Polaris Woes

Polaris Woes

I normally don't like to talk much tech, as I would rather be spending time out seeing the sites but

several things have been annoying me about my Polaris Sportsman 500 H.O.

Before I get to the things that annoy me, let me first talk about the things that attracted me to the  Polaris Sportsman 500 in the first place.

1: Price.. I got mine for 5500 plus tax brand new. Using tried and true technology Polaris has managed to make a long lasting utility ATV for a reasonable price. I'm not about to pay 10 G's for a 1000cc Can-Am that is loaded to the gills! Remember that a more expensive ATV doesn't  help you explore the back country any better.

2: Utilitarian.. It only has the options I need.Steel wheels (instead of expensive and brittle alloy) 4x4 and reverse. I chose to not go with a bigger larger ATV with features like power steering and fuel injection to keep future costs down. Expensive options in my opinion are more likely to fail down the road and require highly trained techs to repair.

3: Dimensions.. at 83x48x48 it is large enough to seat just about anyone. I am 6'3" and 200 lbs and i fit on it just fine. a few extra inches of ground clearance wouldn't hurt but its not the end of the world. Also it has 11.25" of ground clearance, where the Kawasaki Brute Force only has 9.4" making the Sportsman ideal for clearing larger rocks.

4: Power.. The 500cc motor provides more than enough power to haul me and plenty of gear up the steepest of hills and even in the sand. As long as I keep up on service and have newer air filters it never really bogs down. It goes just as fast as my buddy's 650, just takes a few more seconds to get there!

Now... The things that annoy me

+Polaris went through all of the trouble to develop this new system that was supposed to revolutionize how we carry our gear on ATVs. They called it "Lock & Ride" where they basically turned the metal grid style racks we were all familiar with and happy with, and swapped them with flat plastic racks with no grids, only little holes where you can stick what are basically boat drain plugs in to hold your gear down. By doing this they made it so that regular aftermarket rack bags and other accessories with the standard u-bolt design would not work, forcing you purchase Polaris brand accessories. 

Unfortunately Polaris does not manufacture nearly as many accessories  as the aftermarket companies do, so we miss out on the ability to utilize some really cool gear!

Also, boat drain plugs don't do a very good job of holding down things that are really heavy when on a rocky trail that bounces around. 

Recently I purchased the Kolpin Fuel pack Jr with the Lock & Ride bracket for added fuel security on long trails. It only came with 2 of the plugs which are rubber grommets with screws and washers so when you tighten them down the rubber grommet becomes fatter inside the plug, therefor holding it snugly in place (in theory). There was only one position I could make this fit on my rear rack. Everything seemed fine until i got into rougher pieces of the trail. The whole fuel carrier which was still attached to the bracket kept bouncing off of the rear rack. I quickly realized I had to keep this thing attached some other way. I did what any redneck would do and bungeed it down to the rack bag and away I went.

Recently I also purchased an Ogio Honcho rear ATV cargo bag. I bought it because it had the best ratings out of all of the ATV bags I have found and it was a soft bag ( I dont like the thought of rolling and having a hard shell cargo box landing on me). It also has a dust shield to keep belongings dust free, and 2 insulated coolers for carrying beverages or lunch. Only problem was that it has Velcro straps which are supposed to attach to a metal grid style rack. The velcro straps weren't long enough to reach any of the holes in the factory composite rack Polaris has switched to!!

I tried several different ways of mounting this bag to the bike, and I am still trying to perfect it. I ended up drilling holes into the rack and bolting the fuel carrier onto the rack which now vibrates terribly, and the Ogio rack bag still shifts around on me quite a bit on steep slopes. Polaris should make an aftermarket steel rack with a grid style system to replace the crappy composite racks they come with now! Or better yet, just start manufacturing them with the old style racks again!!

I have considered butchering my 01 Sportsman 500's rack to try to retrofit it on my 2012 Sportsman 500, but have decided against it.. Maybe if i found an older style rack for cheap online I would consider trying it.

Polaris should bee ashamed of this. In my opinion it is a cheap marketing trick to get people to have to buy Polaris accessories. Polaris should focus on what they do best, which is build quality ATVs. Let aftermarket companies do what they do best, which is build quality accessories.