I just looked at 2002, 2003 and 2004 stator wiring schematics - none have a green wire - what manuals and web pics are you looking at?

 

He must be using some generic manuals that include a green ground wire

 

Green is ground the world round?

Honda = green
Polaris = brown
Chinese ATV's = black
Early Fords and Triumphs = red (positive is ground)
Kawasaki = black/yellow
and some use white for ground

 

You're confusing ground with negative , just happens that polaris uses a brown wire for negative that is grounded 😁

 

The service manuals and posts I can find cover all the 500 sportsman models and do not specify the H.O. model which must be different somehow. Anyway, using latebirds schematic from another post on my other atv I can conclude this one is bad also. Both yellow wires are show resistance to ground with it unhooked from regulator. So I guess I'll be changing 2 stators. 🤷‍♂️

 

The HO has a larger carburetor - other than that they are all the same - it's a mind game; if you label it as Limited or Special Edition and slap some different decals on it, it can be sold at a higher price - the std and HO models are all covered in the same manual - adjustment and service procedures on the carb is the same, but the larger carb typically has smaller jets.

I think you will find the EXTRA green wire is an aftermarket accessory ground wire as an 'improvement' over the OEM stator or to circumvent a patent on the OEM stator.

 

This is out of my service manual that says it covers from 1996-2006 sportsman 500 all models. When I look up the stator for a 2002 sportsman 500 h.o. it shows a stator that has a weatherpack plug on the end which is totally different than mine. Mine is polaris # 3086984 which shows discontinued on the oem parts sites. I found some aftermarket ones though.

 

These are the pages out of the 2002 Polaris manual for the 400 and 500 Sportsman

2003 is exactly the same, but in 2004 they changed and installed a 3 phase alternator