[TXRonnie]

Me and my grandson went out for a ride this weekend and he put another 256 miles on my 500X2 for a grand total of 9980 miles on it. This has been the most reliable ATV I have ever owned. The only time it has ever seen a dealer was when I bought it off of the show room floor. It has never failed to start and it has never left me stranded anywhere on the trails. It rides nice and smooth and even though it doesn't have a ton of power it has taken me everywhere I have ever wanted to go. The turf mode is great and it turns so easy you would think it has PS. I have been all over Utah, Colorado and many other states and it always went without a hitch. The 500 motor is probably the most reliable motor that has ever been put into an ATV and I have read where some people have 15000 miles on them and are still riding. Nothing has ever broken and all I have ever done to it is replace wear items. Here is a list of things that have been replaced or fixed in 10000 miles.

Break pads-around 3 sets
Front ball joints-2 sets
Springs- HD's on the front
Rear shocks-replaced with a set of used ones off ebay because of leakage
CV boots-replaced 1
U joints-2 sets
Rear axle bearings-1 set
Front axle bearings-1 set
Air filters-around 3
Spark plug-replaced at 5000 miles
Battery-on the 3rd

Here is a list of things that went wrong that I fixed

Ground wire insulation wore through and was causing some spit and sputtering and backfires. Once I found it in the wiring harness I taped it real good with electrical tape then put wiring loom on it and all has been good for about 5 years now.

Ground wire loosened at the frame causing the same backfiring as the ground wire rubbing through. Tighted and all is good.

Repaired an oil leak on the cam chain cover on the right side of the motor last night with a new gasket.

I am also cleaning the throttle body with throttle body cleaner. It was very dirty when I gave it a look over last night.

The splines on the shaft coming out of the tranny are wore real bad. With the prop shaft on with a new yoke it still wobbles real bad on the splines so I have taken the prop shaft out. Since it is my backup ride to the 550 and I don't mud it is still a good trail machine and it will still go everywhere I need to go even in 2 wheel drive. Since the tranny has to come out and the cases split on it to put the new part in I will leave it like it is instead of spending the bucks to fix it.

As you can see nothing major has went wrong with it. I would buy another one in a heartbeat especially with the 500 motor in it.

Ronnie

 

[Polaris Bear]

That has been a great machine! keep her going for another 10,000!

 

[Unlimitedor]

Whats the average trail speed you run the quad at? Also with 10k on the machine you never stated anything about clutch issues or belts.

 

[5254]

If maintained, you can easily go 10 years on an original belt.

Regardless of speed, 10,000 miles is 10,000 miles.

 

[Unlimitedor]

Not true. Speed is a large factor in clutch life. Springs flatten along with weights at higher speeds. Clutch pressure also wears the belt out when drivin faster. This machine is a x2 which also puts more strain on clutch/belt. I am just wondering the driving conditions

 

[Boburk]

3 sets of brake pads in 10k miles? What pads are you using?

Sean

 

[GaleHawkins]

This machine is a x2 which also puts more strain on clutch/belt.

How did you compute that a 2x4 puts more strain on the clutch/belt than a 4x4?

 

[Rooskey]

Only three air filters in 10,000 miles. I would think that it would need one at least every 1,000 miles?

 

[5254]

Got 2,250 miles on mine, will replace it this winter.

 

[Boburk]

This machine is a x2 which also puts more strain on clutch/belt.

How did you compute that a 2x4 puts more strain on the clutch/belt than a 4x4?

He is saying it is a sportsman X2. It is about 6 inches longer than a normal sportsman and has two seats (or a truck bed that can be used to haul stuff).

Sean

 

[clutch1]

Sounds like a lot of bearings and ball joints to me. The engine may be bullet proof but the rest seems kind of fragile.

 

[Thomasj]

LOL, those are EXCELLENT numbers. I usually do ball joints every 1000 miles, and wheel bearings ever 800 to 1000. Basically I would have done everything two to three times as much as Ronnie had to. I think the type of riding and terrain have a lot to do with it. Ronnie seems to do a lot of long rides in the south and not beating the machine too hard. I usually go out on weekends in the northeast and see who can make through the deepest hole lol.

Either way Ronnie there is NOTHING wrong with having to do what you listed with 10K on it. I dont think a Polaris would even make it 10K around here lol. Too much water and mud. Really takes its toll on everything.

 

[GTOutside]

Only three air filters in 10,000 miles. I would think that it would need one at least every 1,000 miles?

I am close to 10,000 and only changed mine once. Now I just clean it. K&N

 

[TXRonnie]

Bob-I have tried different kids of pads and they all seem to last the same amount of time. It started with POPO then I tried EBC and now this third set is POPO again. They still have alot of pad left so it looks like it will average around 4000 miles a set if these last 2000 more miles.

This is a trail machine only. I avoid the mud like the plague and only go through it when necessary. It has never been abused or put to bed without getting cleaned up the same day or next day and I coat the whole quad down with WD 40 after it gets a bath.

I forgot to mention I changed the belt one time at 5000 miles. I had a big cross country ride planned in Utah where we camped on the trail and did over 1000 miles and I didn't want the hassle of a broke belt on the trail so I just changed it to be on the safe side. I also changed the little bolts holding the weights on because they had a little wobble to them and the bolts fixed that. The belt that came off still looked in great condition.

Since I only trail ride and I am usually the guy up front air filters last me a long time. Not a lot of dust when you are in the lead.

I have used Mobile 1 0W40 for motor oil, 5W20 dino oil in the tranny and Mobile 1 Synthetic ATF in the front diff from the first oil change. I use the Pure filter 14610 or 14612. I change my oil every 50 hours and the front diff every 100. Seems like the tranny can go forever on the dino oil. It always looks fresh when I change it so I just let it go until I think it needs it.

The little bed has few squeeks but once the helment is on you never hear it.

My average speed is 14mph per my hours and miles.

Ronnie

 

[GaleHawkins]

700 hours is not a lot of hours for an engine with that kind of care. Going over 50 hours on an oil change can shorten the life of the engine I expect more than one may realize.

Avoiding the mud is key to a long life too unless one is doing major tear downs of the chassis and replacing bearings and seals often.

I do understand many ATV's are bought to be abused and that is OK because they do not have a soul as such. Putting one in deep mud, creek beds (sand) and the like will take out the moving parts well before their natural expected death.

It seems like the more beer in the rider the shorter the life of the ATV will be too.
Picked up on that fact from watching Youtube clips only.

Someone was posting about the life they were getting out of some Polaris UTV's used to move people around in like a park setting or something and the number of hours they got out of them were unreal but they were not put in the mud but were used every day with proper maintenance yet they were moving a lot of weight.

In another thread it talked how most Polaris machines were not sold for recreational use but for commercial use.

 

[TXRonnie]

I have done a few oil analyssis with Blackstone Labs Gale and between 50-60 hours is about max they say for an offroad vehicle that sees dust and dirt the way they do. I talked to one tech one day and he said no way would he go over 50 hours on an oil change on an ATV. No matter how good of a filter you run dirt and dust gets by it. He has never seen a report on an ATV that did not have dirt getting past the filter. He said most of the time ii is a small amount but he said it is still dirt so that is why I change at the 50hr mark. All my reports showed some kind of something getting past the filter. If people don't believe dirt doesn't get past it just clean your throttle body on a EFI machine and watch the amount of funk that gets washed out of it especially if you run an oiled filter. I just did mine this morning and it was funky.

Ronnie

 

[GaleHawkins]

I expect it is that grime at cuts out the rings and lowers the compression readings. It was good to read the comments from the Blackstone Labs about the 50-60 hour change point.

While it is common sense it is always good to have science to back up common sense.

Some want to stick with the 100 hour suggestion change interval but most all engine makers cut their hours/miles in half for extreme conditions like most ATV's see. GM cuts their 7500 mile change point to 3750 miles for example in the manuals we have. Maybe the ATV that traveled 10 miles each day on pavement in a misting rain would be OK to run to 100 hours.

Do you blow out your air filter from time to time with a back flow of air using an air compressor?

 

[TXRonnie]

I expect it is that grime at cuts out the rings and lowers the compression readings. It was good to read the comments from the Blackstone Labs about the 50-60 hour change point.

While it is common sense it is always good to have science to back up common sense.

Some want to stick with the 100 hour suggestion change interval but most all engine makers cut their hours/miles in half for extreme conditions like most ATV's see. GM cuts their 7500 mile change point to 3750 miles for example in the manuals we have. Maybe the ATV that traveled 10 miles each day on pavement in a misting rain would be OK to run to 100 hours.

Do you blow out your air filter from time to time with a back flow of air using an air compressor?

I have never blown one out. When I see it is getting dirty i will tap it against the side of my shop and get all the loose stuff off. I thought about using air but just never did it.

Ronnie

 

[Boburk]

I feel this supports that a lot of time when these ATVs break, its our fault. I cross rivers with mine, and used to drive it like I stole it. Mine has about 3500 miles on it and I think I have done all Ron has, and more. Both ball joints, brake pads, all front suspension bushings, all wheel bearings, rear master, propshaft u-joints, on second battery, 6 tie rod ends, stuff I broke (oil reservoir, a-arm, tie rod, plastic, axle, etc ).

No tie rod ends Ron?

Sean

 

[TXRonnie]

No Bob but it is getting real close. I usually take them off once a year and shoot some grease in there with a grease needle. They have a little play in them and before the start of riding season next year that will be one of my projects. I have them here already I just keep riding it.

Ronnie