wellluck]

Good for you. I had a 2002 500 h.o. Sportsman and it treated me very well. Didn't have to spend a dime on it other then regular maintenance and wear and tear. Believe me we did hard riding, really putting the machines to the test and it stood up to anything thrown at it. The best/quickest starting machine in the group I rode with and there was every popular make. I loved it and wish I never sold it. Good luck with yours. I'm sure it will treat you great.