Polaris Sportsman 500

[Gull Lake Guy]

I am going to be picking up a new 500 Sportsman as soon as it arrives at the dealer. It is a special edition "Silver" color with chrome rims and different tires which appear to be lower in height and wider than the stock ones. My understanding is these tires have a stiffer sidewall, which should eliminate some of the "roll" when cornering. My question - Can anyone give me a comparison between these tires and the stock ones? Thanks in advance for any info.

[brushpile]

before you go with the polaris--check out the Artic Cat. It has a smaller chassie, more torque and you can take her almost to the top of the gas tank into a puddle before you get in trouble. Put a winch on the front of this gem and there is no place she can't go!

[TQO]

Would never buy another Polaris. I own 3 and they have been the rudest people in the world to work with. Not the dealer, but the customer service.

I bought a brand new bike in July 2001. Got 16.8 miles on it and blew the motor. Not just blew the motor, but blew the whole side of the block off. Brought it back and they rebuilt the motor (after I requested at least a short block). Took it to a friends cabin 700 miles one way in Canada, and blew the motor again after 5 miles. So far I have 2000 miles on the trailer and 21.8 on the ground. Not happy.

I own an outfitting business in Michigan and Polaris insisted that I must be using that bike for something other than it was intended. The bike never left the road and never touched mud or a hill. Very arrogant people.

The bike was rebuilt a second time and it has about 750 miles since then, but the day I got the bike back, I got my warranty expiration notice. Not happy.

I rode an Artic Cat during a hunting trip at Christmas and it was nice. May look into those.

By the way. The Polaris broke down on an ATV poker run that we sponsor in the UP of Michigan. We had 60 bikes on the poker run and 6 Polaris broke down and 1 1987 Yamaha Warrior. All the Polaris were 2 years and younger.

Have great riding.

TQO

[Jig Master]

TQO - The guy asked about the tires on his Sportsman 500, not about your particular experiences. If you have a problem with Polaris, start your own thread, maybe title it "I hate Polaris," but don't feel compelled to bash a product when a guy is asking a simple question.

Can anyone help out Gull Lake Guy, without bashing his purchase?

[Gull Lake Guy]

Thanks Jig Master. I thought my question might evoke a post or 2 about the error of my brand preference, but I couldn't get the info I was looking for without naming the model. I am apparently "fortunate" that I have not experienced a problem with any of my Polaris products in the past, and I will continue to purchase them until my own experiences dictate that I should look at a competitor. Nuf' said. Can anybody help with my original tire question ?

[bigeyes03]

that is a good machine that you are buying. some people i know have arctic cats and think that the polaris is better. we just traded our xplorer 300 in for the magnum 500. we were very satisfied with the support and the dealers. i think you will really like the machine.
bigeyes

[brushpile]

Gull Lake Guy
In my previous post I really didn't feel like I was bashing your purchase. I will tell you this the inlaws have two sportsman 500's.
They operate a large feedlot and they are their workhorses. If these guys can find a flaw in a machine they will. They are very hard on equipment. They have found a flaw and the Artic cat deals with it.

Enjoy your new ride--sorry I was no help with the tire ???