2011 500 HO question

[outback]

For those of you with them, how are hill desents with no engine brake on such a heavy machine. My last ATV was a Kawasaki 360 and the engine brake came in handy on a few steep hills. I will hopefully be taking delivery of a new sage 500 HO with lock and ride rear cargo box and windshield on Sat. The lack of EBS and a dedicated front brake are my big concerns, but haven't heard any complaints.

[jordaman17]

it's not bad, can get scary at times if you take risk on insane desents. but yea it's ok

[antoniodef]

I hadn't ridden an ATV with EBS, but have ridden 90s ATVs. I was quite surprised at how much my 500 brakes itself not on the throttle compared to older ATVs. Is it like EBS? Probably not at all, but have a fell on the handlebars stopping while standing? Yes.

There is only one disc brake on the rear, and rear brakes don't do much stopping anyway. I would be surprised if the brake setup ever caused an accident.

ADC is different than EBS though. EBS can be added. Test drive one first though, you don't want to buy a machine you regret.

[john luttrell]

I have a new 500 HO Touring and it came equipped with the Engine Braking System, I was not aware that the non touring 500 HO didn't. I can tell you that the EBS system works great, even while riding two up in the mountains, I rarely have to apply the brakes on a steep decent.

[Thomasj]

You have a dedicated from brake, its the lever on the handle bars. This is a big myth with polaris machines. It just activates the rear brake a little too. It will NOT lock up the rear unless you really squeeze the shit out the lever and you dont have to do that. You have the foot pedal if you want to add more braking to the rear. My 800 does not have EBS and I can creep down steep hills no problem. When you squeeze the lever it does not put equal pressure to all brakes. Just like your car, your rear brakes are doing next to nothing unless you put some pressure into the pedal or in this case the lever.

Also, just cause it does not have EBS does not mean you have no engine braking. If you are riding and let off the gas your will have full engine braking until the clutches let go of the belt. When you give your atv gas the primary closes up and the secondary opens up. the two are constantly fighting each other. This is what causes them to squeeze and grip your belt. When you let off the gas and start to slow the whole process happens backwards until your slow enough for the clutches to stop squeezing the belt. So you have engine braking when your on and off the gas at speed. You just dont have it at very low speeds. Say your at the top of a hill and you want to creep down it you will have no engine braking. I dont see this as an issue cause polaris did not put engine braking to the front wheels. I see that the EBS makes challenging downhills more difficult due to the rear wheels dragging and sliding.

[outback]

Thanks for easing my mind everyone. The Kawi was the only cvt I had ever riden (lots of gear atvs).

[NineLives]

Originally Posted by john luttrell

I have a new 500 HO Touring and it came equipped with the Engine Braking System, I was not aware that the non touring 500 HO didn't. I can tell you that the EBS system works great, even while riding two up in the mountains, I rarely have to apply the brakes on a steep decent.

X2

I have heard various reviews of the EBS, some dont like them at all, but I would not own another quad without it. You rarely need to even touch the brakes even going down the steepest decents, It sure safes on the brakes.

2010 500 H.O. Touring.