crobtex

Well, I made the leap!

I'll pick up my new Polaris Sportsman 600 tomorrow.

I seriously considered the Grizzley, but I'm not into racing or jumping. I just need something to maintain 10 acres....pull a mower, a trailer and haul horse poop out of the pens. And oh yea.....hunt, fish and sight see off of it.

CR

PADZZ

Congrats cobtex. The Sportsman will suit you just fine.

Palmetto_kid

what was your deciding factor over the 700? or over the 500? I dont know anyone with a 600.

crobtex

Actually, the few hundred dollars more for the 700 was a factor for what I needed.
Since I don't have a lot of extra cash, I check things out pretty throughly and try not to over buy or under buy. The primary use for it will be farm (ranch) related use. (Everyone knows that you will need to mount rod holders and a gun case to do this type of work. ) Looking at the towing capacity, etc, the 700 and 600 are the same. According to two different dealers, the main difference is speed. I don't plan on doing a lot of racing or jumping.

I had a Honda 4 Trax 4x4 that I knew would not do the job. The 500 probably would have worked, but I gave myself a little extra by going with the 600.

I'm sure this don't make scense to anyone but me.

CR

crobtex

The new Polaris is nice. I haven' had time to ride it, but looks good sitting in the garage.

Question for you Polaris folks and anyone else that might know. While going over the details when I picked it up, the salesman said it was very important to put fuel stabilizer in the tank when it was going to sit for two or three days. Is the carburator and fuel system really that sensitive to fuel sitting it for a few days?
He also stressed not flipping the AWD switch when the rear wheels were spinning, because it would crash the front differential. You can shift to 4WD at any speed as long as the wheels are not spinning. Most of my use will be in 4WD anyway, so it should not be a problem for me, but it is a little scary.

Anything else about these bad boys that I should know?

CR

TheMoose

I can understand them saying to not put it in 4WD while the rears are spinning, the front & rear tires are spining at diffrent rates & that would cause a problem.

As for the fuel stabilizer I only put that in when it's going to be a month or two before I'm going to ride again (that doesn't happen very often!! ).
I usually have the carbs off my Raptor a couple of times a year anyway to rejet for new mods or a change in elevation & I always clean the carbs when they're off.
Sta Bil is cheap insurance so it wouldn't hurt but it's only really needed for storage IMO.

tmoore

crobtex, the polaris' front wheels will only pull if it detects the rear wheel starting to spin. The when you have it in AWD mode you never really notice it. It makes it nice for turning not having the front wheels locked in. It don't know about the fuel stabilizer they didn't tell me that when I bought my 500 a month ago. I persone wouldn't worry about it unless it was just going to set for a month or more with out starting or maybe if it was in the winter and you wasn't riding much and going to have the same fuel in the till spring or something. Good luck with the 600. When I went to buy my thats was I was leaning towards, but I ended up buying the 500.

crobtex

Thanks for the info.

Palmetto_kid

My pops bought a 500 last fall. Here is one thing you might experience.

Sometimes when I take off from a dead stop in AWD, one of the front tires locks in and makes steering tough! It will pull to one side badly. I just put it in reverse and backup a little and it unlocks itself.

Just an FYI

BTW, what was the diff in the 500 & 600? is it the v-twin option?
I totally understand your reasoning for going with the 600, that 700 sticker is awfull expensive....

tmoore

The 500 is single cyl. the 600 and 700's are an even-firing parallel twin, not a V. I guess that means both pistons go up at the same time, and fire together. I don't really understand that concept, but thats what I make of it. Can anyone else explain it better or tell me if I'm wrong?

dodgeram

the twins are even firing meaning both pistons go up and down together one is firing while the other is on the intake stroke just like the old british twin bikes , makes for more torque( one piston firing every revolution , if I remember right)

you wont have the one wheel lockup problem with the 600 as they have the 4wd disconnect located in the center section of the differential instead of the outer hubs (all 2004.5 sportmans have this now, only the 600 & 700 had it since 2000)

as for the stabil for a couple days, come on gas aint that bad

and the don't switch into 4wd while spinning thing is the same for our trucks .......... just imagine the shockloads on stuff if it slams in while your spinning under power ........... ouch

I always just leave my polaris in awd mode, unless I'm running a hard packed road..........why not

only thing I didn't like about the twins is the lack of some manual start method(recoil or kick) ............... I'd hate to be walking home cause I killed my battery winching and accidently stalled it before it was recharged ......

besides I found my 500 didn't turn over too well with the battery at -30 so I pull started it instead

oh yeah sweet ride man ............... you made a good choice ................have fun

dodgeram

oh yeah almost forgot check out http://atvfrontier.com/ it's like the atv version of DTR ................. there's one user goes by the name of snowride ..... he really knows his polaris atv's and he makes and sells a reverse overide eliminator kit if you find using that button all the time too annoyning

jwtuc

I own a sportsman 700 and 500. All atv's have their advantages and disadvantages. I am happy with what I have, but the best motor on the market is kawasaki 700. Arctic cat uses this motor on their new 700. It has great ground clearance for mudding and independant susp. This is what I would buy. If you do more high speed sport riding but still want 4wd. , then the kawasaki prairie 700 is better suited with rear swing arm and lower center of gravity.

ramcummins

Excelent choice, You'll love it. Mine sat for about 3 months with no fuel stabilizer in it and it fired right up. as for the 4wd I have fliped the switch while it was spinning and it hasn't hurt anything because it won't engage until the tires are going the same speed. Have fun with your new machine.

pogorules

Does Polaris still make that 6 wheel drive brute? Man, that was one awesome ride. I saw an article on it that stated it would climb up any muddy hill.